Russians (Wineglass Bay to Hobart)

This is the official final post from our Tasmanian sojourn and it's a double as well. However, there will be a bootleg post or two. One to publish my arty photos, mostly flowers and the other that will contain reflections on where we have stayed and our experience of Tasmania in general.

The title of today’s post is courtesy of Sting, circa 1985, a song about the Cold War between the USSR and the USA. I am sure you are looking for the segue, dear reader. Well, yesterday at breakfast we noticed two teenaged girls, friends, not siblings we thought. By the time we had arrived at the car park for the Wineglass Bay Walk, a very obvious Cold War had broken out between the two former allies. Each was being counselled by a parent; neither would see reason. By the time they commenced walking, they were still separated and the dark haired one was walking with her arms folded in front of her. As the ad used to go, “NOT HAPPY JAN”. And so it continued all the way up to the lookout and on the way back down until we saw them no more. No friendship fractures harsher than that of teen girls and no one hates with more ferocity. I wonder how they are today?

Breakfast at the Freycinet Lodge certainly did not reach the heights of dinner. Aptly, it was served in the Bistro area and was significantly down market from last night’s dining experience. The bain-maries failed to warm the food, largely because the burners were not lit. The eggs, oh the eggs... I identified them as eggs only because of the colour and my expectation that there would be eggs somewhere. The bacon, sausages and tomatoes were all cold. The cereals pitched at the teen market – main stream Kelloggs sugar. The OJ was labelled orange, but perhaps that referred to the colour and not the fruit. It was crowded too, and noisy. Not impressed given how they market themselves. I know dear reader that I have become an inner city dandy, but I missed my granola and yoghurt and ancient grain bread.

The day dawned like most, grey and, as hours wore on, the cloud burned away, or in the case of today, was blown away. The gale force wind that arrived yesterday had continued unabated throughout the night and was still making its presence felt was we drove toward the Wineglass Bay Track car park. Jayne was about to embark on her 6^th bush walk in three days and this one was not graded easy – there was no wheel chair access. The walk to the saddle and lookout was around 90 minutes return and 3km in length. It was quite crowded and we passed the Cold War girls (or they passed us) on several occasions.

Great Oyster Bay

There were some great views on the way up, looking back over Great Oyster Bay. The surface that had been so smooth earlier yesterday was being ripped up by the wind. The track itself is well graded with steps intermittently placed. The steps were made of the pink granite from the surrounding rock. If the Greeks had built this track the edging would be polished granite, not this rough-hewn Australian variety. All I could see were pink granite bench tops everywhere.

The lookout is well worth the climb. It reveals one of the most iconic views in Tasmania that everyone would have seen on promotional material. We met a wallaby just before the top, much to the excitement of some Japanese children. The lookout area was crowded as people availed themselves of the opportunity to take in the scenery and catch their collective breath.

The colour is real

I had wallaby for dinner one night

Seriously?!

The trip back to the car park is only 1km and about 20 minutes and is as unremarkable as the ascent is spectacular. Back at the car we discussed our next stop. It was to be a distillery to sample some of Tasmania’s finest whisky – for Jayne, dear reader, for I am uncultured in the ways of distilled grain. This was to be a reward for all of her braving of the bush in the last few days. Sullivan's Cove was my first choice but it was not to be - they are closed on weekends. Of course, that makes sense. An island state that is significantly dependent on tourism and an important attraction is closed on weekends. Really? The next choice was Nant Distillery. However, this was around a 100km detour from our selected route. Jayne would be rewarded so we set the navigation maps for Bothwell. As usual, we experienced the four seasons in the drive and the temperature varied from 23° to 14°, with showers giving way to sunshine and back again. Finally we arrived at the distillery to find it closed for stocktake and audit. WTF! Their website stated they were open and we did check it before we left Freycinet. As a cartoon character from my childhood would say, “Curses! Foiled again.”

Redland Distillery - the gate was open, a good sign

The next opportunity was in a village called Kempton that housed the Redland Distillery. No, we hadn’t heard of them either, but we sought them out and they were open. A promising start at least. Jayne would finally have her whisky tasting although it was quite an unsatisfactory experience. Whisky tasting is not cheap. A four paddle tasting cost $20 or you could taste by the half nip starting at $10. The paddle had limited choice - only one genuine whisky, the others were a 'new malt' whisky before it has been aged in barrels, a lavender liquor and a brandy. Pretty average across the board (get it? get it? A paddle is a board. Oh, ok then). Even the whisky on there which was the oldest in Tasmania was so-so.

Back in the car and back to the highway - it was straight to Villa Howden which is on the southern side of Hobart, strangely enough, in Howden. Makes sense. It was beautiful and a wonderful way to conclude our holiday. It was, by far, the pick of the accommodation. Set on the banks of the Derwent, the Villa offers accommodation and meals. Our suite was upstairs and we had views to the river through the trees. A quick shower and change of clothes and it was down to the lounge to sit in front of the fire place and have a quiet glass of wine. While the fire was unnecessary while we were there, it is easy to imagine what a lovely cosy evening it would be in Villa Howden in winter.

Wynn's Goonawarra - hilarious

They had a good selection of Tasmania wines with one from South Australia. Their wine list shows how important a typo can be. With one misplaced letter, the Coonawarra wine region in South Australia become "Goonawarra". Too funny. I wasn't sure whether they were making comparisons between SA and Tasmania.

Dinner was delightful, from the home made bread to the entrees of seafood chowder and local steak and lamb for mains to the peanut butter parfait for dessert. Nothing was rushed, everything was perfectly timed and the service was attentive. We have already discussed a return for a longer time period.

The next morning the wind continued. It had caused problems in parts of the state but we were unscathed in our area. Breakfast was the best we had throughout our journey as well. Choice of muesli and omelette/bacon/eggs combinations cooked to order. It was probably not what we needed given we had a reservation for lunch at Mure's, Tasmania's best seafood restaurant. First world problems seem to assail us.

The car was packed and we were on the road to Sullivan's Cove where we parked and wandered around the dock area and Salamanca Square, killing time until lunch and trying to walk off breakfast. Midday came around too quickly, but there is only one way to finish a holiday in Tassie and that is at Mure's on the upper deck. To this point we had checked off most of the iconic Tasmanian foods except lobster. In all the places we had eaten, lobster featured nowhere - except at Freycinet Lodge. The fact that it was on the specials board at Mure's meant we would be able close our holiday appropriately - well, Jayne would.  I had octopus followed by beer battered fish. I am finishing this entry from home almost 9 hours later and I'm still not hungry.

And that dear reader is about it. From Mure's to the airport, car returned, the Qantas Lounge for a glass of wine and then home, back to the heat and humidity. It seems like we have been away forever, but I think that is a reflection of a travel holiday. There will be two more posts before I pack the computer away until June when we will be taking you to Italy.