North Tasmania: April 8-10

Our onward journey took us through the northern part of Tasmania. Our first stop was the city of Launceston. Just outside of Launceston, I did a tremendous 3-hour eucalyptus tree zip-lining adventure in the Hollybank forest reserve.

What an exhilarating feeling to soar through the air over river and tree from 18 and 23 meter high platforms known as cloud stations! Rick stayed on terra firma and did the scenic hiking trail instead!

We also did several wine-tasting stops along the way and came home with a wonderful variety of wine.

Our favourite was the "Leaning Church" winery!

We managed to meet up with a girl in Tasmania with whom I first was going to have an exchange in 2001. She pulled out then because of the weak Australian dollar. She invited us to spend the night at her place. We met her husband and we all became friends immediately!

She was just delightful and we have much in common, both being Orff music teachers! There is a beautiful Cataract Gorge park in the city which boasts the longest chairlift in the Southern Hemisphere (overrated but fun).

We visited this the next day. It was very beautiful, especially with the autumn leaves just beginning to turn colour.

We stopped for morning tea at a teahouse at the summit. With peacocks roving the grounds, we sat and enjoyed Devonshire Tea (well, actually coffee). The scones were delicious! In the afternoon we toured the J. Boag's beer factory, which purports to be the best beer producer in Australia because of its secret recipe! It was a great tour - Rick enjoyed the beer tasting! Check out the local brewery workers sitting down on the job!

Thereafter we headed back to the ferry in Devonport for a day crossing back to Melbourne on the Spirit of Tasmania I ship.

The ship was crowded with passengers, as it was the last day crossing for the summer season. It was a lengthy 10-hour trip, but the sailing was smooth. Half-way along the route, we passed the other Spirit of Tasmania ship.

Coming into Melbourne's Port Phillip harbour during the daytime afforded us a great view of the coastline and the nearby islands.

We loved Tassie, as the island is affectionately called. We saw much in 10 days. I guess we missed some sights - but not many! The weather during our stay in Tassie was cool, but surprisingly clear. We ran into rain only briefly a couple of times. We did a complete coastal tour of the island driving around 2500 km. in total. Check out our next post where we wax eloquent about our picturesque experience that was Tasmania.