Hello! This is an introduction to my 2024 trip to Tasmania. The more detailed posts are not going to follow chronological order that i did them in. I think I will group them into geographical groupings.

I took a total of 4400 photographs. It will take some time to work through them and process those I think worth sharing. This will take time. The exact posts that eventuate will change depending on how many of the shareable shots have stories to tell.

The trip

My previous two trips to Tasmania have all focussed around my father’s house near Cygnet, in the South East of the State. This time I made a point of travelling different parts and seeing a selection of what was there to see. I flew into Launceston and spent a few days there. I then drove to Ross (stopping a few places along the way to look at things) and spent a day there. Next I drove down to Hobart (spending a good chunk of the day visiting Oatlands in the process) where I spent nearly a week. Three full days in Port Arthur – two at the historic site and another visiting other things around there, and then another few days in Launceston before flying home. It doesn’t seem like much when put like that, but almost every day was occupied with doing things.

At this point, I anticipate I will have posts about:

• Launceston City Park
• Tamar Island Wetlands
• Cataract Gorge and Launceston riverfront
• Launceston Tramways museum and QVMAG
• Beaconsfield Mine Historic Centre and the Platypus House (Beauty Point)
• Mole Creek, and Chudleigh
• Evandale and Clarendon Estate
• Ross
• Oatlands
• Royal Botanic Gardens, Hobart
• Bonorong Wildlife Park and Hobart Convict Penitentiary
• Hobart Rivulet walk/Cascades Brewery/Cascades Womens Factory
• Bruny Island and Kunanyi (Mount Wellington)
• Port Arthur Historical Site (possibly two posts)
• Remarkable Cave, Coal Mines Historical Site, Tasman National Park

Keep an eye on the blogs. I’ll update the entries above as the various blogs are posted. Follow me on Facebook or Instagram for update on when blogs are posted.

Travel

Consistent with my experience in South East Tassie, the roads in the most part were sound. Not always particularly wide, and they were gravel in a few places, but generally in pretty good condition. We did encounter one section of corrugated dirt road on Bruny Island. Not far into that section, we also encountered the grader that was un-corrugating the road. On a few occasions when going between places Google decided (as it does) that the best option was to go down some obscure country road rather than use the main road that was only a few km away. Mostly they were sealed, although we did encounter one section that wasn’t. A few of these were a little reminiscent of English country lanes, but wider. Very pretty, but passing any on-coming traffic (if we’d encountered any, which we didn’t) would have been a tight fit.

I was initially concerned with driving Launceston to Hobart in a day – I felt that would be a very long day. In hindsight, I think I got that impression because I had considered doing that on an earlier trip when we’d have been travelling from Cygnet. Travelling from Cygnet would add an extra hour to the trip. The highway between Launceston and Hobart is very good and bypasses most of the major towns and would probably be an easy 2.5 hour drive. However, you’d see nothing of the many historic and interesting places along the way.

By doing the drive over several days, that meant I got to see Evansdale and Clarendon House, spent a whole day in Ross looking at various things, and then a good chunk of a day in Oatlands. Much more in keeping with a photographic explore. I didn’t go to Richmond on this trip as we’d been there on a previous trip. It would be well worth adding to your itinerary.

Coeliac Eating

Tasmania on the whole seem to do coeliac gluten free better than the mainland. I was a bit worried that I would struggle to find food to eat out Launceston and Hobart. I was quite surprised to find that was not much of a problem.

Most places we stopped at checked (if I only asked for gluten-free) if I was coeliac, and advised of any concerns. The cafe in the Port Arthur Historical Site reassured me they had a dedicated gluten-free deep fryer. They stressed, however, that although their chips were not battered, their supplier did put the warning on the packet that they were prepared in a facility that processes gluten. I thanked them for informing me and reassured them that I was prepared to take that risk. This level of awareness seemed fairly common, even at smaller cafes which did not have much to offer me.

Launceston

In Launceston, I particularly want to call out Samuel Pepys Cafe for a completely gluten-free cafe, really good food (and coffee), and an incredibly cool and relaxed vibe. The staff couldn’t be faulted on their service, but managed to do it with fun and humour. If you’re after serious, dull business-like service, this isn’t the place for you. I enjoyed my first visit there so much, I went back for hot chocolate and cake before our flight out to return to Canberra.

I also want to mention Wardeez at the All Rounder Hotel, who produce almost everything on their menu with a gluten free (and coeliac safe) option. They had a good range of what I would consider to be standard pub fare in the glutenous options that was more than adequate to give the kids plenty of options for them to choose from, with the added bonus that most of those options could also be made suitable for me. I went here twice as well.

Finally, The Metz in the city centre have a good selection of gluten-free italian food options. They appeared to be very coeliac aware. This was another place that checked if I was coeliac, and reassured me that they had a dedicated gluten-free fryer. The server sounded offended when I asked that they ensure the gluten free pizzas were not cut with the same utensils as the glutenous pizzas. I feel there wasn’t as much of the menu offered gluten-free as Wardeez had, but there were plenty of choices. The food here was very nice, but do be prepared to pay a more up-market price in line with the vibe of the place.

Other parts

In Ross, the Tasmanian Scallop Pie Company at Bakery 31 had a dedicated cabinet full of gluten-free goodies. The range included pies, sausage rolls and a good selection of cakes. It wasn’t a small cabinet! They also seemed quite coeliac aware. They used a dedicated set of tongs for the gluten free cabinet, and took obvious care to minimise the chance of contamination during handling.

In Beaconsfield, we had lunch at Moon Lily Kitchen and Cakes. They also have a great range of gluten free options for both meals and cakes. Very much a hippy or alternate vibe here, which added to the character. The staff were again very coeliac aware, super friendly and cheery.

In Hobart, the team at BAKED Gluten Free kept me fed a couple of times. On one day I ate lunch from their outposted cafe in the city centre. On another night we dropped in to the bakery itself in Moonah, where they do eat-in (or take away) gluten free pizzas at least one night a week.