After several months of thinking about it we finally got around to booking ourselves into a holiday at Tasmania. Impulsively we booked an AirBnB acco at Hobart for 5 nights around Easter and along with the lovely Pradeep, Seeta, Athrey and Anoop we had set out on another adventure in Ozland! Having heard about the Tassie beauty from several locals as well as seasoned travellers such as Anil (one of our colleagues at Woolies), we were excited about this trip ! Even as we started researching the 'must see' places we realised this was gonna be fun, every place seemed picture perfect, so planning a 5 day itinerary sure seemed tough! Anoop came to the rescue with several good suggestions and over a drink and a bite on a Saturday evening we had a somewhat roughly sketched 'plan for plan' ;-) (Anoop will surely understand where that comes from!!=))
We landed in Hobart on 11th to a somewhat wet and rough weather.... aarrghhhh!!!! Surely this was not a sign of things to come....!! :-( We didn't want to be in a wash out trip after all the monies spent on this!! It proved to be lesson 01: Never take a plan for granted when in Tassie!
We headed to our cottage at Sandy Bay and gasped at the beauty of the house that we had.
A quick tour of the house revealed a master bedroom that had an 'attached bath' in the basement... the architect was very tongue in cheek to have built this bath- it sure had a view......... and no doors!!! We couldn't all help chuckle at the prospect of successfully bathing a Tu or an Athrey in this bath. None the less AJ & I braved up to the task and took this room, after all what is a vacation that doesn't have it's share of weird experiences!!? AJ figured a way to keep Tu occupied with the hand shower and distracted her from the possibility of freely running around this bath!! None the less we all had a good laugh and I must confess the one night that I had to manage Tu on my own I did struggle with this bath!! More adventure followed as Pradeep caught a couple of millipedes in his room and I spotted a scorpion in ours. The house was soon a insect/reptile hunt and Tu had a field day claiming to be spotting one at every turn!!! Once done with the baths, all our growling stomach's reminded us that we had been up since 3:30 AM in order to make this flight into Hobart. Our first pit stop was breakfast at Signal Station Brasserie on Mt Nelson- trust TA to give us the best suggestions as always! It turned out to be the perfect spot for a scrumptious brekkie!
Even amidst the rain and the clouds this restaurant perched precariously on Mt Nelson offered some breathtaking views of Hobart. The hostess was kind enough to accommodate us when we turned up without a reservation and the food was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!! Finger licking yumm pancakes, omelettes, scrambled eggs, vanilla chai and coffees were soon served and boy o boy even if we had wished for it the start to our trip couldn't have been any better!! :-D
We quickly regrouped to discard our Mt Wellington plan and instead headed to Russell Falls- ther eis something enchanting about seeing a waterfall in the rains! The route was scenic, we were driving by winding river bends and a slightly fading flora- just hinting the beginning of autumn even as the leaves were fading into a nice yellow.
We spotted a kestrel on a wire by the road and AJ stopped to capture it on his camera. When we reached the visitor centre for the falls the rains had stopped but we lost all mobile connectivity leading to some confusion in getting our coordinates right with pradeep (they were in another car). Rather torn on whether to wait for them or whether they were in fact ahead of us we headed to the falls. It was a mere trickle, but beautiful none the less.
However there was no sign of PK, Seeta or Anoop. A sign told us there were other areas to see within 15mins of a walk, Tu very eagerly prompted us to go on and hence we headed to Horseshoe falls further ahead. It was all of 165 steps up and Tu very bravely managed it on her own. Every time I see her doggedly trek up to see one of these sights I feel insanely proud of her. There is more to a trek than just the sight that meets us at the end, every journey that is tread afoot adds so much character to a trip! And to have the honor of sharing that with my daughter feels so right in many ways!! :-) Huffing and puffing we reached the top of Russell Falls and another sign said Horseshoe Falls was a mere couple of mins away. So off we went.
We reached this one when no one else was around and hence we monkeyed around there trying to click some selfies with a very jumpy Tu! :-D Still no sign of PK & co. :-/ Tu loudly wondered if they were lost and as we explained to her that maybe they were behind us we managed to climb the 165 steps down and just as were getting to the very end Tu squealed in delight as she spotted Anoop!! Finally, they were here too!! All along we had thought our stop to capture the beautiful kestrel had us behind PK's car, but turns out they had stopped too and were actually behind us!! All confusions gone PK and Anoop decided to trek up to Horseshoe falls, while the rest of us decided to go on ahead and complete the loop back out to the cafe at the visitor center. A tired and sleepy Tu wanted us to carry her, but we somehow managed to convince her to walk the distance and once at the cafe we gave her some avocados to eat while we grabbed a coffee to get our muscles going! :-)
Soon Anoop and PK were back too and we all headed back to Hobart, we packed some dinner at Zambrero (a mexican joint) and headed back to the acco to have our dinner- the burrito bowls we had all picked up was delicious and made for a very filling meal indeed . It had been a long day and with a very rough plan of 'going to Bruny Island' (yep, that was all that was the plan!!) the next day we all hit the bed early.
The next day we excitedly got ready by 7:15 and headed off to Kettering to catch our ferry to Bruny. I realised i had forgotten my jacket and hence hurriedly took the house keys from Anoop to turn back and grab it from home. Unfortunately this delayed us a bit and we reached the ferry point by 8:08 only to discover that we had just missed the ferry, plus to add to our woes only one of the 2 ferries that normally operate was functional today. So we had to wait until 9AM for our next ferry!! :-( We got our car in the line and waited at the Mermaid Cafe at the wharf, with lovely views we easily whiled away the wait time and soon it was time to board the ferry!
With the wait time and boarding time and everything we reached Bruny only by around 9:45 AM. The ferry ride was smooth and uneventful.
So for anyone planning a trip to Bruny from Hobart my tip is to ensure you factor in the ferry lead times so you optimise your plan!! Even before that,please have a more detailed PLAN, you will understand why I say that a lil later on in my blog...!!Once we reached Bruny we were happy to note that it was a lovely sunny day and we headed straight to the Neck lookout point. The drive itself was beautiful, the roads often ran adjacent to the bright blue sea!
We reached the lookout point and saw a flight of stairs leading up to the view. Parking was easy at this point.
True to our expectations the view from this lookout was spectacular and the beach down below seemed to beckon us tantalisingly!
Eager to explore the rest of the island we doggedly manage to convince Tu that we would get into the waters at a later time and headed off in the quest for an early lunch to Penguin Cafe...now this turned out to be a comedy of errors!! We drove in one direction and after a certain point when we passed the Bruny Hotel we were almost certain we were lost, we pulled over at a winery and asked them for directions and turns out we had overshot this cafe. We headed back and spotted the Bruny Island Cafe and pulled over. but by then Tu had dozed off on her afternoon nap and the rest of the gang quickly inspected the cafe but decided to not leave me and Tu out and instead drive to this well reviewed Penguin Cafe near Adventure Bay. Through lovely sea shore we drove to finally reach the fantastically located Penguin Cafe, alas turned out it was closed on Wednesdays!!!!
Ohhh if my stomach could have groaned out loud, it would have.....all of us were hungry and cranky and thus started the long drive back to Hotel Bruny. In all, we had lost a good couple of hours driving up and down Bruny, but when we finally got into Hotel Bruny they served us some delicious Linguini, Seeta braved a grilled Dory, PK & AJ downed some Tassie Whiskey. Tu and Athrey even had a play area to keep themselves busy. Finally we all felt a bit refuelled and up to the game again!
As we came out we saw this lovely path leading down to the beach, Tu & I walked down to look at some shells that were lying strewn around. Soon everyone was ready to leave but it kind of seemed insane to drive back to adventure bay to continue our originally planned itinerary so we quickly re-planned and instead headed to the beautiful South Bruny Island Light House. Turned out to be a day saver of a decision. The first sighting of the light house was spectacular and the closer we got, the more beautiful this seascape seemed!
by the time we reached, Athrey who was asleep, so Seeta decided to keep him company while the rest of us headed up to the light house. Anoop climbed up behind us and happily obliged to pose a couple of time too!
The views were amazing till the eye could see, I just couldn't stop clicking the landscapes around.
Once up there was a tour of the light house we could go to, except they didn't allow kids younger than 5 to join in!! :-( A very eager Tu was left scowling and she almost insisted I shouldn't go either when AJ somehow managed to convince her that it was ok for me to go along with Anoop while AJ kept her company.
Our guide was Matt- who made an elaborate scene around locking the light house up before taking us upstairs to show us around.
The history of the lighthouse was interesting, it was the second oldest standing lighthouse in Australia- all of 119 years old. it had been built by 12 convicts in 18 months and had earned them their freedom.
Matt explained the mechanics of the light house and once outside Anoop and I gasped at the view it afforded us! Court Island was skirting within hands reach and we could see to the horizon where Antartica lay.
Mesmerising views, we hesitantly headed back to the door. Just as we were getting there I spotted Tu down below and gave her a shout....her reaction was a biggg howl.... "Mommyyyyyy come dowwwwwnnnnn, why did you leave me and go up there???!!" Much to Anoop's amusement I quickly back tracked and headed back down to a very eager Tu who was waiting to run into me as I stepped out of the light house door! :-D All the way back she pestered me with questions around why I went up when she couldn't com with me and how she 'missed mummy, I thought you were gone"...... siggghhhhh the perils of travelling with a toddler I say!! :-/
Anyways by the time we got done here it was time to head back to the ferry, It was a 60 min drive back and we reached in time for the 5PM ferry.
Even as we got to Kettering the sunlight was fading and all our plans to visit Mt Wellington faded away with it! :-( Instead we headed for dinner to an Indian Restaurant- Chillies The meal they served us was yum albeit the delay of 30 mins before it got to our table. All in all this taught us that it was very important to plan the day in advance including the lunch spots. So we all committed to staying up a bit and planning the next day out to the nth degree of detail. So today once the kids were asleep we all regrouped to plan Thursday- our visit to Port Arthur. Even as I patted Tu to sleep I had googled this self drive itinerary and it seemed promising: https://tasmania.com/itineraries/tasmania-self-drive-itineraries/hobart-to-port-arthur-self-drive-itinerary/. Once i came out and discussed with Anoop and PK we had decided to do a part of this itinerary!
Thursday was again nice and sunny, we were ready by 7:30 and headed off to Richmond, then drove past Sorell, The roads alternated between scenic villages and vineyard clad hills.
AJ & I made a slight detour to drive through Dodges Ferry to Pirates Look Out--this drive was incredible!! Glistening azure shorelines flanked us all the way as we drove into the look out! The views at the lookout was again mindblowing....! In Tassie we just had to get used to being treated to some insane views on unending rolling hills that stood tall jutting proud among thrashing blue waters!
Dolomite/Limestone cliffs strutted proudly making for a classic backdrop no matter which way you looked! A couple at the lookout point were capturing this scene with the help of a drone even as Tu and Athrey watched the drone in awe! :-) We then stopped at the Tessellated Beach to admire the beautiful formations that nature had created! the short walk to the beach here is well worth the effort. We also spotted some crabs while on the rocks.
Soon we headed to the iconic Tasman arch, it outlined sapphire blue waters. The look out point didn't allow us to access it or the beach, none the less it was a nice sight.
Then we hopped over to Devil's kitchen...neither of the lookout points were ideally perched though. Of all the points we saw this day, this was the least impressive I'd say.
And then we went to the blow hole. It was lovely to watch the surge of water into this inlet and later the splash up the rocks. I am often amazed at how soothing the rhythmic weaving of the seas and waves can be to one's soul...even Tu stood transfixed watching it for a few mins before she got distracted.
At this place we discovered Doo-Lishus- a truck selling ice creams at the parking lot here. They served up hearty portions of strawberry icecream and fresh berries delight- that in itself was a meal for most of us! Lastly we headed up to the Fossil Bay lookout, again we were wonder struck with the 270 degree views of the coastline. Wow, what a beautiful place!!
We drove up to Havnabite Tucker Spot restaurant from here- veggie burgers were served hot, they also went out of their way to make some scrambled eggs for Tu and Athrey. The views of the Eagle Hawk neck shoreline from this restaurant was again drool worthy!!
Soon we were on our way to Port Arthur- we made good time and reached by around 2 PM. Even as we entered the site the main granary and prison area met our eyes, it looked like a picturesque castle that made Anoop gasp that he wouldn't mind being held prisoner here!! ;-)
As we walked up to the main buildings Tu was hungry so AJ & I stepped away to feed her the scrambled eggs we had packed at Havnabite. She ate it with gusto while chasing some annoying gulls away!
Before we knew it the clock struck 3 and we were all aboard the 20 min ferry ride. The commentary on board was very tongue in cheek and as we chuckled at the jokes we had finished our tour of Port Arthur
Once we disembarked we were still struggling to make up our minds on whether to go for the 45 min walking tour or head to the Remarkable Caves. The latter won, so we headed back to our cars and took the 5 min drive to Remarkable Caves. Again, what a sight....one almost drives to the end of the cliffs to be greeted with 270 degree views of raging seas and limestone cliffs.
A short walk down to the caves themselves - it has been carved out of sandstone cliffs forming a rock bridge. The viewing platform has commentary of the collapse that has casued this two entranced cave. Though there were warning signs, several groups of people were climbing down into the caves themselves, so we couldn't get a good pic of the cave -our definition of good being one in which other humans do not feature in the frame! (Hmmph)
As we headed back home we bore witness to a spectacular sunset that lit the sky on fire! It was a riot of colours that enveloped us, we made several stops to capture it on camera.
Even as the skies lit up in a fiery dance we seemed to be chasing an ever escaping set of colours in the sky...as our Outlander furiously bore through the roads we could just sense the colours and the lights slipping away into the horizon.....it was a wistful experience, proving nature in all its fury was always out of human reach, we can chase, we can dream, but we can never eternally capture and conquer.......what was ours to control were the lasting memories we were left with of a glorious sunset!
Thus ended an eventful day of sightseeing, we couldn't believe we had actually covered everything on our itinerary for the day, we headed back to Zambrero and rather tired we had another quick regroup once the kids slept to plan what would be a very exhausting trip to Wineglass Bay on Friday. We all had jitters thinking about making a 3 hour one way trip to Freycinet National Park on a day following one as hectic as the one we had just concluded!! Yet we were too greedy to back off- after all Wine Glass Bay was a quintessential aspect of any itinerary in Tassie!! Considering the brutal drive we planned for little else and soon hit the sack hoping to leave home by 7:30 the next day! (Anoop kept questioning why we couldn't plan to leave at 6:50 AM....little can we teach a freebie the perils of being parents to a toddler. PK & I exchanged quiet amused looks at his 'hope' ;-)
Come Friday and we managed to leave by 7:45AM. (Yay!!) Our 3 hour drive was filled with a very curious Tu looking out of the car and squealing in identification of sheep, cows and horses!! (Am sure they heard her too as we passed by!!)
The route winded through some lovely rolling meadows, sapphire blue shorelines and deep green rivers! We made very few stops on our way to Wineglass Bay, once at the visitor centre we got our parking tickets finding a spot to park our cars proved tougher. After driving around the parking lot a couple of times we finally managed to squeeze our car into a vacant spot and quickly made some avocado & cheese sandwich which served as lunch. Then we set off on an hour long climb up to the wine glass bay lookout point. Tu started off very cranky but picked up momentum along the way even as passers by egged her on encouragingly!!
Soon we were mid way with a lovely view of Coles Bay. The water body seemed to be grey and we were wondering if Wineglass Bay wouldn't be as spectacular as we expected it to be, esp if the waters were not a bright blue like they were in all the pics we had seen until now.
Meanwhile Tu continued her ascent, egged on by others who passed by.
All the attention paid off as she started 'racing' us to the top and I must confess, hats off to her for making it all the way up!!! The sight of the bay just made my heart beat a bit faster.... the 3 mountains surrounding the bay literally had her on their lap or so it seemed.... gentle rolling hills all the way to the far horizon and every spot of water body seemed crazily blue as they reflected perfectly clear skies!!
Couldn't resist getting ourselves in the front of a camera for a click with this perfect background!!
Even as our eyes feasted in this view we turned around to see a wallaby literally near my hair!! This gentle creature had crept his way to one of the rocks on the lookout and was soon mobbed by all the visitors for a pic or a selfie with him!! Tu cautiously kept her distance and after multiple shots of the lil guy and a refuelling of our tummies with some grapes we had carried, we all headed back down.
The descent was not as punishing and we were down within 40 mins. At the parking lot we decided to head to Honeymoon Bay round the corner- tats where we had been told there was a cafe/bistro where we could have some lunch. It was already 2 PM and we were starving! We reached Honeymoon Bay but there was no sight of the cafe!! :-( We eagerly clicked some pics of the beach and tu was desperately pleading to enter the beach ...somehow we managed to drag her away. The pics speak for themselves, gorgeous bay this!!
A google search showed Freycinet Lodge round the corner that had a bistro and we were to follow Anoop as he drove there. Alas Anoop missed the turn in , however AJ and I spotted the turn and hence backed up into their driveway. We parked and got comfortable on a patio sofa, we waited for nearly 15 mins, still no sight of Anoop & Co. Just as we were panicking they made their way in....Vodafone was a big let down in Tassie, we hardly had any connectivity through out this trip. A decision was made to leave Anoop in our car with us going forward to avoid all the confusion!! Meanwhile we ordered some soup, wedges, linguini and greens. The food was excellent and the views phenomenal as always! gosh, we were getting used to this!!
Once the stomach was contently full we spent some more time looking into the horizon and discussing things in general. Soon it was time to head back to Sandy Bay. We saw another beautiful sunset! We stopped at what Anoop termed a lame touristy spot- the Spiky Bridge.
And a couple of other stops were made to capture the roaring seas on the lovely shoreline that flanked our route- - the drive back was uneventful otherwise!
The next day was Saturday, we had only planned to see Salamanca Market and head around Hobart. The market had more than 300 stalls selling anything from fruits, shawls, bric bracs to wines/gin.
We spent a good 2 hours roaming around the place (AJ, Tu & I spent more than an hour trying to get some breakfast for Tu!!) Meanwhile Anoop checked out Battery Point and told us to skip it, hence we set off on a hunt to find a beach around us- one which also housed a restaurant. Sadly enough google maps took us on a couple of wild goose chases to Short Beach- but this seemed more friendly to dogs than to us. Then Long Beach- where we couldn't find a restaurant. So finally we gave up and went to Liv Eat to grab some mexican food before heading off to Howrah Beach. This was a magnificent beach set in a residential area and Tu had a blast playing in the water and chasing gulls.
We spent nearly an hour on this beach before finally heading off to Mt Wellington. Tu slept off on the way, the long winding roads up to the look out point made for an excellent drive. Parking was difficult to find even at 3PM, anoop and I got off the car and made our way to the look out deck. We could see a many people standing on the rocks to get that 'iconic' Tasmania pic, with Hobart as a backdrop. It was too cold for us to attempt any of it, so we took some rather tame selfies and such at the look out points itself.
Once we headed back to the car AJ took off on his own to see the place, by the time he got back Tu was awake and raring to go as well, so he kindly took her on another round of the place. Soon it was time to leave, PK had to refuel as well. As we headed down we pulled over at a quaint cafe called the Last Freight.
We downed a couple of melting moments- Tu absolutely enjoyed them alongside her hot chocolate. Anoop had meanwhile explored another look out point behind the cafe and kindly took us back there. the views were even better than what we had from Mt Wellington.
Tu enjoyed climbing up and down a rock here as well! :D Then we wound our way back to the car and headed back to Sandy Bay in time to grab some more dinner at Chillies. Siiiiggghhhhh that was the end of our trip, we had our flight back at 1:30 PM the next day so that only left us enough time for another breakfast at Hobart!!! Tu voiced all our thoughts as she quietly said "Can we stay in Tasmania always? I don't want to go back to Sydney" If only babyyyy........! AJ, PK and Anoop headed off to Dodges Ferry in an attempt to capture the Southern lights, so Seeta and I were on duty getting Tu and Athrye to bed. It was hilarious, Tu just couldn't understand why she couldn't have gone with AJ on this late night drive. Somehow I managed to get her to sleep in her dad's absence. But I couldn't step out of the bedroom since she fiercely jung on to my hair in the fear I also leave her and go. Thus came the end of another fine day in Hobart!
The next day was a sunny morning, the guys said they didn't have any success finding the southern lights! Anoop had only had a very 'creepy' drive back and forth apparently, AJ & PK couldn't stop laughing as they relived the experience. =)) We packed up and left the keys back for the house owners, we also left some unopened snacks on the counter for the next family coming in! With a heavy heart we bid adieu to the lovely Derwentwater house, very satisfied with our stay! We headed to the Pancake Train for breakfast- we had seen this on the way to Kettering on Day 2 and ever since PK had suggested we go back to grab some pancakes here.
What a lovely little place- they had converted an old train into a restaurant. I ordered a savoury pancake, while AJ had the berry delight. We ordered scrambled eggs on 2 pancakes for Tu and all of us had our fill- the food was heavenly! The service, even better!
There was plenty to keep Tu and Athrey busy too. At the back of this restaurant was an antiques store full of very interesting collectibles,
we walked away with a Japanese iron pot, I loved the fiery red pot!! It now sits proud in our living room. From here we decided to head to the seven mile beach just behind the airport before finally heading to the airport...it was a very brief trip, but another glorious beach. truly stretched a good mile and more making a picturesque cove to gaze at.
Much to Tu's chagrin we didn't enter the water and she must have thought we are crazy to go to a beach and not enter the waters...she came back to the car- a very disgruntled toddler who was muttering her dismay to herself!! =))
As we drove back to the airport to drop off our car, we couldn't stop reliving our trip in Tassie...every day had shown us greater beauty. Every drive had been precious, every sight- cherishable. Tassie epitomises everything that a nature lover and foodie could wish for and more! We had explored only the south and the east coast, so this trip reiterated the need for us to plan another trip to cover the rest, if there was one regret it was that we had chosen to stay all five days in Hobart, in hindsight we should have planned a couple of nights at Launcheston! none the less all it signalled was that we should soon plan another trip to Tassie....after all, it feels like the journey of discovery has only just begun......! Bfn readers, until other trips come calling, we are signing off from Tassie for now!
We landed in Hobart on 11th to a somewhat wet and rough weather.... aarrghhhh!!!! Surely this was not a sign of things to come....!! :-( We didn't want to be in a wash out trip after all the monies spent on this!! It proved to be lesson 01: Never take a plan for granted when in Tassie!
We headed to our cottage at Sandy Bay and gasped at the beauty of the house that we had.
A quick tour of the house revealed a master bedroom that had an 'attached bath' in the basement... the architect was very tongue in cheek to have built this bath- it sure had a view......... and no doors!!! We couldn't all help chuckle at the prospect of successfully bathing a Tu or an Athrey in this bath. None the less AJ & I braved up to the task and took this room, after all what is a vacation that doesn't have it's share of weird experiences!!? AJ figured a way to keep Tu occupied with the hand shower and distracted her from the possibility of freely running around this bath!! None the less we all had a good laugh and I must confess the one night that I had to manage Tu on my own I did struggle with this bath!! More adventure followed as Pradeep caught a couple of millipedes in his room and I spotted a scorpion in ours. The house was soon a insect/reptile hunt and Tu had a field day claiming to be spotting one at every turn!!! Once done with the baths, all our growling stomach's reminded us that we had been up since 3:30 AM in order to make this flight into Hobart. Our first pit stop was breakfast at Signal Station Brasserie on Mt Nelson- trust TA to give us the best suggestions as always! It turned out to be the perfect spot for a scrumptious brekkie!
Even amidst the rain and the clouds this restaurant perched precariously on Mt Nelson offered some breathtaking views of Hobart. The hostess was kind enough to accommodate us when we turned up without a reservation and the food was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!! Finger licking yumm pancakes, omelettes, scrambled eggs, vanilla chai and coffees were soon served and boy o boy even if we had wished for it the start to our trip couldn't have been any better!! :-D
We quickly regrouped to discard our Mt Wellington plan and instead headed to Russell Falls- ther eis something enchanting about seeing a waterfall in the rains! The route was scenic, we were driving by winding river bends and a slightly fading flora- just hinting the beginning of autumn even as the leaves were fading into a nice yellow.
We spotted a kestrel on a wire by the road and AJ stopped to capture it on his camera. When we reached the visitor centre for the falls the rains had stopped but we lost all mobile connectivity leading to some confusion in getting our coordinates right with pradeep (they were in another car). Rather torn on whether to wait for them or whether they were in fact ahead of us we headed to the falls. It was a mere trickle, but beautiful none the less.
However there was no sign of PK, Seeta or Anoop. A sign told us there were other areas to see within 15mins of a walk, Tu very eagerly prompted us to go on and hence we headed to Horseshoe falls further ahead. It was all of 165 steps up and Tu very bravely managed it on her own. Every time I see her doggedly trek up to see one of these sights I feel insanely proud of her. There is more to a trek than just the sight that meets us at the end, every journey that is tread afoot adds so much character to a trip! And to have the honor of sharing that with my daughter feels so right in many ways!! :-) Huffing and puffing we reached the top of Russell Falls and another sign said Horseshoe Falls was a mere couple of mins away. So off we went.
We reached this one when no one else was around and hence we monkeyed around there trying to click some selfies with a very jumpy Tu! :-D Still no sign of PK & co. :-/ Tu loudly wondered if they were lost and as we explained to her that maybe they were behind us we managed to climb the 165 steps down and just as were getting to the very end Tu squealed in delight as she spotted Anoop!! Finally, they were here too!! All along we had thought our stop to capture the beautiful kestrel had us behind PK's car, but turns out they had stopped too and were actually behind us!! All confusions gone PK and Anoop decided to trek up to Horseshoe falls, while the rest of us decided to go on ahead and complete the loop back out to the cafe at the visitor center. A tired and sleepy Tu wanted us to carry her, but we somehow managed to convince her to walk the distance and once at the cafe we gave her some avocados to eat while we grabbed a coffee to get our muscles going! :-)
Soon Anoop and PK were back too and we all headed back to Hobart, we packed some dinner at Zambrero (a mexican joint) and headed back to the acco to have our dinner- the burrito bowls we had all picked up was delicious and made for a very filling meal indeed . It had been a long day and with a very rough plan of 'going to Bruny Island' (yep, that was all that was the plan!!) the next day we all hit the bed early.
The next day we excitedly got ready by 7:15 and headed off to Kettering to catch our ferry to Bruny. I realised i had forgotten my jacket and hence hurriedly took the house keys from Anoop to turn back and grab it from home. Unfortunately this delayed us a bit and we reached the ferry point by 8:08 only to discover that we had just missed the ferry, plus to add to our woes only one of the 2 ferries that normally operate was functional today. So we had to wait until 9AM for our next ferry!! :-( We got our car in the line and waited at the Mermaid Cafe at the wharf, with lovely views we easily whiled away the wait time and soon it was time to board the ferry!
With the wait time and boarding time and everything we reached Bruny only by around 9:45 AM. The ferry ride was smooth and uneventful.
So for anyone planning a trip to Bruny from Hobart my tip is to ensure you factor in the ferry lead times so you optimise your plan!! Even before that,please have a more detailed PLAN, you will understand why I say that a lil later on in my blog...!!Once we reached Bruny we were happy to note that it was a lovely sunny day and we headed straight to the Neck lookout point. The drive itself was beautiful, the roads often ran adjacent to the bright blue sea!
We reached the lookout point and saw a flight of stairs leading up to the view. Parking was easy at this point.
True to our expectations the view from this lookout was spectacular and the beach down below seemed to beckon us tantalisingly!
Ohhh if my stomach could have groaned out loud, it would have.....all of us were hungry and cranky and thus started the long drive back to Hotel Bruny. In all, we had lost a good couple of hours driving up and down Bruny, but when we finally got into Hotel Bruny they served us some delicious Linguini, Seeta braved a grilled Dory, PK & AJ downed some Tassie Whiskey. Tu and Athrey even had a play area to keep themselves busy. Finally we all felt a bit refuelled and up to the game again!
As we came out we saw this lovely path leading down to the beach, Tu & I walked down to look at some shells that were lying strewn around. Soon everyone was ready to leave but it kind of seemed insane to drive back to adventure bay to continue our originally planned itinerary so we quickly re-planned and instead headed to the beautiful South Bruny Island Light House. Turned out to be a day saver of a decision. The first sighting of the light house was spectacular and the closer we got, the more beautiful this seascape seemed!
by the time we reached, Athrey who was asleep, so Seeta decided to keep him company while the rest of us headed up to the light house. Anoop climbed up behind us and happily obliged to pose a couple of time too!
The views were amazing till the eye could see, I just couldn't stop clicking the landscapes around.
Once up there was a tour of the light house we could go to, except they didn't allow kids younger than 5 to join in!! :-( A very eager Tu was left scowling and she almost insisted I shouldn't go either when AJ somehow managed to convince her that it was ok for me to go along with Anoop while AJ kept her company.
Our guide was Matt- who made an elaborate scene around locking the light house up before taking us upstairs to show us around.
The history of the lighthouse was interesting, it was the second oldest standing lighthouse in Australia- all of 119 years old. it had been built by 12 convicts in 18 months and had earned them their freedom.
Matt explained the mechanics of the light house and once outside Anoop and I gasped at the view it afforded us! Court Island was skirting within hands reach and we could see to the horizon where Antartica lay.
Mesmerising views, we hesitantly headed back to the door. Just as we were getting there I spotted Tu down below and gave her a shout....her reaction was a biggg howl.... "Mommyyyyyy come dowwwwwnnnnn, why did you leave me and go up there???!!" Much to Anoop's amusement I quickly back tracked and headed back down to a very eager Tu who was waiting to run into me as I stepped out of the light house door! :-D All the way back she pestered me with questions around why I went up when she couldn't com with me and how she 'missed mummy, I thought you were gone"...... siggghhhhh the perils of travelling with a toddler I say!! :-/
Anyways by the time we got done here it was time to head back to the ferry, It was a 60 min drive back and we reached in time for the 5PM ferry.
Even as we got to Kettering the sunlight was fading and all our plans to visit Mt Wellington faded away with it! :-( Instead we headed for dinner to an Indian Restaurant- Chillies The meal they served us was yum albeit the delay of 30 mins before it got to our table. All in all this taught us that it was very important to plan the day in advance including the lunch spots. So we all committed to staying up a bit and planning the next day out to the nth degree of detail. So today once the kids were asleep we all regrouped to plan Thursday- our visit to Port Arthur. Even as I patted Tu to sleep I had googled this self drive itinerary and it seemed promising: https://tasmania.com/itineraries/tasmania-self-drive-itineraries/hobart-to-port-arthur-self-drive-itinerary/. Once i came out and discussed with Anoop and PK we had decided to do a part of this itinerary!
Thursday was again nice and sunny, we were ready by 7:30 and headed off to Richmond, then drove past Sorell, The roads alternated between scenic villages and vineyard clad hills.
Dolomite/Limestone cliffs strutted proudly making for a classic backdrop no matter which way you looked! A couple at the lookout point were capturing this scene with the help of a drone even as Tu and Athrey watched the drone in awe! :-) We then stopped at the Tessellated Beach to admire the beautiful formations that nature had created! the short walk to the beach here is well worth the effort. We also spotted some crabs while on the rocks.
Soon we headed to the iconic Tasman arch, it outlined sapphire blue waters. The look out point didn't allow us to access it or the beach, none the less it was a nice sight.
Then we hopped over to Devil's kitchen...neither of the lookout points were ideally perched though. Of all the points we saw this day, this was the least impressive I'd say.
And then we went to the blow hole. It was lovely to watch the surge of water into this inlet and later the splash up the rocks. I am often amazed at how soothing the rhythmic weaving of the seas and waves can be to one's soul...even Tu stood transfixed watching it for a few mins before she got distracted.
At this place we discovered Doo-Lishus- a truck selling ice creams at the parking lot here. They served up hearty portions of strawberry icecream and fresh berries delight- that in itself was a meal for most of us! Lastly we headed up to the Fossil Bay lookout, again we were wonder struck with the 270 degree views of the coastline. Wow, what a beautiful place!!
We drove up to Havnabite Tucker Spot restaurant from here- veggie burgers were served hot, they also went out of their way to make some scrambled eggs for Tu and Athrey. The views of the Eagle Hawk neck shoreline from this restaurant was again drool worthy!!
Soon we were on our way to Port Arthur- we made good time and reached by around 2 PM. Even as we entered the site the main granary and prison area met our eyes, it looked like a picturesque castle that made Anoop gasp that he wouldn't mind being held prisoner here!! ;-)
As we walked up to the main buildings Tu was hungry so AJ & I stepped away to feed her the scrambled eggs we had packed at Havnabite. She ate it with gusto while chasing some annoying gulls away!
Before we knew it the clock struck 3 and we were all aboard the 20 min ferry ride. The commentary on board was very tongue in cheek and as we chuckled at the jokes we had finished our tour of Port Arthur
Once we disembarked we were still struggling to make up our minds on whether to go for the 45 min walking tour or head to the Remarkable Caves. The latter won, so we headed back to our cars and took the 5 min drive to Remarkable Caves. Again, what a sight....one almost drives to the end of the cliffs to be greeted with 270 degree views of raging seas and limestone cliffs.
A short walk down to the caves themselves - it has been carved out of sandstone cliffs forming a rock bridge. The viewing platform has commentary of the collapse that has casued this two entranced cave. Though there were warning signs, several groups of people were climbing down into the caves themselves, so we couldn't get a good pic of the cave -our definition of good being one in which other humans do not feature in the frame! (Hmmph)
As we headed back home we bore witness to a spectacular sunset that lit the sky on fire! It was a riot of colours that enveloped us, we made several stops to capture it on camera.
Even as the skies lit up in a fiery dance we seemed to be chasing an ever escaping set of colours in the sky...as our Outlander furiously bore through the roads we could just sense the colours and the lights slipping away into the horizon.....it was a wistful experience, proving nature in all its fury was always out of human reach, we can chase, we can dream, but we can never eternally capture and conquer.......what was ours to control were the lasting memories we were left with of a glorious sunset!
Thus ended an eventful day of sightseeing, we couldn't believe we had actually covered everything on our itinerary for the day, we headed back to Zambrero and rather tired we had another quick regroup once the kids slept to plan what would be a very exhausting trip to Wineglass Bay on Friday. We all had jitters thinking about making a 3 hour one way trip to Freycinet National Park on a day following one as hectic as the one we had just concluded!! Yet we were too greedy to back off- after all Wine Glass Bay was a quintessential aspect of any itinerary in Tassie!! Considering the brutal drive we planned for little else and soon hit the sack hoping to leave home by 7:30 the next day! (Anoop kept questioning why we couldn't plan to leave at 6:50 AM....little can we teach a freebie the perils of being parents to a toddler. PK & I exchanged quiet amused looks at his 'hope' ;-)
Come Friday and we managed to leave by 7:45AM. (Yay!!) Our 3 hour drive was filled with a very curious Tu looking out of the car and squealing in identification of sheep, cows and horses!! (Am sure they heard her too as we passed by!!)
The route winded through some lovely rolling meadows, sapphire blue shorelines and deep green rivers! We made very few stops on our way to Wineglass Bay, once at the visitor centre we got our parking tickets finding a spot to park our cars proved tougher. After driving around the parking lot a couple of times we finally managed to squeeze our car into a vacant spot and quickly made some avocado & cheese sandwich which served as lunch. Then we set off on an hour long climb up to the wine glass bay lookout point. Tu started off very cranky but picked up momentum along the way even as passers by egged her on encouragingly!!
Soon we were mid way with a lovely view of Coles Bay. The water body seemed to be grey and we were wondering if Wineglass Bay wouldn't be as spectacular as we expected it to be, esp if the waters were not a bright blue like they were in all the pics we had seen until now.
Meanwhile Tu continued her ascent, egged on by others who passed by.
Even as our eyes feasted in this view we turned around to see a wallaby literally near my hair!! This gentle creature had crept his way to one of the rocks on the lookout and was soon mobbed by all the visitors for a pic or a selfie with him!! Tu cautiously kept her distance and after multiple shots of the lil guy and a refuelling of our tummies with some grapes we had carried, we all headed back down.
A google search showed Freycinet Lodge round the corner that had a bistro and we were to follow Anoop as he drove there. Alas Anoop missed the turn in , however AJ and I spotted the turn and hence backed up into their driveway. We parked and got comfortable on a patio sofa, we waited for nearly 15 mins, still no sight of Anoop & Co. Just as we were panicking they made their way in....Vodafone was a big let down in Tassie, we hardly had any connectivity through out this trip. A decision was made to leave Anoop in our car with us going forward to avoid all the confusion!! Meanwhile we ordered some soup, wedges, linguini and greens. The food was excellent and the views phenomenal as always! gosh, we were getting used to this!!
Once the stomach was contently full we spent some more time looking into the horizon and discussing things in general. Soon it was time to head back to Sandy Bay. We saw another beautiful sunset! We stopped at what Anoop termed a lame touristy spot- the Spiky Bridge.
And a couple of other stops were made to capture the roaring seas on the lovely shoreline that flanked our route- - the drive back was uneventful otherwise!
What a proud moment it was for us as it slowly sank in that we had managed such a hectic day with 2 sub-3 year old toddlers! PK, Seeta, AJ & I couldn't have been prouder. Funnily enough, Anoop was equally proud and he even said that travelling with families was fun, he felt such a sense of accomplishment! :-D
We spent a good 2 hours roaming around the place (AJ, Tu & I spent more than an hour trying to get some breakfast for Tu!!) Meanwhile Anoop checked out Battery Point and told us to skip it, hence we set off on a hunt to find a beach around us- one which also housed a restaurant. Sadly enough google maps took us on a couple of wild goose chases to Short Beach- but this seemed more friendly to dogs than to us. Then Long Beach- where we couldn't find a restaurant. So finally we gave up and went to Liv Eat to grab some mexican food before heading off to Howrah Beach. This was a magnificent beach set in a residential area and Tu had a blast playing in the water and chasing gulls.
We spent nearly an hour on this beach before finally heading off to Mt Wellington. Tu slept off on the way, the long winding roads up to the look out point made for an excellent drive. Parking was difficult to find even at 3PM, anoop and I got off the car and made our way to the look out deck. We could see a many people standing on the rocks to get that 'iconic' Tasmania pic, with Hobart as a backdrop. It was too cold for us to attempt any of it, so we took some rather tame selfies and such at the look out points itself.
Once we headed back to the car AJ took off on his own to see the place, by the time he got back Tu was awake and raring to go as well, so he kindly took her on another round of the place. Soon it was time to leave, PK had to refuel as well. As we headed down we pulled over at a quaint cafe called the Last Freight.
We downed a couple of melting moments- Tu absolutely enjoyed them alongside her hot chocolate. Anoop had meanwhile explored another look out point behind the cafe and kindly took us back there. the views were even better than what we had from Mt Wellington.
Tu enjoyed climbing up and down a rock here as well! :D Then we wound our way back to the car and headed back to Sandy Bay in time to grab some more dinner at Chillies. Siiiiggghhhhh that was the end of our trip, we had our flight back at 1:30 PM the next day so that only left us enough time for another breakfast at Hobart!!! Tu voiced all our thoughts as she quietly said "Can we stay in Tasmania always? I don't want to go back to Sydney" If only babyyyy........! AJ, PK and Anoop headed off to Dodges Ferry in an attempt to capture the Southern lights, so Seeta and I were on duty getting Tu and Athrye to bed. It was hilarious, Tu just couldn't understand why she couldn't have gone with AJ on this late night drive. Somehow I managed to get her to sleep in her dad's absence. But I couldn't step out of the bedroom since she fiercely jung on to my hair in the fear I also leave her and go. Thus came the end of another fine day in Hobart!
The next day was a sunny morning, the guys said they didn't have any success finding the southern lights! Anoop had only had a very 'creepy' drive back and forth apparently, AJ & PK couldn't stop laughing as they relived the experience. =)) We packed up and left the keys back for the house owners, we also left some unopened snacks on the counter for the next family coming in! With a heavy heart we bid adieu to the lovely Derwentwater house, very satisfied with our stay! We headed to the Pancake Train for breakfast- we had seen this on the way to Kettering on Day 2 and ever since PK had suggested we go back to grab some pancakes here.
What a lovely little place- they had converted an old train into a restaurant. I ordered a savoury pancake, while AJ had the berry delight. We ordered scrambled eggs on 2 pancakes for Tu and all of us had our fill- the food was heavenly! The service, even better!
There was plenty to keep Tu and Athrey busy too. At the back of this restaurant was an antiques store full of very interesting collectibles,
we walked away with a Japanese iron pot, I loved the fiery red pot!! It now sits proud in our living room. From here we decided to head to the seven mile beach just behind the airport before finally heading to the airport...it was a very brief trip, but another glorious beach. truly stretched a good mile and more making a picturesque cove to gaze at.
Much to Tu's chagrin we didn't enter the water and she must have thought we are crazy to go to a beach and not enter the waters...she came back to the car- a very disgruntled toddler who was muttering her dismay to herself!! =))
As we drove back to the airport to drop off our car, we couldn't stop reliving our trip in Tassie...every day had shown us greater beauty. Every drive had been precious, every sight- cherishable. Tassie epitomises everything that a nature lover and foodie could wish for and more! We had explored only the south and the east coast, so this trip reiterated the need for us to plan another trip to cover the rest, if there was one regret it was that we had chosen to stay all five days in Hobart, in hindsight we should have planned a couple of nights at Launcheston! none the less all it signalled was that we should soon plan another trip to Tassie....after all, it feels like the journey of discovery has only just begun......! Bfn readers, until other trips come calling, we are signing off from Tassie for now!
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