Thursday 10th, at the crack of dawn we arrive in Devonport (on the Mersey river) and head off down the Tamar Valley to our destination which is the town of Launceston (second largest city in Tasmania, with just under 100,000 population). We have to pinch ourselves to check that we haven't travelled back to the West Country! The route to Launceston passes through lush agricultural land dotted about with Holsteins, Freisians, Belted Galloway and, of course, plenty of sheep. We divert our course to stop off at the Christmas Hill Raspberry Farm for a raspberry-themed breakfast, then on to Deloraine, home town of what was probably Australia's most famous racehorse - Malua - winner of just about every major race in the 1880's and probably the most notable living thing from this town. But it was the folk museum we had stopped off to see. A really good history museum of a pioneering town of the 1800's, with rooms furnished as in a home, plus the saloon. In addition, it had a contemporary embroidery exhibition comprising a work collaboratively made, in the mid-1990s, by a least 100 townsfolk. The work was four panels, each about ten feet by ten feet. They illustrated, in scenes embroidered, appliqued and using other textile techniques, the local activities and events during the four seasons of the year. Extremely clever and inventive, using all manner of fabrics, embroidery, and other needlework, to depict scenes of village life, local flora and fauna.There was a taped commentary that went with it and pointed out various techniques. Quite remarkable, and an extraordinary group accomplishment. We made several further stops, at Exton and Westbury, which boasts a quintessentially English village green, and then Longford, before stopping to tour round a historic working farm village at Brickenden. Built in the 1850's with convict labour for the British landowners who settled in the lush Tamar Valley, this was in very good condition having been restored by the 5th generation of the Archer family, which still owns and runs it. Then on to one of the finest Georgian country houses in the country - Clarendon House. This was recommended by Tim and Isabel as one of the best examples of a Tasmanian country home, and they were not wrong. The house is owned by the National Trust of Australia, a similar organisation to the UK's but sadly lacking the funds to carry out major restorative work. As the family had, over a century ago, sold off most of the house's contents, what we saw were mostly furnishings of the period and type, rather than items actually belonging to the estate. The most impressive piece of furniture was a round hall table, painted recently by a local award winning artist, Michael McWilliams, with a panorama of local animals (all of which we were able to identify), combined with various architectural fragments related to the house. It was a magnificent work of art. In one of several coincidences we would experience, this artist was also the proprietor of a local antiques shop we had visited an hour previously.

We finally arrive at our Launceston B&B - Ashton Lodge, a comfortable, traditional B&B. After a wander around town and down by the small harbour, we had dinner at Three Steps off George Street, a gastro pub that didn't look very impressive on first inspection, but turned out to be better than expected. The sign on the outside said that Jason was the newly hired chef. We decided after dinner that they made a good choice.

Friday we're off to the northeast coast, but before doing so we have a quick look around the older quarter of Launceston, wandering by John Boag's Brewery and the local History Museum, with a good exhibition on the wreck of Sydney Cove which went down off NE Tasmania in 1797. A homeware shop called Vintage Rose caught Glenna's eye so another diversion was made--and what a surprise.

As we wandered around the shop, admiring all the lovely things for sale, we started chatting with Amanda, the shop's owner. It turns out that she is the sister of the artist who painted the fantastic table in Clarendon House that we had seen the previous day. We had been told, by mainland Australians of course, that everyone in Tasmania is related. Maybe they weren't so far off!