Friday, March 30 – Tasmania On Our Own

Hero Collection Kennedy, Launceston

Up for breakfast and packing, then Lisa headed out. We finished loading our stuff into the car and then grabbed a few pictures of the house / hotel that we had stayed in. Beautiful stained glass!

We drove a few miles to the other side of town, where the Cataract Gorge was our first stop. This natural gorge has been modified a little, but still has a lot of wild scenery. 

There are walking paths, gardens, a pool, and a chairlift to the other side. We started out with the chairlift, to get an overview.

This bridge spans one end of the river, on the far side of the lake.

Once you get off the chairlift, you can climb higher for an overview, or down to the bridge.

Or you can do both!

We spent some time enjoying the scenery and walking around both ends of the gorge. This part is wilder and less developed.

After Cataract Gorge, we headed north along the Tamar again, for some different stops.

 The Tamar River looks idyllic from here.

Thank You to the tourist who got a picture of both of us!

We went to a scenic viewpoint called Bradys Lookout. Apparently he was a wanted criminal whose gang camped out here, so that they could keep an eye on their pursuit. Eventually he was caught, tried, and hanged. Happy story.

Batman Bridge, Tamar River Valley, TAS

We headed over to the Batman (pronounced Bat-e-min) Bridge for up-close river views. Interesting design for a suspension bridge, with the asymmetrical placement of the single pylon.

We tried for another winery only to find that it was closed! It is Good Friday, after all. Oh well, better for us that way. Less wine to carry home.

Timber Kitchen at Velo Wines, West Tamar Highway, TAS

Then we went to lunch at one of yesterday’s wineries. We had a nice table by the window, with a gorgeous view of the vineyards and the valley.

Last sunshine for a while. City Park, Launceston, TAS

Despite our best efforts to be slow, lunch was over at 2:00, and our flight wasn’t until 5:00. We didn’t want to sit around the airport, so we went back to Launceston and sat in City Park for a while, enjoying a little more sunshine and fresh air. 

Reluctantly, we headed to the airport about 3:00 and returned the car, then checked in. We were again offered seats closer to the front; this time, in the first row behind First Class. I love how Virgin Australia has treated us this trip!

No lounge in the small Launceston Airport, but a pleasant waiting area to relax in before we went downstairs to the gate a few minutes before boarding. The gate agent (same one who checked us in) called for priority boarding and nobody moved except us. Cool! I guess we are first on!

Virgin Australia does something nice called “Happy Hour,” where on any flight departing between 5 and 7 on weekdays, they serve free drinks. So we had that for the short trip across to the mainland. Service was great, as the flight was less than half full. 

Until next time...Goodbye Tasmania

As Tasmania receded into the distance, the reality sank in – tomorrow we leave!

Landing in Melbourne was easy and then we walked across the street to our hotel. I’d booked an airport hotel (Park Royal Melbourne Airport) because I didn’t want to bother going back and forth to the city for such a short visit. After our painful experience with both Uber and Taxi, that decision looked very smart. 

The hotel was nice enough. We did some final rearranging of our packed luggage. I tried to check in for tomorrow’s flight, but the Delta app said there was a problem with our reservation. That's not what we wanted to hear.

I hoped that it was just a codeshare issue, as our first flight was with Virgin Australia, but since we were right next door we went over to the airport to check at the service desk. As I had thought, no issue at all, so that was reassuring. The staff told us to come and check in early so we could take advantage of the Etihad Lounge before boarding. There's no Virgin lounge in the International terminal, but this doesn't sound like a bad substitute at all.

We had a nice dinner at the hotel restaurant then a nightcap in our room with the last of our leave-behind wine. Now to try and get some sleep. Our flight leaves at 12:30PM, so no worries about sleeping too late, or getting to the airport on time. Should be a relaxing morning!