What a week! We’ve had a busy time travelling around Tassie visiting family, friends, cool places and enjoying every bit of sunshine we possibly could.
We arrived into Launceston on Saturday, greeted by James’ mum, Sandra, along with beautiful and warm sunshine, with next to no humidity. We settled in for the afternoon with James’ family and a barbecue at Lilydale nestled in amongst fruit trees, veggie gardens and the array of flowers James’ dad, Scott, has growing. After the hustle and bustle of cities in the last week it was a beautiful way to wind down and enjoy another round of amazing food and wonderful company, and a run on the old flying fox. Sunday we drove North to Bridport to see more of James’ family including his Nan. There are always cakes, biscuits, slices and every other delicious baked good you could possibly imagine when visiting any of the Dornauf’s and Livingston’s, much to both of our delights.
After two nights at Scott’s place relaxing, playing many card games and a bottle or two of wine it was time for us to move on. We farewelled James’ sister Cait who was London bound, and James’ Aunt Kerry and then moved along ourselves to Sandra’s for the evening before heading down to Coles Bay. We walked/climbed the Wineglass Bay track in Freycinet National Park and also took a quick peak at the lookout then headed our way over to Swansea to stay the night.
On Wednesday we made our way down toward Hobart, stopping by Richmond for a few hours along the way. In Richmond we visited the old gaol and had a look through all of the little knick-knack and arts and crafts stores, along with a quick spot of lunch and the sweet shop, although later we were reminded that chocolate-coated coffee beans don’t like sitting in a hot car.
While in Hobart we stayed with Cherie and Ewen, and managed to catch up with a few people including Jeremy, another of Dee’s Hayman friends… although a little older and wiser about the world, there is always a hint of things being done “The Hayman Way” when catching up with the folk from the island. Knux and Festy, two of James’ ex-Christ College friends were out for a few drinks as well. We took in the sites around Hobart, seeing the Cascade Brewery as well as the obligatory trip past Parliament House (for Tristan’s challenge). Dee always seems to forget how cold things are when she’s out, so she managed to drag us in shopping to get something warmer to wear while we were wandering around… typical!
Friday saw us head back to Launceston for a quick catch up with Ben (another ex-Christ person) who James hadn’t seen for close to ten years, and then dinner with Lauren and Simon coupled with a beautiful view of the Tamar River. After a fairly hectic week, Saturday we managed to squeeze in a little bit of chill time before having lunch with Scott, Sandra and Paul and then heading to the airport for our flight across to Melbourne.
Go see all the Tassie photos