A Cruise to Cateract Gorge

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Our day started with an early 5:15 wake-up call by the captain of the ship. We were due to arrive in Devonport at 5:30 and passengers were to disembark by 5:50. It wasn’t the best night’s sleep we’ve ever had, though it wasn’t awful.

We went to bed just as we exited Port Melbourne and almost immediately after that, the trip became a little rockier. I’m lucky and don’t get sea sick, but Albert felt a little queasy and was determined to fall asleep quickly in order to avoid being sick. It was a little more difficult for me to fall asleep, but eventually we did, and after that it wasn’t an awful night.

By about 5:20, we were up and busy packing. Our cabin’s shower left little to be desired with only a few moments of hot water before it started to turn cold. I think they were the quickest showers either of us have ever had.

Once ready, we went down to deck 7 to await the call to disembark.

It is a very systematic process, particularly for those with a car. They call you deck by deck based on where you park your car. You then need to sit in your car until the people direct you to drive your car out. We weren’t waiting that long – no longer than about 10 minutes before we were driving out of the boat and entering the early morning of Devonport, Tasmania.

Unable to have breakfast on the boat, we spotted a McDonald’s across the port and immediately drove there to eat. Despite everything, it’s always guaranteed you’ll find a McDonald’s when in search of food.

After eating, it was only 7 in the morning and nothing in Devonport was open. Our first overnight stay was Launceston, so we decided to go straight there.

Launceston is about a 1 hour and 15 minute drive from Devonport, meaning we arrived there by 8:20 – again, nothing was open. On our way off the boat, we were given brochures of things to do in Devonport and Launceston, and one of the brochures showed a 50 minute around Cateract Gorge. We bought our tickets at 8:30 and stayed within the vicinity until 9:30, when the first cruise left for the day.

I’d highly recommend Tamar River Cruises, as our experience was delightful and we saw a lot in 50 minutes. Our captain had a lot of knowledge of the area, even to the point of telling us prices of houses that overlooked the river. As everyone on the boat were from Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, we were all quite shocked to learn that some houses with a water view were only about $350 000!

We went to three places on the cruise: The North Esk, the Tamar River and the South Esk (which is Cateract Gorge). The Gorge was definitely the best part of this, as it was absolutely beautiful. We were lucky to get such a calm, sunny day, making the trip peaceful and relaxing.

For anyone who is going on this tour, we were encouraged to keep our tickets. Although we never used it, many of the nearby restaurants and some attractions give you a discount if you present your ticket from Tamar River Cruises. And, they don’t expire, meaning if you were to come back in three years, it’d still be valid.

There are many ways to see Cateract Gorge – by boat, walking and a chairlift. While on the boat, we saw people walking above, and according to the captain, if you went at night, it was all lit up and very spectacular to see.

After finishing the cruise, we headed to the other side of Cateract Gorge by car. This is known as the first basin and is where the chairlift is. Upon arrival, our intention was to go on the chairlift, and the price was reasonable, but once seeing it, we decided not to as heights isn’t really my thing.

Instead, we took a walk down right by the water. This was absolutely beautiful, and I’m sure up in the chairlift, the view would have been spectacular. It’s a family friendly area, with a swimming pool, a gift shop and café all in the vicinity.

We stayed down by the gorge for a while, before heading up to the gift shop and café, where we bought some souvenirs and then had lunch. They didn’t have their lunch menu yet, so we had lunch off the breakfast menu. Albert had French toast with bacon and maple syrup, while I had corn and parmesan fritters. We were both very impressed with these meals, though not cheap.

One thing we have noticed in Tasmania already is that food is expensive. Although tours and other things are not as pricey as you’d find in Sydney, the food is. It’s just something we’ll need to consider for the coming days.

We left the gorge after month and then went in search of a mini golf course. It was only $8 and we could do the course as many times as we wanted! We are used to paying $15-$20 for one use, so that was nice, even though we only used it once. As usual, Albert won!

Next to the mini golf course, was a small shopping centre. We had to buy a handful of necessities there. By the time we left, it was 1:30 and we could finally check in to our hotel.

Usually when deciding on hotels, we look for the best deals at the time, but for this trip, all of our accommodation was in the hands of our travel agent, so it was a bit of a mystery.

For our one night in Launceston, we are staying at the Clarion Hotel, which is a heritage protected building. It’s old on the outside, but the rooms have been extensively renovated and are very big and very nice.

After checking in, we were exhausted, so ha a few hours rest and had a proper shower! After a while, we got hungry, so went in search of a snack and to find a place where we could have dinner a little later. Although the Clarion is nice, the restaurant was a bit beyond our price range.

We ended up finding a nice little bar and restaurant called Alchemy, which served mostly pub food. At 6pm, we decided to walk the block and a bit. It was pretty busy in the restaurant and when we walked in, we were showed what we discovered was the last available table. Everyone else had to book, and after us, people were being turned from the restaurant and told to order at the bar, as they were fully booked.

I had a chicken and haloumi burger, which was nice, though they burnt the bun! Albert had a duck breast, which he said was really good.

After dinner, we walked back to our hotel, where we watched the rugby league and Commonwealth Games.

Tomorrow, we have a tour booked for Launceston (which we discovered is the building next to our hotel!) and then we are on our way to Coles Bay, where we will spend two nights.

Already, we are loving Tasmania and all it has to offer. We can’t wait to go to more places and get the full experience!

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