Blogs from Tasmania, Australia, Oceania - page 6

We took our time getting up today as we were heading over to the Mount Elephant Pancakes Shop which like alot of places in Tasmania don't open till 10.00am. It's a little out of our way, in fact we are going backwards but one of Katies clients highly recommended it. We had a chance to look around the caravan park here at Scamander and spied a few glamping tents. We agreed we are so trying these mini palaces next time. The owner was saying they intend to expand further up the hill and put in quite a few more as they should be popular. Nice trip up the range through to St. Marys. And the food at Mount Elephant Pancakes was totally worth the trip. Quite a quirky place, in a good way. We were the ... read more

Off to a good start in the morning. We are getting much better organizing ourselves packing up beds and having breakfast, showering etc. First stop is up to Richmond to see the famous Richmond Bridge. The trip up was interesting as we saw what Hobart called peak hour traffic! Our GPS took us a round about way to get there, so saw many sheep properties and orchards. Still a bit nippy when we got there, so after a much needed cuppa we rugged up and went for a walk checking out the bridge and then a walk through a couple of old cemeteries and the Anglican church. Richmond does tourism very well. Hat tip to Ian Brown for the recommendation of Scallop Pies at the Richmond Bakery. We scoffed through a couple plus way too many ... read more

Kevins breakfasts are a fulls days eating. Our waistlines have already increased! Early start today to pick up the campervan. This involved a bus out to the airport and then a short taxi ride. We used Go Cheap Campervans as they accepted the RACQ discounts. When I got there they said the van I wanted was unavailable and they gave me a upgrade to one that was only 1 month old! A 2 berth Toyota Hi Ace. Think Maxi taxi with a top. In and out within 30mins. Off back to town and in hindsight should have thrown the GPS out the window. "Yolla" we nicknamed her, only because the GPS took us to a small village called Yolla, in the middle of nowhere one late night, miles from where we wanted to go. Anyway Yolla ... read more

Up at stupid o'clock and finished packing. We got flight down to Melbourne and had 30 minutes to get to next flight to Hobart. Things went by clockwork. Caught the Skybus to the city centre. Hobart is built around the bay and it's quite hilly so the views would be fantastic. From Constitution Dock we booked the Reddecker tour for tomorrow. We decided to walk the 15 or 20 minutes to the bed and breakfast. On the way we passed some very interesting bars and restaurants. One of which, Institut Polaire we planned to hit later. Our accommodation at Lowena is a 5 bedroom older house. Kevin our host is a Chinaman from Shanghai made us feel welcome and gave us the rundown on where to eat etc. Local wines and cheese platters at Institut Polaire ... read more

Festivals are my thing. The Dark Mofo festival, surrounding the two weeks of Winter Solstice, is an intense celebration of art and humanity. A mix of performance art, electronic thumps, sculpture, theater, in the streets, on the streets, under the streets. Read about the festival, including the man who was buried under the main road for three days, in this great BBC article: Dark Mofo The provocative festival changing Tasmania's reputation. The Center of the Festival is the Winter Feast Hall, where the food and drink vendors were trying to out craft each other. Each booth something so unique, fresh, local, and reasonably priced served under sparkling neon lights in a giant dock house draped in red velvet. In the distance, a four-piece band plays jazz from an elevated cutout in the velvet. Craft beers, local ... read more