Anniversary Blog 16 - Tasmania
We took a flight over to Hobart International Airport on the island of Tasmania!. Anne rented a great place that sat on a cliff overlooking Park Beach in Dodge’s Ferry. Part of the reason we wanted to hit up Tasmania was because we wanted to see the Aurora Australis.
This would have been an amazing spot to take it all in. Nice and away from the city, overlooking an expanse of dark ocean at night. Perfect… Unfortunately, the way the stars lined up, we ended up in the area during a VERY BRIGHT full moon. Full moons are bad for aurora chasing. You win some, you lose some!
We got to go grocery shopping and cook our own food which was great. The food in Australia was infinitely better than what we had in New Zealand, and having a kitchen was a great break from eating out all the time. We took the rest of the afternoon off and enjoyed the next day as a chill day as well. Some KFC and homemade taco salads and everything was right in the world.
The next morning we explored Dodge’s Ferry and Hobart a little, looking for camera equipment, did a little window shopping, and grabbed lunch at Barcelona in Salamanca square.
We then hit some of the stops on the Tasmanian Wine Trail. We visited Frogmore Creek, bought a bottle at Riversdale Estate Winery (where they had a Peter Rabbit garden), and Puddleduck Vinyard was a cute little spot.
The area was beautiful. Every spot we hit had its own unique feel to it, but none of them were particularly stuffy. I like a good wine area that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Our last stop, Pooley Wines, had two different vineyards, so it was interesting to see what a difference soil makes when you’re using the same grapes and the same winemaking process. The tastings were all pretty good, not as good as our Chilean adventure, but still decent vineyards. Who knew Tasmania was such a great wine destination?
The next day we drove to south Tasmania. We first stopped at Port Arthur Lavender, a lavender farm that had a shop with lavender infused everything from paper to soap to linens. They also had a restaurant where you could eat lavender infused items like bacon and eggs with lavender chutney, a croissant with lavender triple berry jam, and drinks like lavender hot chocolate or a lavender daiquiri.
We then headed to the Port Arthur Penitentiary, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Australian Penal System. The site is pretty cool, the buildings all over the property are in various states from restored houses to little more than rubble. We used the self guided audio tour, and at some of the locations there were guides who would give a short history of their exhibits. There’s even a boat tour you can take.
For our last meal in Tasmania we grabbed a pizza at Geppeto’s in the town of Sorrel. The next morning we hoped a flight up to Cairns for one of the big bucket list moments of the trip!
