Before leaving Hobart, we visited the Salamanca Market. Held every Saturday since 1972, it was a lively collection of local crafts, artists, artisanal foods, and other vendors. We tried smoked wallaby sausage there, and it was quite yummy!
We picked up a picnic (not wallaby based) and headed out of Hobart towards Freycinet National Park, on Tasmania's east coast. The water and coastline were spectacular, and even just a simple road pull off provided a very scenic picnic spot.
Further down the road, we stopped at a berry farm for fresh berry ice cream. Yum!
Eventually we made it to Freycinet National Park, where we took a short hike through rocks, which the boys loved climbing on and through.
Wineglass Bay is a highlight of Freycinet National Park, and it's consistently ranked as one of the top 10 beaches in the world. While we didn't have the time to hike all the way to the beach, the lookout provided a great view of this picture-perfect spot.
We arrived in Launceston, in the northern part of Tasmania, that evening. Our AirBnB house was just down the street from Cataract Gorge and First Basin, which we explored the next day. This beautiful spot is just minutes outside the downtown area, and it provides a great place to hike, swim, and relax within the city.
As we walked along the gorge trail, we stopped to watch these guys working on their rock climbing.
The next day, we drove through the Tamar Valley, which is home to some of Tasmania's best vineyards. The vineyards start just 15-20 minutes outside Launceston, so it was easy to do a half day's drive in the area and stop at a couple of vineyards along the way.
We stopped at Tamar Ridge to taste some of their wines. Their tasting room had a nice panoramic view of vineyards and the Tamar River.
We also stopped at the much smaller Loira Vineyard, where we actually liked their hard apple cider the best. It went really well with lunch!
The Queen Victoria Museum and Gallery had a large exhibit on Tasmanian trains and another interesting exhibit on astronomy in Tasmania. We attended a planetarium talk which gave us an overview of the stars in the southern hemisphere.
There was also a small hands-on space for kids, and Colin liked this Perception Tunnel the best. You had to walk across a bridge while a tunnel was turning around you, which led to a lot of stumbling and bumping into the bridge railing (at least for Bob and me).
And we found the world's oldest beer! It was found in a shipwreck off the Tasmanian coast, and some of the yeast was extracted to brew new beer a few years ago. Not surprisingly, a Belgian helped with that process. :) Unfortunately the newly brewed batch is not for sale, though.
There was also a taxidermy section with representatives of the species that inhabit Tasmania.
My favorite was the lounging kangaroo, which looked very boudoir (and funny) at the time. Now that I've seen kangaroos lounging in other parts of Australia, though, I've realized it's a completely accurate pose for a kangaroo. They're sexy and they know it.
Launceston was a very relaxed city and a great place to spend a few days!
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