This is the 3rd day of Tasmania trip.
1. LAUNCESTON
Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania. Atmosphere is good, and the size of city was larger than I thought. Our plan on the third day was first to take a walk in this city and have breakfast then move to Cataract Gorge.
City area
We walked through the city centre and reached a cafe where many people have good/positive reviews/feedback.
Address : 93 George St, Launceston TAS 7250
Someone reading my posts may notice… yes I love Cappuccino and Croissant. I can go with this set everyday.
Thanks to lovely coffee and staff in the cafe, we had a relaxed and good breakfast. One of the staff of the cafe was so friendly and talked to us about Tasmania that made us happy. Hospitality is one of the important traits cafe/restaurants staff must acquire, I just confirmed it there.
2. CATARACT GORGE
Cataract Gorge is accessible within 5 mins. by car from Launceston city centre. There are walkways, chairlift across the river, cafe, etc. and entrance is free.
It must be rare that such nature is located in the proximity of the city, which gives a lot of opportunities to people to enjoy activities such as picnic, walking, exercise and so on.
If you stay in Launceston, Cataract Gorge can be listed as a must-go place.
3. TAMAR VALLEY
Our next destination was Tamar Valley in order to see vineyards in summer season as we had already viewed vineyards in winder at Barossa Valley when visited Adelaide.
Since this trip was with a rental car, I couldn’t drink during the drive around Tamar Valley but it is fine because my main purpose of it was to look through beautiful landscapes here.
A photo below was taken from Bradys Lookout, where we can get views with Tamar river and vineyards.
Another photo below is of Ridge vineyard.
4. CHRISTMAS HILLS RASPBERRY FARM
On the way to Cradle mountain from Launceston, we stopped by Christmas Hills Raspberry farm.
There are a pathway around a basin and a cafe.
I took a sundae and glass of raspberry tea.
We can get souvenirs here such as raspberry jam and sauce. It is a good place to visit as a break during a drive.
5. MELITA HONEY FARM
Furthermore there was another farm to visit, Melita Honey farm. You can try several kinds of honeys and check each taste before purchasing.
6. CRADLE MOUNTAIN
Once we arrived at Cradle Mountain Wilderness Village (I will make a post about accommodations in Tasmania), we tried to go to Dove lake area by car in the evening to see landscapes around sunset time.
When we were driving, we by chance found….
Wallabies
I took a footage as well. It looked like they were fighting..?
and a Wombat!
They were soooo cute.
I knew they are relatively active in the evening, but I didn’t imagine that we would see closely them like this. Just for information, the place where we met Wallabies and wombats is between Cradle Mountain Lodge and the Visitor Centre as below.
After the surprising and fantastic meeting with them, we headed to Dove lake area.
Cradle Mountain with Dove lake gave us stunning views. It has been what I wanted to see and take photos.
Around sunset time 8:30 pm, the scene was breathtaking…
Then gradually it got dark. It took time (as far as I remember it took 30-60min.) for stars appearing.
It is said that weather in Cradle Mt is prone to cloudy. We may need to wait or try some times to get good conditions.
There were many activities and impressions in one day.. Really fruitful day.
05 Dec. 2016 @ Tasmania, Australia
Detailed Itinerary :
1. Take a walk around Launceston city.
2. Visit Cataract Gorge.
3. Drive through Tamar Valley.
4. Have a rest at Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm.
5. Visit Melita Honey Farm.
6. Enjoy Cradle Mountain.
