Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: Tasmanian Devils (2010)
On the Wine Trail
There was no need to be up and about particularly early, but of course living in a farm setting does tend to bring its own natural alarm-clock sound effects! I think I was first to surface and my top priority was to light the gas fire so that at least when I emerged from the shower, I wouldn't feel liable to instant freezing! Soon, cooking smells were once again wafting through the little building and before long we were tucking into a traditional cooked breakfast of bacon, sausages and fried eggs. I had almost forgotten the wonderful taste of fresh eggs straight from the farm, rather than the supermarket. Mm-mm-mmmmmm ... amazing!
A little later, once all the clearing up had been done, we were just about ready to hit the road for our first full day on the island. Prior to setting off, it was nice to spend a few minutes getting to know our immediate surroundings a little better, with the benefit of daylight. The weather seemed none too promising, but one benefit of having a car is that such considerations become so much less of a potential show-stopper. With an outline plan of seeing some of the Wine Trail country and revisiting Launceston, we initially retraced the previous evening's route as far as the village of Scottsdale and then headed off towards the coastal towns of Bridport and George Town, before crossing the Tamar River by the delightfully named Batman Bridge and reaching Sidmouth. It was all a little strange, running into so many familiar place names. After a necessarily brief photo stop - the skies were very threatening! - we then made our way into Launceston's little Cataract Gorge district. Bruce had found some glowing recommendations for the Stillwater Cafe there, so we were delighted when they were able to fit us in for lunch without any trouble.
After an excellent midday meal, and encouraged by the improving weather, we decided to retrace our route a little and visit the Rosevears vineyard that we had passed earlier in the day, shortly after crossing the bridge that appeared to recall the adventures of a certain caped crusader. We did a little wine tasting (I kept my own participation under strict control) and, based on the results, some wine buying. Also of interest were the facility's 16 chalet-type apartments overlooking the vine-covered slopes down to the Tamar River below. They looked rather exclusive, but of course were not really in the self-catering market and were priced accordingly.
After a brief stop in town to replenish our supplies, we hit the road back to Branxholm, realising that this time, arrival prior to nightfall was not going to be feasible. Thankfully, there were no wildlife encounters until we were progressing up the dirt road back to the farm. A small and indeterminate marsupial made a dash across the track and only succeeded in the seemingly impossible task of passing through the wire fence at the other side after much frantic bottom-wiggling in the glare of the car's headlights!
Despite the sometimes inclement weather, it had been a varied and interesting day and it was suitably rounded off with a delicious mushroom risotto for dinner.