Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Tasmania - Launceston


My trip to Tasmania in December (shh, I know it's a while ago) was my second visit to Tasmania, ever. My first trip over with Brad in 2010 was very much a case of meeting his family, drinking and sitting around eating (generally) overcooked meat. Brad's family is lovely, but they prefer not to see a hint of pink or blood in their meat. Not sure how I coped! 

This trip though, we got into Tasmania a little under two weeks before Christmas, to attend his friend's wedding and to actually see a little more of the state!

We started out in Launceston, since it's pretty easy to get to and because Brad's friend's wedding was in Mole Creek, about an hour out of town. Although be wary with Jetstar, both our flights to and from Launceston were cancelled and had to be moved! Fortunately for our flight to Launceston, we were informed the night before and able to choose a different time, but for the flight back, our flight was actually cancelled on our way to the airport and we the earliest flight we could get put on was the 7pm one. Sigh Jetstar. When will I learn?


We hired a car, as there's really no other way to get around Tasmania efficiently (tip: much more affordable to hire a car in a period before Christmas!), and made our way straight to Bridestowe Lavender farm, which isn't too far from the city. 




What a way it was to start our trip to Tasmania, with gorgeous purple hills and a soothing scent in the air. You can also find out how lavender oil is extracted out of the lavender, walking into the workshop for it is incredibly therapeutic (the scent is pretty intense in there), and it's an interesting process, one that seems quite tedious! A lot of flowers are needed for just a little bit of oil!



I also met the friendliest cat I've ever come across! I'm generally more of a dog person than cat, but I can't resist affectionate animals in general. This little guy took the opportunity to jump into my lap and roll around when I sat down, so cute. Sooo cute. 



If you visit, don't forget to pop by the cafe and try…well most of the sweets infused with lavender! I got a lavender earl grey tea, which was quite fragrant and lovely, and also 2 giant scoops of lavender and honey ice-cream in a waffle cone. I felt like a big kid again. The perfect temperature for eating, it was so soft and sweet, although maybe lacking on the lavender. I also had incredible ice-cream envy after when I saw someone with a giant cone of bright purple ice-cream, which was the blueberry and lavender flavour I would think…first world problems folks. 


Brad also had a sausage roll, which was not infused with lavender, but had a lovely flaky pastry and was served with a sweet and tangy relish. 

After spending forever in the gift shop trying to decide if I could justify buying lavender soap I was unlikely to ever use, we eventually made our way into Launceston itself, dumped our things in the Launceston Backpackers…and promptly napped. All that lavender obviously left it's effect on us!

We later wandered around town to get our bearings and scope out dinner options. I had done my research and after some scouting, we decided to eat at Fresh on Charles. 



Fresh on Charles is a vegetarian and vegan cafe that's been around since 1999. Upon walking in to the cafe section of the restaurant, I kind of felt like I was on the set of 'That 70's Show'. Although simple, the decor was cute and kitschy. 



My watermelon and mint mojito was sort of overwhelmed with ginger, and definitely could have used a little more ice, cocktails shouldn't be room temperature! Fortunately, this was the only thing I didn't like about our meal...!

Whilst we were tempted by raw pad thai and besan flour pancakes for dinner, our gazelle-like waitress (I'm not even kidding, her legs were so long and lithe. Jealous. Is that what going vegan does to you?), recommended we try the mixed plate to share. 



We went with the gluten free platter, which came out looking like an absolute treat! From a warm, creamy mushroom risotto, to lentil burger patties with satay sauce, tangy tomato ratatouille and much more, there were just so many components on the plate! And I suppose the most important thing, everything on the plate was piping hot and just brimming with flavour. We were surprised to be so full after demolishing the plateful of food, incredibly great value at $35…for the two of us! Definitely one of our favourite meals whilst in Tasmania!


Love the plate our food was served on too, there was a pavlova recipe hiding underneath! Overall, I loved how low key and easy going the vibe and dining experience was!


Wonder why hippies get to a special entrance...?

Both Brad and I were really hoping to return for breakfast, but unfortunately they weren't open the morning we wanted to go!

The next morning, breakfast was at Cafe Mondello, also on Charles Street actually. It was a tiny space, with only 7 tables or so, but unlike in Melbourne, we had no problem getting a seat. Woohoo! 


As it was a bit cold and blustery out (in December, who would've thought?), the cosy and intimate space, with a muted colour palette, was incredibly welcoming.


As was the smooth and sweet chai latte. There's no better way of warming up the fingers than wrapping them around a hot drink is there? 


My corn fritters with smoked salmon, avocado, bit of relish and greens was just so fresh. That smoked Tassie salmon! Cool and so sweet, which went so well with the corny (hur hur) corn fritters, which weren't too doughy at all. 


Brad's eggs benedict also looked disgustingly delicious, I mean look, those eggs are just drowning in that gorgeously glossy hollandaise. It makes the mouth water!




The afternoon was spent wandering around Launceston again, where we discovered Launceston has awesomely cheap street parking ($1.20 an hour? Any day!), stupidly steep hills (oh my calf muscles!) and cute monkeys in the City Park. Baby monkey! We also checked out the Queen Victoria Gallery, which is free (wahey!), which had some gorgeous colonial portraits and landscapes of Tasmania during some of the early settlements. 


Lunch was a simple, but tasty affair at Burger Got Soul on Charles street (there's a trend here…), which does good hearty burgers, with fresh and local ingredients, similar to Grill'd in Melbourne. There is a huge variety of burgers on offer, but I could not go past the 'Lords of the Rings' burger. 



Lean beef burger, beer battered onion rings, vintage cheddar cheese, red peppers, rocket, garlic aioli and relish. Hey I was on holiday, who's judging? I was quite bemused that my gluten free 'bun' was two slices of gluten free bread, which kind of makes it more of a sandwich rather than a burger right? But that's missing the point. The point is that I had onion rings in my sand-urger. Oh yeah!

We headed back to our hostel after that, had a little food coma snooze then dolled up to head out to Mole Creek for Brad's friends wedding, which was actually held in a cave. I don't have any pictures unfortunately, but the ceremony was just gorgeous. 

Everyone slowly walked into this cave, as it was quite low, with stalactites and stalagmites hanging around, half the people climbed up the stairs to look down at a little area in the middle where the bride and groom had their ceremony and the other half of the guests looked up from the bottom half of the steps. It was an incredibly personal and unique ceremony, the bride's father afterwards telling everyone to look up. As we did, the lights went out and you could see the ceiling was covered with glow worms like stars. Simply magic.


This was the view from the reception venue afterwards. Just beautiful. Whilst my salmon main was a big chunk of overcooked, dessert was a chocolate hazelnut terrine. Just beautiful!

Breakfast the next day was at Sporties Bistro (also on Charles Street!), which was alright, not quite enough personality here for me and a slightly overcooked omelette. 

Before we headed off to Port Arthur, we stopped by the Queen Victoria Museum, where I transformed into a kid again, bewildered by dinosaur bones and wanting to touch every interactive display, and also made a stop at the Cataract Gorge. 




The Gorge is just a cool 5 minutes away from the city, maybe 15 if you want to walk it, but those hills are something to contend with! Although you have the option to ride a chairlift across the basin, at $12 a person, we felt walking the perimeter was much more pleasant! Walking over the suspended bridge is also quite fun, and you get a beautiful view while on it. Don't be like Brad (or Brad's dad) and bounce on it when the sign SPECIFICALLY TELLS YOU NOT TO. 

Boys. Honestly!



On the other side of the basin from where you walk in, there's a cute little tea house with peacocks running around everywhere. On our second visit on the way home to Melbourne (when our flight got cancelled and we got rebooked on a later one) there were even peacock babies and a wallaby! Too cute. 


By the end of our two nights here, I was quite surprised with how much Launceston had to offer. I thought we would have more time just lolling around and taking it easy, but we were actually quite packed out! I was also suitably impressed with the food offerings as well, getting a lot more out of the food scene than I was expecting! Whilst I think mainlanders do have a tendency to hightail it to Hobart (don't blame you though!), I certainly think it's worth considering visiting Launceston, hiring a car and taking yourself around a bit! Maybe you could also check out the Christmas Hills Raspberry farm as well...


...but anyhoo. Until the next Tasmanian instalment of my blog, where we visit Port Arthur!

296 Gillespies Rd, Nabowla TAS 7260


178 Charles Street, Launceston
Tasmania

Fresh On Charles on Urbanspoon


Cafe Mondello
242 Charles Street, Launceston
Tasmania

Cafe Mondello on Urbanspoon


243 Charles Street, Launceston
Tasmania

Burger Got Soul on Urbanspoon








19 comments:

  1. Jetstar and Tasmania just really don't seem to get along, I've never had a problem with them but every single person I know who has tried to fly with them to or from Tas has reported problems.

    On a more positive note, it looks like you had a great time. I'll be sure to find accommodation near Charles St if I ever eventually make it down there :)

    P.S. Wedding in a glow worm cave?! Awesome!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You have to wonder what it is! Although on my first visit we didn't have any problems with them actually, we just made up for it on this trip!

      Launceston isn't a very big town, so as long as you stay within the town somewhere, getting to Charles Street shouldn't be too big an issue, although I did notice a number of cute looking hotels nearby :)

      And yes! Wedding in a glow worm cave! One of the most unique weddings I had ever visited! The bride wore orange gumboots, very cute :)

      Delete
  2. I love Launceston but I HATE Jetstar! How cute is that pussy cat at the Lavender farm and monkeys in the park...WHAT! We took the chairlift across the gorge...it's really scary!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm flying Jetstar to Sydney in March (on the vouchers that they gave) so crossing fingers all goes well still! :)

      I imagine the chairlift would be scary! Brad and I were just being cheapskates :P

      Delete
  3. Ohh poor you about Jetstar, fortunately, I've never had any issues with Jetstar and have flown with them quite a few times.

    Eitherway, don't worry about them :) At least you still had a good time! I miss Launceston, I've visited twice and even though it's quite small and quiet lol it's really relaxing :) I love the photos of the lavenders!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm flying with them to Sydney in March, so hopefully everything goes right! I think during Christmas period especially it can get difficult if things go wrong...

      But yes, Launceston is super relaxing! :) And thank you! I hadn't been able to do much macro photography for a while so was super fun to get the lens out to do it! :)

      Delete
  4. Tassie is such a gorgeous place and there is so much good food to be had. I've only been once, and would love to go back again. That gluten-free platter looks amazing. And I also want cat cuddles.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great post! I grew up just outside of Launceston, so love it when I see that people have visited and enjoyed it.
    And bl**dy Jetstar. We had issues with them when we flew down at the start of Jan. Our 4:30 flight was delayed by 6 hours (after being cancelled during the week), thankfully we were able to get on another flight (which was also running almost an hour late!).

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have really wanted to visit Tasmania but it's such a long way from Perth that we always end up choosing somewhere in South East Asia because its proximity (and cost). Very unpatriotic I know. Everything I hear about it sounds so fabulous though and you have pricked my conscious for still not visiting this charmed part of our country.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Impressive, definitely great material. This blog is absolutely awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  8. nice post..thanks for sharing such a lovely post....

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hey there, thanks for sharing this lovely blog. How long did u spend there and how much did u spend? Thinking of doing a trip but would like to know the budget

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi! We spent about a week in Tasmania, we stayed a little longer in Launceston due to a friend's wedding, but honestly 1 or two nights is plenty. Our itinerary was basically:

      - Launceston - 2 nights
      - Port Arthur - 1 night
      - Hobart - 2 nights
      - Strahan - 1 night

      Costwise, was a while ago so can't give you exact numbers, but we spent around $100 - $150 per night on hotels (except in Strahan) and food...well depended on what we were eating! Launceston was maybe around $50-$60 a person a day on food, Port Arthur less because we ate breakfast at our place, and Hobart a bit more because we ate more things more frequently through the day.

      We also hired a car, my boyfriend organised that so can't remember how much it was.

      Hope that helps!

      Delete
  10. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks a lot for sharing this amazing knowledge with us. This site is fantastic. I always find great knowledge from it.
    Campervan Hire Spirit of Tasmania

    ReplyDelete
  12. This is a really informative knowledge, Thanks for posting this informative Information. Caravan hire tasmania launceston

    ReplyDelete
  13. The best Indian Astrologer located in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Australia appeared to help loss of money in business, Difficulties in finding a suitable partner for your current relationship, Property Dispute issues between families, issues with research, or finding the most effective method or approach to solve problems, and other issues.

    Best Astrologer In Perth Australia

    ReplyDelete
  14. Pandit Bhramaji is the famous/best Indian astrologer in Perth has been acknowledged for his great Talent and proficiency and is survey the best astrologer in sydney, Melbourne australia. He is one of the best astrologers in Australia. He is a world-renowned astrologer with over 20 years of experience in this field of Astrology. He has recommended powerful solutions to many people all over Australia and world.

    Famous Astrologer In Sydney Australia

    ReplyDelete