Robyn writes:  We’ve had a huge day today! After a glorious night’s sleep in our king size bed at the Launceston Best & Western, we were up around 6.30 sipping our hot caffeine and marvelling at the glorious sunshine outside. Not what we’d expected, though as it turned out, northern Tassie is actually in a bit of a drought, and things do look quite dry everywhere.

We went out for a bit of a walk early on and to look for breakfast, which we finally found at Banjo’s Bakery & Café after a good wander around the CBD. It’s unusual in that it still has heaps of shops still in it, and a mall. It was a very breezy and brisk morning at about 12 degrees and we were glad of our jackets. Once we came back, Lex took the shuttle bus back out to the airport to collect our hire car (a late model Corolla – very nice and extremely comfy to travel in.)

A glorious view from our hotel window.

 

 

Early morning in the Mall

 

 

The leaves are changing for Autumn

 

Meanwhile I wandered down to the Mall and the Information Centre then met up with him once he was back in town and we headed for Cataract Gorge, the huge natural feature right on the edge of the city. What a bonus to have just a ten-minute walk away from the CBD; it’s just spectacular! We walked up the eastern pathway, which took about half an hour or even longer with all the stopping and gazing at the scenery. For part of the way we were serenaded by a Scottish bagpipe player (resplendent in kilt, of course.) At the top of the gorge is the First Basin, with a lovely picnic area and a chairlift which we took across to the other side. Great views and only a teensy bit scary! We then walked back across an old (1904) suspension bridge, stopped for a cuppa and then walked back into the town area.

 

Looking back towards Launceston

 

Chair lift

 

On the bridge - rocking a lot!

By this stage it was lunchtime, so we stopped at the Penny Royal centre – named after the old windmill on the city’s edge. We had a lovely lunch there by the waterside watching all of the activities going on around us – they had a replica sailing ship loaded up with parents and kids which went on a ‘cruise’ – lots of drama and history, which I was very pleased to see! There was also a real-life drama playing out above us – they have action and adventure climbs, flying foxes, etc there. We watched a family abseil down the cliff – first the two primary-school aged daughters, then the dad, then it was the mum’s turn…..she went to jump, balked at it; balked again, then just stood up there, all strapped up and ready, and her family calling encouragement from below. By this stage the entire crowd was watching with interest and every face in the place was watching her! We actually don’t know how this all played out, either, because when we left about ten minutes later, she was still standing there, poor love…..I really felt for her – on one hand, she was obviously scared stiff. On the other hand, she had two daughters down there that she needed to model ‘face your fears’, ‘girls can do everything’ etc etc for!

After this dramatic and delicious interlude, we headed for a walk through the adjoining park area along the river and admired the very British trees there – oaks with acorns and chestnuts – just lovely! Flooding is obviously a problem as we walked right along the top of a huge flood barrier called a ‘training wall’ designed to channel floodwater into the Tamar River and out to sea. From there we headed back to the hotel as by this stage, my fitbit informed me, I’d walked about 14 000 steps and I was exhausted! Finally back, I flopped in a heap while Lex valiantly went looking for some milk for a cuppa – with no luck. Corner stores / 7-11s etc do not exist in the Launceston CBD. I went down to reception and the nice lady there popped up with some milk for a much needed caffeine boost, followed by a good lie down. The day was quite warm by this stage, especially after all the walking. Glorious weather for a holiday! It was a bit cloudy at times but then cleared again this afternoon.

It's an acorn!

Once we’d recovered, we decided to go for a drive north to see something of the countryside between here and Bass Strait, so we headed off in the Corolla. We visited a lovely little winery, the Iron Pot Bay, where I tasted some of their whites and bought a most agreeable Pinot Grigio. Then we popped into the Lavender Factory across the road to sniff all of their lovely products. I acquired some lip balm. Then we headed half an hour north through Beaconsfield, where the mining disaster was some years ago, to Green’s Beach to see the sun set. Unfortunately, by this stage it was windy and blowing and FREEZING cold, so I didn’t really enjoy the walk – another two or three layers, plus a scarf, and it would have been most invigorating! After that, we were (very quickly) back into the car and headed south again to the A7 and back to Launceston mostly in the dark. We got back here at 7, then went downstairs to the Tram Bar once more for another lovely meal. This actually does have a real, old Launceston tram inside the restaurant - sadly, all of Tassie's trams and trains are now gone, except for the heritage lines. We’re thinking we’ll sleep VERY well tonight. My fitbit informs me that I’ve done nearly 25,000 steps today. It’s been a huge one!

Beaconsfield tile mural and old mine buildings

Sunset and Bass Strait

Tomorrow we say farewell to Launceston and head east to the coast.