Weekend Wanderings...

I have to say we are having some terrific weekends in Tassie...I think we knew we would, but so far the fact that we can get to such great places so quickly is equally as exciting as it is convenient. Especially with a 2.5 year old who, let's face, isn't known for her patience or ability to want to sit in a car seat for any great stretch of time. Who can blame her?!?

Saturday was such a lovely day so we decided on a whim to make our first trip to Launceston (pronounced Lon-cest-on or just Lonnie to the locals). It is a comfortable 45 minutes drive from Latrobe, some 90km down the Bass Hwy to the SE. Dual lane and 110km p/h for the majority of the way means we found ourselves in down-town Launceston in no time. With our earlier obtained tourist maps we looked up the main and relevant streets. It was quite funny to see on a map, "City Park & Monkeys". Lindsay and I thought this might be a misprint. We pulled up at the City Park thinking this would be a good spot for Olivia to have a run and play on some very fun looking playground equipment. A trade-off for having to sit in the car for the past 3/4 of an hour. The park itself sprawls out just adjacent to the main CBD and is next to The Albert Hall Convention Centre. Built in 1891, Albert Hall  is home to the Brindley Organ, Australia's largest organ pre-dating 1860's and was originally constructed to host the Tasmanian Industrial Exhibition in 1891-92. This building is an icon in Launceston.

  

City Park is an amazing spot. Beautiful manicured lawns and tended garden beds, rotundas, sprawling lawns, a duck pond, great playground and BBQ/picnic facilities, the John Hart conservatory (that was filled with lush vibrant orchids this visit) and well, yes...monkeys! Since it was on the map I had to investigate and we found the Japanese Macaque monkey enclosure. This is a completely free exhibit and we were amazed to say the very least! Olivia thought this was pretty cool but Mum and Dad were quite literally gob-smacked...monkeys were not on our "animals-we-might-see-today" list. It really took Linds and I back to when we were kids, visiting Taronga Zoo, it was so nostalgic. Say what you want about animals in captivity but these cute, playful and cheeky creatures were a highlight of the day.

From there we knew we really wanted to visit Cataract Gorge, or the Gorge as the locals call it. We took a few wrong turns and ended up unexpectedly in the hills of Launceston which was great as the views are spectacular. We also ended up at the Trevallyn Dam which is part of the original Hydro Electricity scheme for Launceston. Did you know that Launceston was the first city in Australia to be lit by hydro electricity and also had the first underground sewers in Australia? 

Trevallyn Dam, Launceston

Anyway, we made it to the Gorge and parked on the First Basin side to the south. The Gorge is a natural formation and the southern side or First Basin provides a swimming pool (it was empty this visit), picnic and BBQ area and cafe all surrounded by lush bushland and a chairlift that spans across to the north side. The chair lift span is one of the longest in the world. We took the short walk around the basin that allows you to go over the Kings Bridge, a suspension foot bridge that was floated there in 1867. There is also a well equipped childrens playground that Olivia enjoyed...I think I might need to change the blog name to Play-mania as we seem to be visiting all and any playgrounds on offer down here...but what else can we expect with a toddler!

Kings Bridge at The Gorge, Launceston

View of the First Basin from the Kings Bridge

Cataract Gorge from the Kings Bridge

Another great Tassie play ground!

On our way back from Launceston we decided to take a different route. We headed out to the north east on the East Tamar Highway and followed it up until we had to cross over to the western side on the Batman Bridge. Along the way are a large selection of wineries, orchards and a few berry farms all only 30 minutes drive out of Launceston. Looking forward to getting back there when we have a) more time and b) a more willing and capitulating child. We headed back toward the west and Devonport via Beaconsfield and Beauty Point, past the Narawntapu National Park and Bakers Beach. As it was getting late in the day we just stopped by the National Park quickly to check it out for another day. We were pleasantly surprised to see 4 or 5 large wombats just grazing near the rangers hut. They were so placid that we got some pretty good shots. We will definitely be back, this is only about 30km from where we live.

Wombat at Narawntapu National Park, NE Tasmania

It has been a fun weekend for the Notleys. We even popped over to Don to the Sunday morning markets and picked up the vegies ($18 for a good selection) for the week and Avro Park Orchard at Spreyton for a week's worth of apples ($3.80/2.5kg). I will be back to Avro often as you can select your own apples and pears, various types, from what has been freshly picked and left in the bins. Honesty system in place.

We got some chores done around the house and even had time for a visit to the Bluff and playground and a coffee by the beach for Mum. Topped of with a roast chook and vegies and a few vinos we are ready to head into another tasty Tassie week!

x Katie