Ok my dears, so want to know about Tasmania..!?! Well, let me tell you that I absolutely LOVE this amazing island state of ours!
Hundreds of photos to share.. This here Marshall's camera set on long exposure by the Tasman Sea..
But before I share some of the adventures we enjoyed, please let me just say that this post is a lot longer than you might desire...! We took hundreds of pictures and sharing this trip in brief would be impossible, so please bear with me here.. xx
Our touring map - just follow the pink trail..
For those of you who don't know Australia well, Tasmania is one of our six states and is located off the coast - South of Melbourne. It's rugged, versatile, Heritage listed and breathtakingly beautiful!
Our very first afternoon in Hobart
Crayfish cages in the harbour
Sunset in Hobart
..We flew into Hobart (the state capital) and spent this very first afternoon of our holiday strolling around the harbour - just taking it all in. And what a lovely harbour it was! It actually reminded me a little of Copenhagen - or at least parts of it did.
Which of course is lucky for Crown Princess Mary who was born here and eventually landed the Danish Crown Prince, and a lovely castle in the heart of Copenhagen.. Funny how it goes..! :)
Hobart harbour at night
Later that same evening we feasted on some absolutely wonderful food at a quirky restaurant called '
The Drunken Admiral' (
NB! The website does not do this place ANY justice! In fact it makes it look tacky, so please don't judge by their photos!).
The Drunken Admiral himself..
I must admit that we initially chose the place for our kids (it's decked out like a pirate ship) and didn't expect anything of it at all. But hand on heart, the staff was so lovely, the menu very impressive and the food simply delicious! I mean REALLY delicious, with amazingly fresh produce, cooked with skill and care, and served in a wonderful way! Heaven!
The seafood addict that I am, I ordered the mussels and was presented with an entire pot of them - straight from the stove! Imagine a large mountain of super fresh (think caught that morning..!) and BIG black mussels in a rich tomato, garlic & thyme soup. The below recipe is not the one used by the restaurant, but not far off by the looks of it so do give it a go if you can get your hands on some fresh local mussels.
After dinner, and having saved yet another injured bird (
..it seems to be my calling in this lifetime!), we headed back to the hotel and prepared for an early start & drive up the East coast.
This beach was freckled with thousands of 'pipi shells' and flat rocks. Heaven for someone like me!
Isabella balancing the gorgeous drift wood log. Such an 'art piece'!
Another amazing piece of drift wood - would have loved to take this one home..!
Isabella practicing her writing in the silky soft sand.
For some reason I can't resist stacking rocks like this... In Sweden it's a ritual of 'good luck'.
Pretty much everywhere is National Heritage listed and the scenery is spectacular! Mile after mile of beaches & coves intersected by cute little villages and beautiful rock formations & mountains. Being Swedish, and having lived in divine Norway, I so appreciate a mountainous landscape!
The ocean has that amazing aqua colour that still, after 12 years in Australia, makes me weak at the knees. And although we didn't see any, the waters are apparently full of dolphins, penguins and seals! Hearing this from several friendly locals made us wish we would have had time to embark on one of the spectacular 4 hour cruises that take you around some of the off shore islands - apparently an amazing experience! Next time..!
The view from the garden outside our bungalow at 'White Sands Estate'.
White Sands Estate - via Google
For the next couple of days we called one of the ocean-front bungalows at 'White Sands Estate' our home, and from there we headed back to stunning
Coles Bay where we spent a day hiking some of the shorter trails in the national park. The first one was the '
Wineglass Bay lookout' hike, which took a couple of hours - just enough for Isabella, who is still too young (5) to take on anything longer than that.
The amazing BIG loose rocks adorning the ridge.
These rocks are enormous and so impressive. We call them 'giant's throws' in Sweden.. :)
The trail..
Yours truly with Oscar & Isabella, at the half-way mark.
My darling trio sitting near the top of the mountain. See the heart shape on the right!?!
... a closer look.. :)
The top view! You can actually hike down this side of the mountain to the beach. Next time!
Everywhere we went we met friendly and down-to-earth people who seemed to live their lives with peace in their hearts and smiles on their faces. Add to that the abundance of wildlife - Sea Eagles soaring high above our heads and friendly Wallabies skipping around our legs - and you can imagine we felt beyond happy here!
A friendly little Wallaby saying hello to the kids. So adorable and cute!
After a fun and energetic morning we headed down to a remotely located restaurant in the middle of the '
Freycinet National Park' and had yet another fabulous meal. The food was home-cooked and I had a scrumptious
Bouillabaisse that really made me want to hug the lady in the kitchen. Really!
Feeling re-energised, full (!), and content we headed over to a breathtaking boardwalk high above the ocean. Just look at this..!
This magical trail snaked around the cliff face in the most breathtaking way. The air was so fresh, the breeze so gentle, and the light so soft and golden it left us transfixed for well over an hour. We just stood there gazing out over the Tasman Sea in total peace and harmony. It was beautiful!
As the sun started to set behind the pretty little lighthouse, we headed home.. via yet another fantastic, yet decoratively plain & modest, restaurant which was located in Bicheno (
try to work out how you pronounce that name.. ha!). I had the best lamb shanks I have had in years, a big glass or local red wine and a generous serving of sticky date pudding!
You can imagine the amount of weight I gained over these six days..! 3 kilos to be exact..! But it was totally worth it!! :)
The next morning we got up early again and drove all the way from the coast to the top of the
Cradle Mountains. A scenic and at times adventurous, drive on small windy roads that climbed the highlands and passed through some quaint little villages. Imagine a blend of very steep climbs and sweeping valleys with fabulous animals grazing on the fertile hillsides.
Google image of Tasmanian Highlands
Actually speaking of the animals.. We saw some splendid ones; like the 'Belted Galloway Cow' and 'Blackhead Persian Sheep'
... These stunners were totally new to me and I did more than one double take when I first saw their striking black/white graphic 'stripes'! Farmyard couture in my opinion!
'Belted Galloway Cow' - via Google
'Blackheaded Persian Sheep' - also via Google
But best of all were the fields with fresh faced Lamas! Yep, you heard me right - in the middle of grass-root Tasmania were large herds of Lamas strolling peacefully next to flocks of geese & mud covered pigs! Spit in your face fabulous don't you think!?! :)
Lama via Google. Loving the side parted fringe and faint smile..! :)
So driving through this beautiful and unexpected scenery took a fair while as you can imagine, and by the time we reached Perth we were starving (again..). By fluke we found a cute little place called '
Ut Si Cafe'..! We later found out that this is quite the destination here in the Tasmanian highlands, and in hindsight I can completely see why!
You can view lots more pictures via the 'Ut Si Cafe blog' (
URL above), but imagine a cute country church converted into a sleek & welcoming gourmet cafe and art gallery. There were rows of impressive artworks hanging on crisp white walls that went on forever towards the most perfect ceiling you'll ever see - the exposed wood work is a masterpiece in its own right (see more
HERE). There were huge windows that filtered in soft Autumnal light over the robust tables (
that were made out of wood from an old bridge!) that were adorned with lovely large vases of Autumn foliage. We sat on antique church benches (salvaged) and comfy pillows made by local artists, whilst enjoying an array of international food-, travel- and interior- magazines. Add to that the wafts of divinity making their way out of the kitchen and
wood fire oven.. Puuurrrr..!
Resisting temptation to splash out on some lovely 'Tasmanian timber veneer ornaments' by local artist
Tina Eacher, we had lunch instead. This time, some silky melt-in-your-mouth, home-made gnocci draped in a light Gorgonzola & thyme sauce, and tossed with baby spinach and crunchy walnuts (grown locally!). Perfection on a plate people!
Our next and very last stop before we hit wilderness was Deloraine, where I accidentally bumped in to a man strolling down the street with his pet Alpaca (!)... At this stage, having had supreme gourmet food in a minute 20 house town, seen the happy Lamas skip around on the surrounding hills, and marveled over couture farmyard animals, I was not all that surprised about this somewhat bizarre event. Expect the unexpected when in Tasmania!. In fact the Alpaca looked just as home here as it would in South America.. despite being dressed up in a fabulous stripy 'blanket-vest' and multi-coloured pom poms..! It was a perfect Diana Vreeland 'Why Don't You..' moment.. :)
Alpaca via Google - apparently the perfect companion
After another hour or so in the car we arrived at our hotel, the '
Cradle Mountain Chateau' - a comfy alpine hotel located in the '
Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair National Park'.
We had booked a so called 'spa room' which not only had a lovely big bath, but also a panoramic view of the forest through a floor to ceiling glass wall. Every morning (early) we'd slide it right open and say hello to some lovely little
Wallabies,
Wombats and
Bilbys. There were apparently lots of '
Tasmanian Devils' too but we didn't see any as these are mostly nocturnal.
Our view as we were driving into the mountains in veils of rain and mist. So dramatic!
Despite the heavy rain, we explored the beautiful hiking trails in the national park and had such a wonderful time together. There were wet, tired, and miserable little ones at times for sure, but this was easily remedied with hot cocoa in front of the big fire place in our hotel library!
This is the rainbow we were rewarded with for braving the rain at Dove Lake. Stunning!!
Another visual reward having completed a one-hour walk in the rainforest.
Amazing purpouse built board walks to minimize the impact of tourism on the national park.
The last leg of our trip was to drive through the incredible - though at times nail-bitingly tight - roads down the Central Plateau, through the
Wild Rivers National Park. The pass through
Queenstown was the most surreal I think, with it's almost alien landscape of mineral coloured rock formations and barren mountain tops.
Serpentine roads over the Central Plateau via Queenstown..So windy we got 'seasick' after a while..!
This drive took us all day (c 7 hours) through dense rainforest, over barren mountain passes, over lush rolling hills, across rivers and waterfalls, and all the way down to Hobart where we slept one final night before flying back to Sydney. What an adventure!
All in all a trip that will stay with us for a long time, and whilst I will for sure loose the holiday weight I will never loose the memories!
Hugs and thanks to those of you who stayed with me through out this marathon post..! :)
xx Charlotta
All photos by me & Marshall, unless otherwise stated.