Minus one was the overnight forecast for Launceston – we were warm and cosy, but the car was again covered in ice. Clear morning – another good day to be out exploring. We drove into the CBD and parked the car down by the water front at Kings Park. Enjoyed a walk along the River Edge Trail. Mirror perfect reflections of the hills and homes on the other side. Where the path was still in the shade it was icy which the boys thought would be fun… until Ethan slipped over!
We wandered down to the well known ‘Penny Royal’ historic buildings – but the tourist attraction bit was closed for renovation and the rest was just pricey accommodation. The old windmill looked a little worse for wear.
Then we spent some time looking around the CBD area, including Civic Square which had some great little statues of Tassie Tigers, a Wedge Tailed Eagle and a couple of Currawongs. A plaque called it the ‘Tasmanian Tableau’ and read:
‘Tasmanian Tiger-wolf-hyena-thylacine. Slaughtered for bounty, endangered, extinct? The elusive marsupial. Heraldic thylacines now survive as supporters for the coat of arms of Launceston and Tasmania. The Wedge-Tailed Eagle lives – our most noble bird. Pied Currawongs, the larrikin observers.
Over the road the clock tower struck 11am. Found our way to the shopping precinct… well Daz tried to guide us there… as he was walking and glancing at the map a park bench jumped out in front of him… into the middle of the footpath and brought him to a sudden halt. Shins and knees took the full force of it… as did the camera which swung from his shoulder… cracked the Polariser filter… better than damaging the actual lens though… ‘only’ $120 rather than many hundreds more for a new lens.
We did find our way to Brisbane Street which has an attractive mall and some great old architecture. Quadrant Mall is a quarter circle street that stands out against the grid pattern of all other streets. It was there that we found out about another piece of Tasmania that was closed for winter… Mount Elephant Pancakes, which we’d seen advertised and decided to go to for lunch… change of plans so we ended up at Bon Appetit’s café down the road.
After lunch we walked back down towards the waterfront, then over Kings Bridge and along the 15 minute walk along Cataract Gorge to the First Basin and suspension bridge we’d visited on Monday. Found a small ‘Inclinator’ which was an 8 person funicular tramway that rode up the hill, stopping at various levels from the carpark, to the café, to the chairlift… seemed like a very expensive piece of engineering for such a small ride. There was no charge for it and it was much like an elevator, press the button, get inside and press the level you want to go to. The kids thought it was a hoot though!
Ethan napped in the pram on the walk into the gorge area… he awoke with the phrase ‘Are we going up a george to see the flying chair?’ (gorge to see the chairlift)!!
Next destination was back to the car, retracing our steps down the gorge and across Kings Bridge and around the River Edge Trail.
Six kilometres away from where we were parked was a place that allows you to go hang gliding… cable hang gliding actually… a bit like a glorified flying fox, but different. It was only $20, so Jet suggested that Daz should have a go. Daz was up for it, so that’s where we went. It was only a 200m journey, but he had to run off a wooden ramp and then soar off a cliff edge. For the $20 he got two goes. Jet and the kids watched from the bottom… shrieking excitedly as Daddy soared over their heads!
Drove back to our motel suite and the kids had a play in the playground while Jet got a couple of things for dinner from the supermarket next door. Showers and an early night for the kids. We began the pack up ready to leave tomorrow and then for the overnight journey back on the boat, arriving in Melbourne early Saturday morning.
We wandered down to the well known ‘Penny Royal’ historic buildings – but the tourist attraction bit was closed for renovation and the rest was just pricey accommodation. The old windmill looked a little worse for wear.
Then we spent some time looking around the CBD area, including Civic Square which had some great little statues of Tassie Tigers, a Wedge Tailed Eagle and a couple of Currawongs. A plaque called it the ‘Tasmanian Tableau’ and read:
‘Tasmanian Tiger-wolf-hyena-thylacine. Slaughtered for bounty, endangered, extinct? The elusive marsupial. Heraldic thylacines now survive as supporters for the coat of arms of Launceston and Tasmania. The Wedge-Tailed Eagle lives – our most noble bird. Pied Currawongs, the larrikin observers.
Over the road the clock tower struck 11am. Found our way to the shopping precinct… well Daz tried to guide us there… as he was walking and glancing at the map a park bench jumped out in front of him… into the middle of the footpath and brought him to a sudden halt. Shins and knees took the full force of it… as did the camera which swung from his shoulder… cracked the Polariser filter… better than damaging the actual lens though… ‘only’ $120 rather than many hundreds more for a new lens.
We did find our way to Brisbane Street which has an attractive mall and some great old architecture. Quadrant Mall is a quarter circle street that stands out against the grid pattern of all other streets. It was there that we found out about another piece of Tasmania that was closed for winter… Mount Elephant Pancakes, which we’d seen advertised and decided to go to for lunch… change of plans so we ended up at Bon Appetit’s café down the road.
After lunch we walked back down towards the waterfront, then over Kings Bridge and along the 15 minute walk along Cataract Gorge to the First Basin and suspension bridge we’d visited on Monday. Found a small ‘Inclinator’ which was an 8 person funicular tramway that rode up the hill, stopping at various levels from the carpark, to the café, to the chairlift… seemed like a very expensive piece of engineering for such a small ride. There was no charge for it and it was much like an elevator, press the button, get inside and press the level you want to go to. The kids thought it was a hoot though!
Ethan napped in the pram on the walk into the gorge area… he awoke with the phrase ‘Are we going up a george to see the flying chair?’ (gorge to see the chairlift)!!
Next destination was back to the car, retracing our steps down the gorge and across Kings Bridge and around the River Edge Trail.
Six kilometres away from where we were parked was a place that allows you to go hang gliding… cable hang gliding actually… a bit like a glorified flying fox, but different. It was only $20, so Jet suggested that Daz should have a go. Daz was up for it, so that’s where we went. It was only a 200m journey, but he had to run off a wooden ramp and then soar off a cliff edge. For the $20 he got two goes. Jet and the kids watched from the bottom… shrieking excitedly as Daddy soared over their heads!
Drove back to our motel suite and the kids had a play in the playground while Jet got a couple of things for dinner from the supermarket next door. Showers and an early night for the kids. We began the pack up ready to leave tomorrow and then for the overnight journey back on the boat, arriving in Melbourne early Saturday morning.
Zac's portrait of himself and Ethan:
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment