Tasmania 2009 - Part 1

One week beforeXmas, a time I would normally be spending planning the best time to pick up sprouts and avoid the long queues at Sainsbury's, instead finds me venturing on holiday( not again I hear you say and beginning to think a little that way myself) to Australia's third largest island Tasmania.

Leaving the kids behind in the capable hands of my parents who have been aching to fill them up with sweets, cans of fizzy cola, jelly and mash , Grant and me instead arrive for a six day romantic break . Yes I fell for that old chestnut again, as whilst I eagerly anticipated some gentle sightseeing, cozy meals for two, long chats without kids interrupting, he had been dreaming, again, on how far he could push his body. Unfortunately where his goes mine must follow but his body can travel a lot further than mine , which nowadays requires a wheelbarrow for anything further than half an hour or so in an upward direction.

Lunchtime the first day we touched down in glorious sunshine, an unexpected surprise as we had been warned to expect British weather, at Launceston's small airport . We immediately headed straight for the gorge which I had been told was Launie's best bit. Truly it was, and to find a pretty sizable gorge located in a town surprised both of us, as did the heat which had now built up to such a level we had to invest in some sunscreen and some Tasmanian Devil fridge magnets. The former was a necessity , the latter in my mind one also!

We then walked out the gorge: some three hours of exercise finishing with a great lunch overlooking the river. I could already see the writing on the wall with this break due to Grant's need to climb any steep section which offered even a glimmer of a view. Thoroughly worn out we booked into the Band B only to find out that G wanted to drive East to get an overview of this section of Taz and so we set off. The countryside was attractive although the towns a little sparse and small and normally being made up of 2 houses and a Milk Bar, serving very un-Melbourne coffee. Can't say Taz at this point was somewhere I would have liked to live.

Launie in the evening is also a little sad and the restaurant we ended up having a meal in was one we should have followed our instincts and run from when we initially entered, but being British were too embarrassed!

Day 2 and Grant and me drove down to Hobart which turned out to be a lot nicer than I had been told and a lot nicer than Launie. Wrong decision on base I think! We passed a middle of nowhere shop on the way giving a real insight into Taz, with a big sign advertising bread, milk, papers, guns and ammo! Afternoon we headed for Freycinet National Park, a stunning area. We were meant to do a twilight sea paddle along the coast (after G not being able to Kayak at the Whitsundays he was looking forward to this) but alas heavy wind meant the trip was called off. A thoroughly upset G was compensated by a climb through the Hazards to Wineglass Bay and a lovely eve meal ovelooking the sea. We'd seen a surprising amount of road kill whist travelling and began to understand why as the homeward drive in the dark back to B and B consisted of G swerving and braking all the way home as round every second bend was a smiling/waving Possum, transfixed in the middle of the road by the headlights. There were also a couple of wallabies but the one we hit was already dead, you'll be happy to know.