We noticed how close Launceston was to Swansea and decided to “pop in” on the way back to Hobart. We said our goodbyes to Lesla and Mike…
(Not the best photo, but you can see how close they are to the water!) and were on our way. It was suggested that we head to Cataract Gorge, so armed with a map we drove through the beautiful town of Launceston. And beautiful it was! I love that all the houses are different colours (same as Hobart!) and the Autumn leaves really set it off! We parked the car near the gorge and started our walk.
Did I mention is was cold? I mean, the locals were wearing light clothing, but I had 4 layers on. Chilly!!! It was a very pretty walk though, and we started warming up quite quickly.
When we got to “the end” it was like we’d stepped on to a movie set, hidden away from everything! There was a swimming pool, a restaurant, a cafe, a bar, a chair lift, a suspension bridge and a park. It was really amazing! And wouldn’t you know it, I don’t have any photos of it on my memory stick. I’ll have to see what I have at home! It really was gorgeous! There are 2 ways of returning to the start – the high road or the low road 🙂 We had taken the low road there, which was the easy route, and we had planned to take the high road home which was more of a hike, but I was just too knackered. We got back to the car and started our journey back to Hobart.
We arrived back at the B&B and this time we were booked into a room at the back of the building, with our own ensuite! Gorgeous! And oh so quiet (sssshhhh sssshhh). We returned the car with no additional costs (woo hoo!) and caught the last quarter of a Carlton vs Geelong game at the pub. Then we used our last $19 to buy some dinner (noodles/rice at a cute little Asian take away joint) and it was back to the B&B for a night in.
What a great trip! We had such a lovely time and really enjoyed the ease of getting around Tassie. Hubs wants to do a Cradle Mountain hike one of these days, and it’s definitely a place I’d love to come back to. I’m so glad we were able to visit while still living in Melbourne. The next trip on the list? Back to Brissie for a weekend at the end of May. Hope to see some of you then!
Here’s what I was talking about when I mentioned the different coloured houses in Hobart. Just beautiful!
