【Travel Blog】Launceston & Cradle Mountain .::Serenity in Tasmania::.

“Do we need to activate our roaming in Tasmania?” …I wouldn’t reveal the identity of the person that asked me this question. But I have to admit, going to Tasmania somewhat felt like going abroad for some Sydneysiders like us.

I’d heard so much about the beauty of the Tasmanian wilderness so I was quite excited about this trip. On the UNESC World Heritage listing, the whole of “Tasmanian Wilderness” is a cultural and natural site in its own right.

Itinerary

Day 1 (arrive 9am): Launceston Harvest Market. Seahorse World. Black Cow Bistro.
Day 2: 41° South salmon farm. Cradle Mountain. Dove Lake. Highland Restaurant.
Day 3 (depart 6pm): Dove Lake circuit walk. Devils@Cradle Sanctuary. Christmas Hills raspberry farm.

[Photos taken in June 2013. Blog written in July 2014]

Getting to Tasmania

You could either fly to Tasmania from other States in Australia or catch a ferry from Melbourne to Devonport.

If you are flying, the two airports are Launceston and Hobart. If you could, book your flight in and out of Tasmania via different airports, as it would give you more flexibility to explore more of Tasmania from north (Launceston) to south (Hobart), or the other way around, and not having to worry about returning to the other side of the island again when you end your trip.

By the way, this was another domestic trip that I had booked in advance during a Jetstar promo to save on the airfare (see my Uluru review). For this one, I literally booked the tickets a whole year in advance. Yup, a whole year. And the reward was a mere $88 per person return tickets during the Queen’s birthday long weekend!

Harvest Market

Tassie (what we Australians call Tasmania) is also known for its fresh produce. We visited the Harvest Market in Launceston city (only on Saturdays) as soon as we got off the plane to stock up on some fresh veges and fruits for our second day in the Cradle Mountain.

The veges all looked super fresh. L and I got very excited because we both enjoy cooking and love fresh food.

This was the first time that we ever tried Crofton apples. There was this apple stall that sold nothing but all types of apples. We asked the boss to recommend us a type because they were all sold in big bags and we could only pick one type. The boss told us Crofton was good; while we were still deciding, the lady next to us who just happened to have bought a bag of Crofton apples suddenly opened up her bag and offered us one to taste! How sweet of her.

So we tried it, and boy, it was so good!

It was crisp, juicy and with a sweet lingering after-taste. It’s very hard to describe the taste but it was very unique, in a nice and refreshing way.

And then we tried the cheese from Southern Sky Dairy. It was absolutely beautiful and left L and I wanting for more!

{Harvest Market}
Address: 71 Cimitiere St, Launceston TAS 7250
Phone: 0417 352 780
Opens: Every Saturday 8:30am - 12:30pm

Seahorse World

Seahorses? More like underwater unicorns!

I don’t know why, but I’ve always thought seahorses are such magical creatures.

We saw these cute little babies at the Seahorse World. The Seahorse World is a 40-min drive from Launceston and is part of one of Australia’s largest and growing ornamental fish farms.

We joined the guided tour ($20/adult, but we paid a discounted price of $15/adult for booking online). It wasn’t a big place and it wasn’t very glam, I personally don’t think it’s a “must-see” in Launceston. However, you would love this place if you are a big fan of seahorses.

We even got to hold a seahorse in our hands! A seahorse’s heart is near where its neck is, and I could feel it pumping in my hands.

{Seahorse World}
Address: 200 Flinders Street, Beauty Point TAS
Phone: (03) 6383 4111
Tours depart on the hour from 10am to 3pm. 
Tours are for 45mins (allow an hour)

41° South

There’s a salmon farm between Launceston and Cradle Mountain, guarded by this handsome being named George.

Here, you can take a self-guided tour (for a fee, $10/adult) in the salmon farm, sit down in their cafe, sample some ginseng tea and buy some smoked salmon home.

It’s called 41° South because of its geographical coordinates, and it has been visited by people all over the globe and the World Map in the cafe was the evidence.

The food offering in the cafe was pretty simple – sandwiches and burgers with salmon smoked on the premises. It’s nothing fancy, but not bad for a stopover and stomach-refuel between Launceston and Cradle Mountain.

They also grew ginseng on site. I bought a ginseng spice and it worked really well on steak.

Lots and lots of humongous salmon in the pond. Too bad they only do smoked salmon and not sashimi!

We were free to walk around and to explore the natural surroundings of the farm. If you’re lucky, you might even spot a wild platypus or two.

This was an interesting touch by the owner – the nature’s willow maze walk.

{41 degrees south}
Address: 323 Montana Rd, Red Hills TAS 7304
Tel: (03) 6362 4130
Website: http://www.41southtasmania.com/

Cradle Mountain

The Cradle Mountain – Lake St Clair National Park occupies a large part of Tassie and is what put the Tasmanian wilderness on the World Heritage list. Due to it being a short trip, we had to leave Lake St Clair for another day and just focus on the northern part of Tassie, i.e. Launceston & Cradle Mountain.

We did the Dove Lake circuit in the Cradle Mountain, a 1.5 to 2-hour relatively easy 6km walk.

Before you start the walk, do remember to register your walk at the office in front of the Dove Lake for your own safety – this is especially important for those embarking on multi-day walks, such as the 7-day Overland Walk.

The Boatshed.

The clouds were hanging so close to us, very enchanting.

Although the Dove Lake scenery was not overwhelmingly magnificent as such, the serenity of the Lake definitely gave us a good taste of the wonderfulness of Tassie wilderness.

There were parts of the walk where we could get really close to the lake.

Other parts where we got great panoramic views of the lake.

The Glacier Rock.

Like most lakes in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair region, the Dove Lake was formed by glaciation. The Glacier Rock (where we were standing on) was the proof.

Good night Dove Lake.

Highland Restaurant @ Peppers (dinning)

There were not a lot of restaurant choices in Cradle Mountain. We decided to try out the Highland Restaurant located in the high-end Peppers resort.

The setting was warm and comfortable with wood fire burning and the room decorated tastefully with natural stones and wood columns.

The food was not bad but nothing really stood out. Overall, it was a pleasant dinning experience on a cold winter night – good atmosphere, good wine and good company.

Cradle Mountain Highlander (accommodation)

Both Mike and I were really happy with our accommodation at the Cradle Mountain Highlander! It was a cosy lodge with all natural wood interior, a fireplace, a large bed, a lounge with a sofa and TV and a fully functional kitchen.

A tip is to buy your groceries before you head in the Mountains – remember to get some salt, pepper, butter, glad wrap and aluminium foil.

At night, these gigantic possums came to visit us.

If you are scared of the wildlife, like my dear friend L, then you might want to consider other places (such as the Cradle Mountain Chateau, which was also pretty nice and was a more “modern” alternative), because at Cradle Mountain Highlanders, it’s all about being close to the mother nature and the wildlife.

Spotted: wild possums and wild koala in the house! (Hey, onesies were in in 2013)

Freshly made breakkie at the lodge. Keep an eye out of the window when you cook….

This little fella smelled the food and came to our door! Awwwwww too cute!

{Cradle Mountain Highlanders}
Address: 3876 Cradle Mountain Road, Cradle Mountain TAS
Tel: (03) 6492 1116
Website: http://www.cradlehighlander.com.au/

Devils@Cradle Sanctuary

We didn’t see any wild Tasmanian Devils, but the Devils@Cradle was a nice little sanctuary with these cute little babies running around and with educational information on their conservation efforts.

Tragically, the population of Tasmanian Devils has been threatened by a horrible disease known as the Devil Facial Tumour Disease. If you ever get to see a defaced Tasmanian Devil, it’s because it’s sick :(

On a lighter note, do you know who is the world’s most famous Tasmanian Devil? I’ll give you three seconds to think about it:

And the answer is….

Yes！Taz from Looney Tunes, Bugs Bunny’s friend～Did you guess it?

We also met this seemingly innocent quoll. It’s hard to believe it’s a carnivorous marsupial that eats small mammals such as rabbits, birds and lizards!

{Devils@Cradle}
Address:3950 Cradle Mountain rd. Cradle Mountain.
(Located just 500m before the Cradle Mountain Lodge or National Park.)
Phone: 03 6492 1491
Hours: Mon-Sun 10am-10pm

Christmas Hills raspberry farm

We found out that there’s a raspberry farm between Cradle Mountain and Launceston, so we decided to pay it a visit and have a sweet finish to our Tassie trip. It wasn’t raspberry season so there was no farm to see, but it’s ok, the cafe was open.

It was a full house on a public holiday that we visited. We ordered the waffles and the sticky date pudding. Both desserts were a bit too sweet for my liking, but it warmed us up.

The raspberry hot chocolate. Couldn’t really taste the raspberry, but loved the colour.

Xoxo.

{Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm}
Address: 9 Christmas Hills Road, Elizabeth Town, Tasmania
Phone: (03) 6362 2186
Website: http://www.raspberryfarmcafe.com/

HER{curio}MAJESTY. I was here. June 2013.