Other Things to do Next Time in Tasmania

More time at Port Arthur and to see the Dog Lines, Tessellated Pavement etc

Tasman National Park

Maria Island National Park

Freycinet Paddle

Governors Island Marine Park Glass Bottom Boats

Bay of Fires

Heritage Highway

Shot Tower

Longer at the Australian Antarctic Headquarters

Launceston Heritage Walk

More time at Cradle Mountain for hiking, investigate Overland Track

Explore the walks at Mount Wellington

Bass Strait Maritime Museum in Devonport

Makers Workshop in Burnie

Northwest Coast including Stanley, The Nut

Mt Field National Park

Southwest National Park – South Coast Track

Bruny Island

On to home

Saturday 24 January 2015

Up at 06:30 and chasing Hayden to stay focussed.  Breakfast, all packed and out the door just after 08:00 – off to the airport.

I was surprised that car return was just a matter of dropping off the keys – no receipt for return of the car.

The drive to the airport was so quick and easy that we actually had to wait fifteen minutes for check-in to open – it opens one hour before boarding, one and a half hours prior to departure.  We flew from Launceston to Melbourne on Virgin Flight VA1365 arriving in Melboune around 11:15. In Melbourne we changed to VA327 to fly back to Brisbane, arriving around 13:15 QLD time.  Mum met us at the airport and we headed home, arriving back around 4pm tired and happy.

What a wonderful trip!

Launceston's Cataract Gorge

Friday 23 January 2015

Last night we decided against the Tramway Museum and the National Automobile Museum as none of us were particularly interested and really felt like a lazy day.

View in one direction from Kings Bridge

We started the day with a sleep in and a slow and easy breakfast, shower etcetera.  We packed a picnic lunch and headed for Launceston’s Cataract Gorge Reserve.  Starting from the main car park we took the Zig Zag Track to Kings Bridge.  Looking each direction from the bridge really highlights how close to the city this relatively natural area is – in one direction you are looking up the gorge and in the other you are looking at the city.  From Kings Bridge we took the Cataract Walk and part of the First Basin Loop to Alexandra Lookout and then across the Alexandra Suspension Bridge back to the First Basin. We took a swim in what may be Tasmania’s only outdoor pool. (I hope it is as Launceston is warmer than anywhere else in Tasmania and the water was still freezing!!) It took me quite a while to get in, but like the ocean, once I was in, it was fine.  After our swim we rode up to the carpark on the Inclinator – this is a lift like enclosure that goes up and down a slope using a pulley on a toothed track. This was rather bumpy as each tooth “caught”.  We had a picnic lunch and Hayden had a play in the playground.

https://www.launcestoncataractgorge.com.au/

View in opposite direction from Kings Bridge

Petrol on the way home; and back to the unit to pack.

Hayden had another swim, he played and swam with another family (who also had an only child) so long that his eyes hurt and were still watering when he went to bed.

Seahorses, Platypi and Beer

Thursday 22 January 2015

Pregnant MALE

We started the day with Seahorse World at Beauty Point.  This is associated with a seahorse farm that exports live seahorses around the world.  Apparently, female seahorses drop their eggs directly into the male’s stomach pouch.  These are fertilized on entry and then the male is pregnant, with his stomach pouch swelling. The pregnancy lasts between 2 and 4 weeks depending on the breed, the male then goes into labour and gives live birth to around two hundred babies.  There were tanks with babies of varying ages for viewing.

https://seahorseworld.com.au/

Seahorses

Seahorse Nursery Tank

Seadragon

Next was Platypus House and Echidna Garden.  We were able to see several platypi feeding and then observe a breeding pair in a larger environment.  To date, Tasmanian platypus have not yet been successfully bred in captivity – however if it is up to “Jupiter” (and “Dawn”) and persistence pays off it may happen.  We were also able to observe three Tasmanian Echidnas at close quarters.  Due to the colder climate these look less spiky than mainland echidnas as they have a thick furry coat to keep them warm.  Platypus and Echidna may seem like an odd combination, but they are both “monotremes”, egg laying mammals.

https://www.platypushouse.com.au/

Lunch was enjoyed at “The River Café” in Beauty Point and all our meals were delicious and they were happy to cater to Hayden’s dietary needs.  I had a beautiful pizza, Drew had a crumbed calamari salad and Hayden had grilled chicken strips and chips.

https://www.therivercafe.com.au/

On the way back to Launceston we drove through Grindelwald. I was disappointed in this as it was really just a shopping centre and resort accommodation with a mild Swiss theme rather than a Swiss village.

This afternoon we did a Boag’s brewery tour.  I found this quite interesting as I had never been inside a brewery before.  Drew did the brewery tour at Cascade and said he preferred it as he felt he got a lot more detail in it. The beers we tasted were Boag’s Premium, Boag’s XXX Ale and Wizard Smith – which in my opinion went from nice to awful (these are also in order of increasing hops levels, so apparently it is the hops flavour I don’t like).

https://www.jamesboag.com.au/brewery/

We walked across to the Launceston Show Grounds – it is undergoing redevelopment and doesn’t really look like the place we met.

Back to our accommodation for a swim before bed.

Douglas Apsley National Park

Wednesday 21 January 2015

Raining this morning in Bicheno.  We packed up and headed north to Douglas Apsley National Park where we walked to Apsley Gorge.  This track is very steep in parts, particularly the descent back down into the Gorge at the end.  By travelling a few hundred metres down the Gorge you can look back up at a waterfall or skim rocks in the waterhole at the base of the falls.

https://www.parks.tas.gov.au/?base=3330

We stopped for lunch in St Mary’s after a very slow and windy trip through Elephant Pass.  We are staying in Launceston for the next few days at the Launceston Country Club Villas.  We finished the day with a swim in the indoor heated pool.  There is something very relaxing about immersion in water.

https://www.countryclubtasmania.com.au/default-en.html

Bicheno Coastline

Tuesday 20 January 2015

We walked along Bicheno’s Foreshore Footway and Drew found wild blackberries growing beside the path – some were very tart, but those that were sweet were delicious.  From here we went to a point where we could see Governor Island Marine Reserve and could see hundreds, or possibly thousands, of Crested Terns, who use the island as a rookery.  We also saw a seal (or maybe a sea lion) on top of nearby Alligator Rock.  We continued along the path to the Blow Hole which was very active due to today’s rough and windy weather.  We walked up to the top of Whaler’s Lookout, where in the past someone would watch for passing whales to alert the whale boats to commence the chase.  On the way back to our accommodation we stopped off at a playground for Hayden to have a play.

https://www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=3094

Unfortunately the windy weather meant that our kayaking trip with Freycinet Paddles was cancelled – this way very disappointing as this had been one of the key things I had wished to do in Bicheno – something to do next time!  We also could not do the glass bottomed boat tour of Governor Island Marine Reserve due to the weather.

 Instead, we drove to the lighthouse at Cape Tourville – the view was great – it would have been even better if we could have climbed the lighthouse.  I took some photos of Wineglass Bay and the mountains beyond – Mt Freycinet and Mt Graham.  The mood of the sky and view was such a contrast to yesterday.  Once again we were lucky enough to have beautiful weather yesterday for one of our key walks.  Today has really been the first day of this holiday where the weather has prevented us doing something we had planned – we certainly can’t complain.

https://www.parks.tas.gov.au/?base=1462

Freycinet National Park - WOW!

Monday 19 January 2015

Wineglass Bay

I decided to start the day with a run along Bicheno’s Foreshore Footway.  While this turned out not to be particularly suitable for running it was a beautiful walk.  Governor Island appeared to be covered in birds – I will need to take Hayden to see this.

Freycinet National Park is a little over thirty minutes away.  It is beautiful! We hiked up and up to the Wineglass Bay Lookout, across a ridge in The Hazards.  We then hiked down to Wineglass Bay where Hayden enjoyed a paddle near the rocks at the edge of the beach and watching the kelp move backwards and forwards in the waves.  The water was extremely clear and clean.  Next, we walked the low lying Isthmus Track, past a large reed filled lagoon where we could hear many individual frogs calling from many different directions.  We reached Hazards Beach which had the same crystal clear water as Wineglass Bay, but instead of a white sand beach, it was a coarsely ground shell covered in drying kelp and oyster shells – it had its own distinctive smell! We stopped for a picnic lunch on rocks near Fleurieu Point.  By the time we got back along the Hazards Beach Track I was actually very hot! Yes, HOT!  12.5km in 3.5 hours plus stops.

I think we will all go to bed early tonight!

https://www.parks.tas.gov.au/?base=3363

Wineglass Bay

Wineglass Bay

Wineglass Bay

Wineglass Bay

Wineglass Bay

Wineglass Bay

Isthmus Track Lagoon

Hazards Beach

Hazards Beach

Isthmus Track Lagoon

Historic Hobart and Mawson's Hut, Bicheno Fairy Penguins

Sunday 18 January 2015

This morning we started with the “Farm Gate Market” and bought some different types of mushrooms that we have not previously tried, fresh apricots and other veggies – the normal green type of kale for Drew, not the red variety I grow.   After sampling these we discovered that some types of mushrooms we enjoy and some we don’t, and Drew prefers the Red Russian Kale to the normal crinkly green version. The fresh apricots were divine!

http://farmgatemarket.com.au/

Hope and Anchor Tavern

We walked around inner city Hobart and looked at many of the old buildings.  It is amazing just how many of the old buildings and their facades have been retained in both the inner-city area and nearby suburbs. St David’s Park is built on the site of a former cemetery – many of the head stones have been incorporated into walls within the park, an interesting way of continuing its original purpose.  At the back of the current Tasmanian Museum is an old-style good lifts, presumably from its former life as the Bond Store. We walked down the city mall and I showed Hayden the “Cat and Fiddle Arcade”.  In the City Mall there was an artistic water fountain made in the shape of a fish with the water coming out of the top of its back.

Hobart GPO

Ingle Hall

Bond Store Lift

St David's Park Headstones

Tasmanian Parliament House

Hobart GPO Clock Tower

We visited Mawson’s Hut, which is a life size replica of the base of Douglas Mawson’s Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1911-1914.  It was interesting, both to look at, and to read some of the details of what they took with them, for example, 24 hockey sticks.  When we got home from this trip I listened to an audiobook titled “Mawson” and it covered this trip in great detail – so much easier to visualize having seen the Mawson’s Hut replica.

http://www.mawsons-huts-replica.org.au/

We travelled from Hobart to Sorrell where we bought more fresh cherries and they were delicious.  We drove onto Bicheno via the coast road, the view between Mayfield Bay and Swansea was particularly beautiful – looking across Oyster Bay to Freycinet National Park. In Bicheno we are staying in a cabin only Big4 Holiday Park – the staff are lovely.

https://www.big4.com.au/caravan-parks/tas/freycinet-east-coast

After dark – so yes, very late – we went on a tour of a fairy penguin rookery. The guide – Tom – said numbers were low because the breeding season has almost finished and the moulting season not yet begun.  The breeding pairs come to the rookery to raise their young, the parents going out to sea before dawn and returning after dusk to feed their young.  Given this is in summer, this is a very long day indeed! Once the young leave the rookery to fend for themselves, the adults go to sea for a month to fatten up before coming ashore to moult.  We saw penguins that were almost ready to leave the rookery, we also saw chicks that were still completely covered in down.  We were also fortunate enough to see an adult reach the nest and feed her two “teenagers” – it was very push and shove on the part of the offspring.  We saw penguins running across the sand, jumping from rock to rock and making their way up the hill to the rookery – the ones almost ready to moult are almost double their normal weight and need several rests to make it back up the rookery from the beach. The local school children have made “nests” for the penguins and they will use these or rabbit holes, in preference to building their own burrow.

https://www.bichenopenguintours.com.au/about-us-2

Salamanca Markets and Historic Hobart

Saturday 17 January 2015

We had a sleep-in this morning and then went to the Salamanca Markets.  I found a new hat, just like what I have been looking for.  Drew got a shirt for work, “I have my faults, but being wrong isn’t one of them”. Hayden bought himself a 50 year calendar set in a piece of Huon Pine.  The markets are quite large with a good mix of items.  We all had Bratwurst on rolls for lunch, followed by fresh strawberries from the market.
https://www.salamancamarket.com.au/Home

This afternoon we did the Battery Point section of “A Walk in Old Hobart”.  We walked up and down Kelly’s Steps – this is in a scene (as are many Hobart locations) from a novel I read and it is great to see the actual locations where things were set.  The Semaphore Station was built in 1818 and is the oldest intact building in Battery Point.  Arthur’s Circus is a gorgeous circular street with houses from around 1847 all the way round – absolutely beautiful! Picturesque!  Mr Watkin’s Cottages were built in 1858 of red convict brick, to house shipyard workers.  Drew and Hayden ate wild plums from a park near the old dry dock and slipway.

Semaphore Station

Tide House and Harbour Master Residence

What Hayden thought we should do with the guide to the walk

Arthur's Circus

Arthur's Circus

Arthur's Circus

Mr Watkin's Cottages

Wild plums