Oct 16  Our last day in the north east with a visit to St Marys which is dominated by St Patrick’s Head, named on March 17th 1774, it is the oldest Irish place name in Australia. The roads leading to and from St Marys were quite intimidating. St Helens is a seaside resort on the shores of Georges Bay, north of which is the Bay Of Fires, so named by Captain Furneaux in 1773 as he sailed past and saw the aboriginal camp fires burning along the shore. The shore line is covered rocks which have an orange coloured lichen.

        

Oct 15  Freycinet National Park is world renowned for its stunning coastal scenery, abundant wildlife and the famous Wineglass Bay Beach. We met one of the resident Bennets wallabies with the cutest baby in its pouch. In the morning it was very misty but, fortunately, the mist rose and the sun shone later in the day. We enjoyed some of the walks with beautiful views.

        

Oct 14  The last stop before Hobart is Bicheno, a lovely seaside town situated half way down Tasmania’s east coast. Bicheno is close to the Freycinet Peninsular with its huge National Park. On the way we pause for coffee at Campbelltown which has a historic bridge (built by convicts in the early 1800’s – most things in Tassie were !!) with some interesting carvings. Bicheno was where we tasted a unique Tasmania Pie – curried scallop – quite nice but doesn’t get close to a meat pie with mushy peas.

     

Oct 13  About 2 hours north east of Launceston, on Tasmania’s north east coast, close to Bridport is Barnbougle Dunes Golf Club. Rated Australia’s number 1 public access course, it rambles through sand dunes with views of Bass Strait to die for. Even the weather turned up with warm sunshine and bright blue skies.

        

Oct 12  Just 5 minutes from the city centre of Launceston is the Cataract Gorge Reserve. This is where the North and South Esk rivers converge to become the Tamar. There are many walks around the gorge with magnificent views. The Gorge has spiritual significance with the aboriginal people. We spotted some unusual wildlife – see photos.

           

Oct 11  Time to check out the Tamar Valley wines. The area is the oldest wine region in Tasmania, with more than 20 vineyards where you can sample some of the best cool climate wines in the world, the area is renowned for its sparkling wine, pinot gris and pinot noir. Brooke Eden and Jansz were 2 wineries we could not leave empty handed.

We travel on the east Tamar to the historic George Town and pilot station at Low Head. Lilydale Falls completes the days itinerary. We take a look at Batman Bridge which crosses the Tamar Valley about half way down (or up).

        

Oct 9  Launceston, our next base in Tassie, is the second largest city and lies at the base of the Tamar Valley, famous for its wineries and 19th Century architecture. The Tamar Valley is the sparkling wine capital of Australia.

Oct 10  Beaconsfield, 50kms north west of Launceston is the site of a working gold mine. It was recently in the news when 3 miners were trapped in a roof fall in the mine. Unfortunately, one was lost but the other 2 survived and were rescued after 14 days. The event is documented at the Mine and Heritage Centre in the town.

     

Close to Beaconsfield is Beauty Point, the site of Seahorse World, the world’s first seahorse farm. The fish bred here are sent to zoos and aquariums throughout the world. Did you know that it is the male seahorse who becomes pregnant and gives birth to the babies. Next to Seahorse World is Platypus House, where there is a tour of 4 platypus ponds to see the shy creatures feeding and playing. At the same site there is an Echidna exhibit with a walk through a bush garden to get a close up of the Australian hedgehog like creature.

Platypuses and Echidnas are the world’s only egg laying mammals. When their eggs hatch both (unrelated animals) share the same name for their young – puggles !!

     

Oct 8  We finish our first week in Tassie with a visit to Home Hill. This was the family home of Joseph and Enid Lyons, Tasmania’s only Australian Prime Minister. The home still contains the original artifacts from the time of his prime ministership. Solid silver photo frames with signed pictures of the King and Queen of England, a solid silver chalice presented to Joe by the Irish on a visit to Dublin, original invitations to the coronation and silver jubilee.

  

Oct 6  Stanley lies 125 kms west of Devonport. It is the site of ‘The Nut’ a 125 Metre volcanic plug. To reach the top you may either walk which takes around 15 minutes or the easier way – by chairlift. When on top, the views are breathtaking – the walk around the edge takes around 45 minutes as the land mass on top is approximately 90 acres.

The reserve protects the nationally endangered straw daisy and provides an important breeding site for short-tailed shearwaters (mutton birds), peregrine falcons, Australian kestrels and little penguins. The reserve protects significant Aboriginal and historic heritage sites. The Nut and the Aboriginal sites are of deep significance to the Aboriginal community, both present and past.

A little Irish history – Michael Lyons from Galway settled in Stanley in the early 1820’s. His grandson, Joseph Lyons became the only Australian Prime Minister born in Tasmania. He was also the only Australian to have held the positions of State Premier and Prime Minister. His wife was the first female member of the House of Representatives in 1943.

On our walk we spot a small bandicoot, which looks a lot like a wallaby – see the picture.

            

On the way back from Stanley we take a detour to see the beautiful tulip farm at Wynyard and also visit the lighthouse on nearby Table Cape. We spotted where Birds Eye get their baby peas from (see photo). Another piece of trivia, Tasmanian farmers can obtain a license to grow poppies which are then used to manufacture medicines.

     

Oct 5  Off on to a gourmet trail which includes Port Sorrell (fishing and walking), Elizabethtown (cheese, raspberries, chocolate), Deloraine (arts and crafts, sculpture trail), Latrobe (chocolate factory), Railton (topiary) and finishing at a fascinating salmon farm where we purchased some locally hot smoked salmon which was delicious.