Launceston Long Weekend

[Lynda2475]

Last weekend I headed to Launceston for the Anzac Day long weekend.

The last time I was there I was 4 or 5 years old with two vague memories: taking the chair lift across Cataract Gorge and visiting a park that had a giant shoe with a slippery dip. So needless to say I was long over due for a visit.

Saturday morning a very quick Uber trip to SYD via the new tunnel (7 mins door to door), dropped bag, short wait at security and into the J lounge. Had some hot breaky and a coffee, uneventful wait until boarding was called and short stroll to the gate, and straight onto the plane as no one in the priority queue ahead of me.

QF1568 SYD-LST on B 717 10:15am departure. First trip in whY for a while, but i couldn't justify burning points for an upgrade on a 1hr 45min flight. I had 6A and a shadow in 6C. FA announced during boarding that Q-Streaming was not working, and suggested people download their own content (I had of course already done this at home).

Drinks (Juice, Coffee, Tea, softdrink or water) was offered along with a snack of white chocolate chip cookies which were crazy over sweet and went un-eaten. Would have preferred a savory option but had eaten in the lounge so not a big deal.

Smooth flight a couple of pics from the window:




Arrived to sunny skies and 18C. No aerobridges at LST so had to walk down the stairs and across tarmac to the terminal and up stairs to baggage claim.

Bags took about 15 minutes to appear, and the priority ones appeared well after many others.

Bag retrieved I headed for the exit, there was absolutely zero signage directing you to the ride share area. Asked a couple of employees and was directed to the right, you have to walk the length of the terminal building, cross the road into the long term carpark and then cut through it to the uber area. Uber arrived within 2 mins and I was on my way into Launceston.

 

[Lynda2475]

Home base for the weekend was Peppers Silo Hotel, as a Accor + Gold I was able to check in early 12:40pm (instead of the usual 2pm).

I was given 2 drinks vouchers which could be redeemed at the Grain of Silos Restaurant, Woody's Bar or the Café for any beer, any wine by the glass, soft drink or coffee/tea.

There was also free juice in the lobby if one was ever feeling parched



The hotel has a canine concierge, a black Labrador called Archie who even has his own business card.



Archie is pretty much a senior citizen these days, so favoured sleeping. However we did become friends and I did take him for a wee walk in the afternoon from the hotel around the outside of Riverbend Park and back to the hotel.

 

[Lynda2475]

My room was a Tamar River room, so not in the old Silos but the new extension on the back.

I like how the room numbers are on the carpet, makes it very easy to find the room.



These rooms essentially have a view of the carpark and Bunnings Warehouse, Office works. Unless you get the end rooms on level 8 which have an extra window. In my case room #815 also offered a view of the park and into town.



Room was spacious with very comfortable bed, nice walk-in shower and desk. I liked that there was a shelf in the shower so somewhere to put your own toiletries given the hotel provided ones were wall mounted). Towels were generous sized bath sheets, soft and fluffy.





Room did not provide robes, slippers or a coffee machine but I'm not fussed about those things.

 

[Lynda2475]

After unpacking (there was a good amount of hanging space and shelves in the wardrobe along with the usual laptop friendly safe), I decided to go for a wander to find some lunch.

Riverbend Park which is directly in front of the Silos was full of families enjoying the sunshine, BBQ'ing and kinds climb the really impressive rope climbs and using the basketball courts.

On the plus side you could not hear any of this noise from inside the hotel rooms.

It is a 10-15 minute walk into the centre of the Launceston CBD, but I opted to just stop at one of the restaurants across the bridge (5 minutes).

Had a salt n pepper calamari salad at Levee.



Then I went for wander about town, browsed in some shops, scoped out ideas for dinner and picked up some sparkling water for my room (of course Woolies and Coles were at the very opposite end of town), Launceston (apart from Riverbend Park) seemed pretty dead on a Saturday afternoon.

I liked this mural



I had originally booked a 3pm Afternoon Discovery Cruise with Tamar River Cruises Afternoon Discovery Cruise - Tamar River Cruises but received a call a few days before departure to say they needed to do maintenance and offered me an upgrade to a lunch cruise on the Sunday or the same cruise on another day but as I already had plans I took a refund.

I probably could have got an uber/bus up to the gorge, but headed back to the hotel
and then took Archie for a short walk; before catching up on some reading.

View of the hotel whilst walking Archie

 

[Lynda2475]

While I was out hotel delivered welcome gift - bottle of Devil's Corner Sparkling wine and house made chocolate & coconut truffles. Unfortunately no bottled water.

 

[Lynda2475]

I got a bit too engrossed in my book and as I wasn't super hungry, I could not be bothered walking back into to town for dinner. Headed downstairs and sat in the lounge; then used one of my drink vouchers for a glass of Rose at Woody's and order two bar snacks - tassie scallops and pork ribs.

Accor+ discount given on the bar snacks, both tasty enough.

 

[Lynda2475]

Awoke on Sunday to clear skies and the sun just about to peak over the hills.



All calm on the Tamar



Feeling lazy I made the mistake of having breakfast at the hotel (do not bother). Very expensive and small serves, but the coffee was decent and they do give Accor + discount.

 

[Lynda2475]

Sunday's main event was Half Day Food + Wine Matching Tour with Valleybrook Wine on Wheel Tours see here: Full day Tamar wine tour in the Tamar Valley Launceston Tasmania

This tour is run by husband and wife team Jeremey and Steph and they visit only boutique wineries in the Tamar Valley. Pick-up at 10:30am.

Steph looked after the 3 passengers really well and we were spoilt with a good number of tastings at each vineyard. The food options all paired really well with the wines we tasted.

First stop was Winter Brook , which as it turned out was my favorite of the day. 8 wines sampled - 2020 Vintage Blanc de Blanc, 2022 Riesling, 2022 Pinot Gris, 2022 Fume Blanc, 2019 Chardonnay, 2022 Pinot Rose, 2022 Pinot Noir and the 2021 Maverick.






A certain Grand Designs host was seated at the next table!

Next stop was Iron Pot Bay vineyard. Another 8 wines tasted: 2018 Blanc de Noir, 2017 Sparkling Homeward Bound, 2022 Pinot Grigio, 2022 Chardonnay North, 2016 Gewürztraminer, 2017 Pinot Meunier Mani, 2019 Pinot Noir E Block and 2017 Primis Dessert Wine.

 

[Lynda2475]

Third stop was Swinging Gate



They offer over night stays in domes



Another 8 wines tasted, but i seem to have misplaced my tasting notes.



4th and final stop was at Velo wines. They have a nice looking restaurant which was super busy and live music on a Sunday arvo. Another 7 wines.





I needed a nanna nap and some non alcoholic hydration when I got back to the hotel about 4:30pm.

Highly recommend Valleybrook if you are looking for someone to take you wine tasting in the Tamar, it was never rushed and a great day. If I'm back Id certainly do one of their other options. They also do private tours if those organizing the AFF Weekend want to support a small local business.

 

[Lynda2475]

Sunday dinner was at Luz (Spanish for Light) Luz Restaurant which is across from James Boags brewery, about 10 mins walk from the Silos.

No pictures unfortunately as I accidently left my phone charging at the hotel.

For entree I had the Scallops, for main the Pork Belly and Charred Broccolini and for dessert the Chocolate Fondant. Couldn't fault any of them.

I snapped this picture of the menu when I walked past it again on Tuesday.




When I got back to my room, there had been a turn down service (not sure why none the previous night) with tea and lavender (ick) spray left next to my pillow. All the curtains had been closed.

 

[Lynda2475]

Super early start on Monday with a 7am pick up for a day trip to Cradle Mountain.

Fortunately the café opens at 6:30am so I was able to grab a large take-out coffee to keep me going until the morning tea stop.

Being first picked up, I asked to sit upfront of the minibus with the driver. Collected 2nd passenger a Queenslander who thought thongs were ideal footwear choice for hiking in what was forecast to be 13C temperatures before collecting the other 6 passengers from the Grand Chancellor (there should of been 8 but 2 overslept kept us waiting for almost 20 mins before deciding to be a no show).

Once we were finally on the road, first stop was in the small town of Sheffield to have breaky/morning tea, purchase lunch to take with us and view the murals.

I had a bacon and egg roll (many had scallop pies) and grabbed an egg salad sandwich for later, then took a gander at the murals.

Here is the first original mural:


and some others:

 

[Denali]

I really enjoyed Sheffield....theres a man there that walks his lama on a leash

 

[Lynda2475]

And more murals:

@Denali did you mean this guy?

 

[Lynda2475]

And even more:

 

[kpc]

Nice report. Appreciate the time you spent putting it together!

 

[Lynda2475]

Leaving Sheffield was a bit worried we might see rain


But the closer we got to the national park the clearer the skies got.

This is Australia's tallest brick dam:


We stopped for the driver to collect our national park entry tickets






Driving private vehicles into the park is discouraged, most visitors not on a tour leave their cars at the visitor centre and take one of the national park shuttles. These busses (use of which is included in entry ticket) run every 10 minutes, dropping off and picking up from starting points for all the major walks and tracks.

Initial glimpse of the mountain in the distance



The first stop once inside the park was a short boardwalk to see a waterfall



We met a local en route

 

[Lynda2475]

And at last we arrived at the main event Cradle Mountain.




There are a choice of easy walks; and moderate to difficult hikes or climbs.



Myself, our guide and two others opted to do the Dove lake Circuit, which is rated moderate. Whilst just over 6km they say to allow 2-3 hours as it is very uneven, some flatter bits and boardwalks but mostly rocky paths and odd distanced stairs cut into rock. We took about 2hrs and 20 mins including stopping for a 10-15 min lunch break halfway around.

Thong dude and 3 others opted for Marions Look-out which is difficult, The two younger ones finished return trip in 3 hours; the older two took 3.5hours.

Our final tour member knew her limits, did the Dove Lake Boatshed and then waited at the observation centre for the rest of us to return.

Speaking of knowing your limits. Whilst there are rangers stations at other spots in the park; there was no ranger on duty at the set-off point for the above walks, and whilst mobiles have coverage at some points it is far from consistent.

About 3/4 of the way through then walk, as we summitted the highest point a guy came up to my guide and asked if he was ranger, as apparently an older gentlemen had taken a fall and was injured.

10 mins later we cam across him, he was late 60s and about 120kgs, he didnt look like someone who would regularly go hiking. He had split his head open after losing balance on the descent and falling onto the rocky ground and had other abrasions.

Luckily one of the first hikers to get to him was an off duty nurse who borrowed a first aid kit from someone else to bandage up the cut of his head and do an initial assessment. She suspected a concussion and the injured man was unsteady and groggy. There was no way to get an ambulance to him (it is only a narrow track and no phone coverage at that point).

The nurse had to leave as her kids had run on ahead, so another kind gentlemen and my guide then helped the injured man to his feet; and assisted him (basically held him upright) walking very very slowly to the final flat section, while the helpers partner carried the injured mans day pack.

This created a bit of a bottle neck on the circuit as the park was very busy being such a lovely day; but as Chinese whispers were passed back about the injury the impatient people suddenly found patience.

About 40 minutes after we had left the injured gentlemen with the couple, we finally saw them appear at the starting point and my guide flagged down the shuttle driver to use his CB radio to notify ranger to call an ambulance to meet the bus at park entrance; as he needed to go to hospital.

I originally thought that couple helping him back were with him but it turned out the injured guy had driven his car to visitors centre and then come on the shuttle and set off on the hike alone (not wise). That lovely couple gave abandoned their own visit to see this guy out safely. I hope the injured guy is ok, but a lesson in knowing your limits (he should have at least had trekking poles to give him better balance and signed up with a guide). Had the weather not been as nice he may not have been discovered and assisted so promptly.

 

[Lynda2475]

Here are some pics I took on the Dove Lake Circuit:



Looking back to the starting point and the observation centre


Across the lake to the boat house


Whilst it was only 13C the clear skies and fact I was working up quite a sweat with the hike meant it felt much warmer and saw me in short sleeves until we stopped moving and then layers came back on.

Perfect weather really, the hike would have been so so much harder in the wet, it was slippery enough in parts in the dry.

 

[Lynda2475]

and from inside the centre

 

[Lynda2475]

On the way out of the park we stopped at a cottage and went wombat spotting, none as close as earlier in the day.

Then on way back to Launceston we stopped at the Van Diemen's Land Creamery for some delicious ice-cream, https://www.vdlcreamery.com.au/venuesfactory I had the café latte (which I fell in love with when in Hobart last December) and the Anzac (well it was Anzac Day eve).

There was also opportunity to visit the Christmas Hills Raspberry farm across the road.

Can you tell I enjoyed my ice-cream too much to remember to take any pictures?