Hello Happy Readers,

Monday the 3rd of March, we were up really early 4.30am, as our plane left for Tasmania (with an S) from Melbourne at 7am! We hadn't had much sleep from the night before so were both a bit tired and slightly hungover.
However after a bacon roll and cup of tea, we were ready for our next adventure....Tasmania here we come!

I booked a car through "Europcar", so when we arrived in Hobart all we needed to do was collect the keys at the airport. We were greeted by "Jess" our little Red Holden who was hopefully going to look after us for the week, and we of course would look after her!

Hobart is the state capital in Tasmania with a population of around 200,500. Its not the flattest place in the world which makes it very different to main land Australia. We were informed by all of our Aussie friends that it would be FREEZING in Tas compared to Melbourne, so we went prepared and bought a new "cosy" jumper in preparation for the cold weather. Our first day in Hobart and it reached 25 degrees.....No need for the jumpers then!
We spent our first day getting ourselves orientated and drafted up a plan for the week ahead. The city centre in Hobart is relatively small and very easy to navigate, the only problem whilst driving was all of the one way streets, it was worse than Aberdeen and that's saying something. Once we sorted our accommodation (a small B&B, called Edniburgh Gallery, would definitely recommend) we parked up and took to the streets on foot. One of the nicest areas is Battery Point, which lies behind the Princes Wharf, its the old port area. Its full of old maritime houses and is a colourful village with lots of narrow lanes and several churches.
After lunch we decided to head back to our B&B for an afternoon nap....Marc played his guitar for a bit and then we slept for a few hours. That evening we ventured out to Hobart's busy waterfront area centred on Franklin Wharf and had dinner at an Indian Restaurant. It was free desert and Coffee from our friendly waiter as he loved our accent and was very happy to have us in his restaurant, all the way from Scotland.... Ha Ha, Jammy Us!!

Tuesday the 4th of March we took of early and headed towards the Tasman Peninsula towards Port Arthur. On the way we stopped of at the Cascade Brewery in Hobart. This is Australia's oldest brewery, it began its frothy production in 1832 and continues to produce fine beer and soft drinks. Cascade was a popular beer when I worked in the Sherlock. And whilst we were in Tasmania Marc drank plenty of Cascade beers, just to sample them of course!
Once we took a few snaps of the Brewery it was time to hit the road, on route to Port Arthur we stopped off at two small towns Richmond and Sorrell. Richmond is roughly 25kms from Hobart and is Tasmania's oldest premier historic town. The Richmond Bridge is the oldest road bridge in Australia and was built by convicts in 1823, we had a stroll along the river and fed the ducks. Sorrell was small, and to be honest we just drove through admiring the old buildings, not much else to see.

After a long and winding road we reached Port Arthur. Port Arthur is a small town and former convict settlement on the Tasman Peninsula. From 1833 - 1850 it was the destination for the hardest of convicted British and Irish Criminals, those who were secondary offenders having re-offended after their arrival in Australia. More than 12,500 convicts served sentences at Port Arthur, and for many it was living hell. The history behind Port Arthur was fascinating. Many prisoners became mentally unwell due to physical and psychological punishment. Unfortunately many prisoners also died due to being tortured. The Island of the Dead was the destination for all who died inside the prison camps. Of the 1646 graves recorded to exist there, only 180, those of prison staff and military personnel, are marked. The prison closed in 1877. Another sad tale to go along with this story is the tragedy which happened on April 28th, 1996.
Martin Bryant went on a killing spree at Port Arthur, murdering 35 people and wounding 37 more before being captured by Special Operatives Police. This led to a national ban on semi-automatic shotguns and rifles. It also forged a relationship between the town and Dunblane town which suffered a similar incident earlier that year.
It all sounds a bit doom and gloom, but well worth a visit....Honestly!
That evening we checked into our Cabin just outside Richmond, it only cost $60 for the two of us. We had cheap eats in the cabin and then went to the local pub for a couple of beers.

We were up before the birds on Wed the 5th of March. It was at least 250kms to Wineglass Bay so we needed to get on the road nice and early. The roads in Tas are not quite like the long straight ones in Main Land Australia. Infact im not sure there are any straight roads in Tas.....seriously! The views and scenery on route to Wineglass bay were spectacular. It reminded us of home in parts but not as green and much more rugged. We eventually reached Wineglass Bay and after lunch (banana pieces) we set off on one of the most popular walks in Tasmania. When people see pic's of Tas they tend to see Wineglass Bay, most of you will no doubt have seen the iconic images of this perfect arc with its stunning clear waters and pure white sands. Its been voted one of the top 10 beaches in the world.
The only way to reach Wineglass Bay it through the National Park, it involves a bit of hiking, however once we had climbed the 600 rough bush steps, we were there. All I can say is WOW WOW WOW
We hope you can see how spectacular this view was from our pic's, but to be honest you really need to go there to experience it for yourself.
From here we headed towards Launceston (Tasmania's 2nd largest city). On route we stopped over at Campbell Town and Ross, both very quaint towns with beautiful sandstone buildings, we had a tea and scone stop at Ross, which Marc hated as he thinks we are too young for Scones....So he had two Dundee Pies instead...Ha Ha Ha, tough luck fatty!

That evening we were booked into stay with a couple (Lyn and Alan) whom I met at the Sherlock Holmes. They fed us at the their restaurant in Westbury and then gave us a bed for the night. Their son is also traveling and has been in Scotland for 2 years. Their family originally come from Arbroath so it was nice to exchange stories about Angus.

On Thursday 6th March we cruised around some of the Northern parts of Tasmania. We stopped off in Devonport, Latrobe, Port Sorrell, and Deloraine before making our way to Launceston. Our plan was to reach Bridport which is North East. We had a hostel booked for that evening as Marc was booked on to play golf on Friday morning.
We had no idea of the road ahead, as we said before there are many winding roads in Tas. The one to Bridport though beats them all by far.....Thankfully I was driving otherwise I prob would have been sick, there was no looking down or to the side for me! The 65ks drive took us about 2.5 hours....long long winding winding roads! I was exhausted by the time we reached our hostel so Marc was on tea, Fajitas all round......MMmmmmm
Early to bed as up for the golf in the Morning.

Friday the 7th of March - Marc had booked a game of Golf at "Barnbougle Dunes". This is probably one of the most remote Golf Courses in the world, no seriously. Its a relatively new course and was only completed 4 years ago. It was designed by Tom Doak who based it on a Scottish Links, and its now rated number 30 in the World. Marc was working with the old course Superintendent at Royal Melbourne so he managed to get a game at mates rates.
Our Tee off time was 8.30am, well Marc's tee off time was then. I just took a stroll round and hit a few eggs! (waste of a walk as my Grandad says)
Marc got off to a shaky start and was 3 over on the front 9. Marc of course was beating himself up about this, but I reminded him that he hadn't exactly been practicing since we left home....
The back 9 was played much better, Marc's drive improved but his putting still needs some practice, im blaming it on his poor eye sight, or maybe it was the distraction of the odd croc on the course...ha ha
We finished 6 over and had a lovely morning. The sun shone most of the way round and it really felt like we were at home playing on th old course at St Andrews....Apart from the sun shining bit!!
We went for lunch in Bridport before getting back into Jess and heading towards Launceston. On route we stopped off at Scottsdale, Lillydale and several fruit farms. I bought a massive punnet of Rasps and Blueberries, and met a baby Wombat at one of the farms, so cute.
That evening we returned to Lyn and Alan's, where we made some traditional Scottish Mince and Tatties....

Sat 8th March - We went to Contract Gorge which sits in the middle of Launceston City. Very Beautiful and unusual to see. We took a stroll around the grounds before embarking on our chairlift experience....This is the worlds longest single line chair lift. Needless to say Marc was pooping his pants, I don't know why, we were only 100ft up!
So our journey to Tas was coming to an end as we dropped Jess off at Launceston Airport and embarked on our flight to Sydney.
We will definitely return so that we can experience the west coast next time. I would highly recommend going to Tasmania, its very different to main land Australia, in more ways that one.....

Until next time,

Peace out,

Jamie and Marc xxxxx