To Devonport

Our free camp overnight was in a great park, with ponds, ducks, walks, playgrounds, decent toilets and even hot showers. The only down side was the logging trucks which seemed to go past all night, oh, and the family of ducks who enjoyed the night under our bed! On a morning walk before packing up more ducks were encountered as well as a mummy padelmelon with its youngun'.

 



 

Not far from Scottsdale we stopped at the Bridestowe Lavender farm - the largest privately owned one in the world, at 260 acres. This is the flowering season so it was the best time to be there.  Three weeks in January is also harvesting time, so there was a lot already harvested.  We did enjoy a wander around the property, including under the 2 old oak trees planted in 1881. Saw some harvesting, then went and watched them extract the lavender oil, a process that only takes 18 minutes per huge tub of harvested flowers.

 

In the gift shop we browsed everything lavenderish, the colour purple quite an eyeful and the smell quite a noseful! Sampled a tub of Honey Lavender icecream which was very nice!

After the lavender farm we drove through Lilydale, took back roads across the Tamar Valley towards Devonport. This meant bypassing Launceston and the busy highway.  It was quicker anyway, had less traffic and was more scenic.  Stopped practically under the impressive looking Batman Bridge over the Tamar River for lunch before continuing on to Devonport for our last 2 nights of this trip.