A reasonably early departure from St Helens to make our way to Launceston. As per usual our travel day is also one of exploration with plenty of stops along the way. Our first stop today was St Columbia Falls near Pyengena, a short walk through the rainforest to the viewing platform - once again, we had this all to ourselves. On the way back we stopped off for coffee and cheese tasting at the Pyengena diary company and of course had to buy some strong & crumbly cheddar for lunch later.

The whole area was once again beautiful, surrounded by green pastures, cows, sheep and bales of hay - we could have been in England. We continued through winding roads, more views, forests, mountains, until our next stop at Bridstow Lavender Farm. This was started by an Englishman and 1 packet of seeds in 1921. The status of the lavender farm on their website was "pale purple haze", so not fully developed yet and we were about 2 weeks too early.

However, we had a nice walk through the fields and enjoyed their lavender ice cream. We became acquainted with Bobbie the Bear who became a social media sensation in China!

We reached Launceston late afternoon and after checking in to our accommodation we went off exploring. Launceston is famous for the cataract gorge reserve, its Georgian streetscape and the vineyards along the Tamar Valley - Heather had to experience it all!

That afternoon we walked nearly 10 miles exploring the length of the gorge following the pathway along the cliff face which was spectacular but got a bit worried about the young kids jumping in to the water from the high rocks.

The First Basin on the southern side has a cafe and a swimming pool surrounded by bushland, known to locals as Launceston's beach. In contrast, the shady northern side, named the Cliff Grounds, is a Victorian garden with ferns and exotic plants. The beautiful Kings Bridge over the Gorge was floated into place in 1867.

With a kiosk, restaurant and swimming pool, rolling lawns and a rotunda, a footbridge and a chairlift across the river, as well as peacocks and wallabies at dusk, this has been described as may be Australia's most alluring urban reserve.

After all this exercise we certainly were ready for food and enjoyed a pie and a pint in an Irish Bar and had an early night as we had another busy day tomorrow.

Picked up at 11.00am and joined by two other couples from Adelaide, we started our day of wine tasting along the banks of the Tamar valley and its river of the same name. We tasted about 8 wines in each of our 4 stops with lunch at the first vineyard and a cheese platter at the end of the day, and only getting back at about 7.00pm (this was supposed to be a half day tour!). Great day, great weather with good company and good wine.