Tasmania’s Great Eastern Drive

The time came on Thursday to make our way back north to Devonport by nightfall as we were to sail back to Victoria on Friday morning. For a change of scenery, we made our way back via the Great Eastern Drive up the coast of Tasmania. 

Our destination for the day was Freycinet National Park featuring Wineglass Bay. This was cause for a voluntary hike up to the lookout. The ranger said it was 20 minutes one way which appealed to this disliking-hard-work-outdoors girl. But then, to our dismay, one of the signs pointing us in the right direction said it was 40 minutes one way to the lookout. After huffing and puffing our way up, passing countless victorious hikers making their way down and assuring us that it wasn’t much further, the views were completely worth the effort. Afterwards, we rewarded ourselves with a pizza for Steven and some fried squid for me in Coles Bay. We arrived in Devonport by dark and headed out for a snack before turning in for the night and getting ready to sail again on Friday.

The best part of our Tasmanian holiday was the time together exploring a new place. Tasmania is stunning with its rolling hills, rainbows, and incredibly blue oceans. We could have easily spent a further few days as we didn’t even get to the southeastern or western parts of the state. Unfortunately, the cloud cover was too heavy most nights to catch a glimpse of the southern lights. Overall, we’re glad we made the trip. Our advice is that if you get the least bit seasick, don’t take the boat: just fly. Have a vehicle that can handle hills; we were thankful to have Luciana, our diesel Hyundai Santa Fe. Do your research when it comes to eating in Hobart. There are some great places and there are some not-so-good. And make sure to carve out the time to enjoy God’s creation so beautifully displayed everywhere you look.

Hobart, Tasmania

We got up Tuesday morning ready to explore Hobart, Tasmania’s capital city. Steven made a wise wardrobe choice sporting his Richmond Tigers jacket as the footy team would be playing in the Grand Final on the weekend, and one of its best, Jack Riewoldt, is from Hobart. We were stopped by a woman coming out of the elevator from the parking garage who told Steven how Jack used to kick the footy up and down her street. After strolling through some book stores and shops, we made our way to the docks. We had fish and chips at Fish Frenzy after Steven talked with the owner about how the Tigers would do on Saturday. We then made our way to Lark Distillery to have “afternoon tea.” Of course, my favorite whisky was from Spring Bay Distillery aged in bourbon barrels. 

Determined to eat only seafood, we headed to the Drunken Admiral for dinner. Walking through the door was like walking into a ship wreck above ground. Every inch of the place had thematic decor of a shipyard. Steven got the Admiral’s Iced Tea which came in a parrot. As we waited for our meals of Tasmanian Salmon and Swordfish, Steven told sea-themed jokes. 

Wednesday morning was the clearest of the week, and we set out to see some views. The first stop was to drive to the top of Mount Wellington, elevation 1,271 metres and first ascended in 1798. We weren’t able to make it to the very top as the road was closed. While it opened by the time we made it to the bottom, we had already made our way to the Rosny Point Lookout across the bridge to catch some views of Hobart with the drone and to scope out whether or not the sun was in the right spot for a selfie. It wasn’t.

We then went south to Kingston Beach for some breakfast and made our way back to see what the southern side of Hobart had to offer. While the Salamanca Markets weren’t on in full force as they would have been on a Saturday, it was still worthwhile to explore the areas and wander in and out of shops. The highlight of our trip to Hobart came on Wednesday night as we dined at Fico, recently named by Gourmet Traveler as one of Australia’s top 50 restaurants. See the blog post for more.

Spirited Away to Tasmania

We finally made it to the end of Term 3 which meant Steven and I were off to Australia’s southernmost state and island, Tasmania. Before our adventure began, I made my way to Daylesford Friday afternoon to celebrate our friend Dee’s 50th Birthday with her girl squad. We pampered ourselves at Pepper’s Mineral Springs Hotel (a place to which I will DEFINITELY return) and had a nice afternoon of shopping and brunching. 

 

A freshly-shaven Steven picked me up in the pouring rain Saturday afternoon and we made our way to Melbourne. We stayed in the city which enabled a 10-minute drive to Port Melbourne on Sunday morning to board the Spirit of Tasmania, a glorified ferry that takes passengers and vehicles across the Bass Strait from the mainland to Tasmania.  I left equipped with all sorts of medication to ease the symptoms of the sinus infection that set in on the drive to Daylesford as well as some sea sickness meds to ward off the impending motion of the ocean.

 

We arrived at around 7pm and drove about an hour southeast to Launceston. We got up early Monday and headed to breakfast at Bryher where I had a scotch egg, a beetroot relish, goat’s curd and parsley twist pastry, and the best loose-leaf chai latte I’ve ever had.

 

We then made our way to Cataract Gorge, a leisure spot first visited in the early 1800s. We rode “the world’s longest single span chairlift” and questioned its integrity the entire way and took a selfie with a Sequoia. We then began our three-hour drive south to Hobart through the main highway down the centre of the state learning about the history of Tasmania.

 

We stopped in Ross, a convict-built town and home to the Tasmanian Wool Centre as well as Richmond, featuring Australia’s oldest stone-span bridge of which Steven was able to get some great drone shots. Finally, we stopped into Pooley Wines to sample what the Coal River Valley had to offer. We got to our AirBnb in Tolman’s Hill in the evening, and we made our way to a pub to get dinner before settling in for the night.

 

 

Mao Please

This week, I was able to get to Melbourne again and this time, I was accompanied by my friends, Jo and baby Theo, and Aleisha was able to meet up with us for the night. We had to go out and celebrate as it was Theo’s first time in the big city. We ventured into Chinatown after dumplings. My friend, Bron, recommended Mao Please and everything we ate was delicious. 

Barbeque Beef Baos ♦ Spring Rolls ♦ Singapore Noodles ♦ Special Fried Rice ♦ Pork Dumplings

Chin Chin

I was able to attend a professional development that focused on OHS for Property Managers on a Monday in Melbourne. My friend, Aleisha, was able to join me and it was nice to have a friend around who is as adventurous as I am when it comes to trying new restaurants. We headed to Chin Chin and were pleasantly surprised to get a table within about 20 minutes. (It’s a place known to have lines out the door). We ventured into a chef’s tasting menu. 

KINGFISH SASHIMI ∗ MIANG OF HOT SMOKED TROUT POMELO, CHILLI, PEANUT & LIME ∗ CLAM STIR FRY

CHARGRILLED BRISKET W. SWEET SOY GLAZE, COS LETTUCE,
SHISO & CHILLI VINEGAR ∗ PICKLED CUCUMBERS W. SESAME & TURMERIC ∗ STIR FRIED BROCCOLINI W. KING BROWN MUSHROOMS, CHIVES & CRISPY SALT BUSH

 GREEN CURRY ∗ SON-IN-LAW EGGS ∗ VIETNAMESE ICED COFFEE PANNA COTTA W. CASHEW PRALINE