c2travel: Tasmania
Day 1 & 2 - 20 & 21 Aug 2016
Depart to klia2 at 6.30pm, arrived at 7.15pm
Baggage drop, self printed bag tag, having dinner at Nan yang Restaurant, duck egg char kuey teow, tapao Chicken Siew Pao, departure gate P12, depart to Melbourne at 10.30pm, 7hrs 15min journey, having homemade steam corn in flight, arrived Melbourne airport at 8.10am aus time, filling visitor declaration form, rushing to domestic departure for next flight to Tasmania, bought aus sim card pack at AUD30, depart to Tasmania via Virgin Australia at 10.40am, 1hr journey, got complimentary Raspberry cookies and orange juice, arrived Hobart Airport at 11.40am, walk to rental car office just opposite the entrance, got new x-trail that enough for 5 person, going to first stop which is Sorell Market located 11min from Airport. Market nearly close at 12pm so left one food stall, one veg stall and others sell handcraft souvenir, having lunch at seafood Gourmet, grilled scallops with salads, check-in at Travelodge Hotel, Budget Room equipped with iron, heater, kettle, fridge, rest and sleep, woke up at 6pm, having dinner at Pier, deep fried school shark with chips, grilled salmon with coleslaw and chips, muesli soup, stop by at Woolworth since others shop already close, bought Tamar Valley yogurt, avocados, strawberry, milk and tea for tomorrow breakfast, back to hotel.
Day 3 - 22 Aug 2016
Woke up at 7.30am, having yogurt with strawberry and banana as breakfast, looking for Telstra shop to activate sim card, luckily they gave us one more free sim card pack. So we save AUD30, dropped by at T2 teashop, so expensive, my friend bought a hand scrub and body oil at Locittance, the promoter suggest us to visit Mona, St Helens place and Freycinet winery, back to hotel to get car, drove to Brooke Street Pier to accomplish our first itineraries, Mona. Can't park at nearby parking since its allowed for 2 hours only. There are 2P signboard there which mean 2 hours only. The guy asked us to park at provided parking located at Woolworth, 3 block from the pier. Bought a ticket for AUD45 which is AUD20 for bus shuttle and AUD25 for entrance fees. Took a 12pm bus and arrived Mona after 30min journey. Its an amazing architectural building gallery, Going back to pier via ferry at 5pm. Actually we a bit frustrated today, not because of the gallery but because of the transport there. Better to drive there rather than pay the parking and shuttle fee. Getting dark, dropped by at Chemistry drug shop to survey vitamin price, took car and need to pay parking at AUD16. Drove to Royal Thai Restaurant as our dinner place. Fish fillet fried with Thai dressing, tofu and veg with ginger and steam rice, back to hotel.
Day 4 - 23 Aug 2016
Woke up early 30min than yesterday, having leftover yogurt and bananas as pre breakfast, packing and check-out. Start our sightseeing journey at Richmond, having brunch at Bangor Restaurant, scallop pasta, salt and pepper abalone with salads, a dozen of pesto oyster, continue driving to Tesselated Pavement, Tasman Arch, The Blowhole, having short break at Port Arthur Lavender Farm which serve cakes, cookies, ice cream and lavender based souvenirs. Enjoying havalla lavender ice cream. Its too milky for me. Check-in to Abs by the bay for one night. Continue journey to Port Arthur Historical Site but endup decided to go others place because is seems like prisoner place. Bought button mushroom at Port Arthur Centre for AUD4.50, potato chips and eucalyptus candy. Back to hotel and preparing dinner which is chicken flavour maggi with salt mushroom. So yummy! Cooked with microwave.
Day 5 - 24 Aug 2016
Arghhhh we did not manage to go out early. Still needs 2 hours to get prepared. hahaha. It's ladies symptom. Today itineraries is check-out, then go to Spiky Bridge, having brunch at Freycinet Marine Farm, visiting Wineglass Bay Lookout, Richardson Beach and Great Oyster Bay. It's takes 2 hours from Abs to Spiky Bridge. If you plan to visiting this bridge, please alert the Spiky signboard since its located at the roadside and you might not notice it when speedy. Just spend around 5 mins here to take photos and continue our journey to Freycinet Marine Farm. After 57km driving with quiet surround of trees and coastal, we having our mouth watering fresh oyster at these garden style restaurant. The cooked prawn, oyster with cheese and grilled salmon taste really good! The price cheaper than others, you need to place used plate and utensils to the provided bin. At the same time, we met a group of Malaysian and having little chat. Opps, its getting dark. After half way driving to Wineglass Bay Lookout, we decided to cancel this from itinerary since there is no enough time and just spent time at Richardson Beach. Parked at the provided parking area and walk down to the beach. It's a quiet beach, no facilities, and we just saw one couple walking there. You can see more than three campsite area with basic facilities along the way to this beach. Stepping out the car, a quick look around revealed a beauty and calmness of the Great Oyster Bay. Have a seat on the bench facing ramp, looking to the boat and surrounding. One of the information plaques told about boating safety information and type of recreational sea fishing. Ends today's journey by check-in at Diamond Island Resort, Bicheno. Space full room equipped with kitchenette, cooking utensils, heater, seating area, tv, dining table, glass sliding door, toiletries except bath towel. As per informed by reception ladies, there are penguin watching at 7.30pm but when we go out to see, there was so dark, no light and very quiet. There are no intercom provided and we also afraid to go out since the lobby is far. We end up didn't go out and start preparing dinner. One of us preheat the fried chicken that we bought earlier while others preparing hot drinks and salt mushroom. There are very limited restaurant here and close at 5pm, it's very recommended to buy all groceries at the town before check-in.
Day 6 - 25 Aug 2016
Start a day with two pieces of hard boiled egg as breakfast. Preparing to check-out and spend a time to walk along Diamond Beach seaside. Wow, it's so amazing and clean private beach just in front of our room. Need to walk a bit to see these beautiful beach since there are huge bushes that obstruct the view from the room. Unfortunately all the penguins are already out and we only get to see their habitats which is a small dome made from concrete. Journey begins! Today's itinerary are going to St Helens, Binalong Bay, and Pyengana Cheese Company. After one hour driving via Tasman Highway, we arrived St Helens which is a small town that running oyster business since there are so many boat parked there.There are primary school, pharmacy, health centre and few restaurant. We decided to have brunch at Captain's Catch Fishmongers Fish & Chips which serve cheese bakes scallops, mussels, grilled salmon and grilled blue eyes at average price. The food there are really good with fine dining level. The bill's total is $86. As usual, taking photos is a must and continue our journey to Binalong Bay which located just around 5min from St Helens. We have bad impression about this place since it's looks amazing in photos but not in real. There are quiet place in front of residential area with one information kiosk for those who want to join a boat trip, and there are just some stone having the orange colour so that is the reason people called it as Bay of fires. I've touched the orange things and actually is a mud. We didn't spend so much time here and heading to the next stop at cheese factory. Pyengana Cheese Company located 40km from Binalong Bay and it's a good place to visit for those who loves cheese and dairy so much. They serve hot meals, coffee, cakes at Holy Cow Cafe and provided various choice of souvenirs from t-shirt, cow bear, handcraft, mug, thermos, and others. The cheesecake with blueberry sauce makes a good combination with hot cappuccino. Having it by facing a wide greenery view and fresh air. One of the best memories there! After bought few bottle of fresh milk and cheese, we head to Beauty Point and it's a very tiring journey since it's takes almost 3 hours to reach our hotel and there was no signal at the jungle road. Reached Beauty Point Tourist Park Cabin at 7pm and its really dark there with nobody at reception room. Luckily the owner already put our cabin key at the safety box and we managed to go in after 15min. There are no light there and we need to find our cabin called Cormorant depends on car light. It's a long cabin built using 40ft container with spacious kitchen area equipped with kitchenware, small living room with sofa and television, small room with queen bed and toilet at the end. As usual, we prepared our on dinner which are scallops with habanero chili, baked salmon and salt mushroom. All groceries we bought at Coles supermarket at the town area. Two of us get hand burn due to direct touch with the habanero which is one of the hot chili in the world. It's really painful and we tried traditional remedies to cure it by soak hand in warm salt water and after that soak in milk.
Day 7 - 26 Aug 2016
After having same cooked scallops as breakfast, we heading to Gorge Scenic Chairlift at Launceston. There are parking area provided with 50 cent per hour and the fee for chairlift is $18 per person. Gorge Cataract Reserve is a recreational park in jungle with lake area, hanging bridge, playground, BBQ area, cycling and walking path. In the park, we met few elderly couples that still able to walk through stair passage. It's a one of Australian healthy life culture that should be emulated. We spend around one and half hour there before going to Truffle of Tasmanian at Deloraine. Unfortunately we can't find the real location of this truffle place since there are no signboard and waze also can't bring us there. Everyone getting hungry and decided to stop at Elizabeth Town Bakery Cafe to grab a meal. They serve various type of muffins, cakes, pies, pastries and meal but we just take away hot drinks and continue driving. On the way, we stopped at Ashgrove Cheese, having free cheese tasting, and bought few more cheese. There are glass window provided for customers which shows live cheese making procedure on Monday to Friday end at 3pm. There are more type of cheese here such as Wasabi, Lavender, Jalapeno, and Herb with convenient packed for souvenirs. We check-in at Penguin Beachfront Apartment after 1 hour driving from Elizabeth Town to Penguin. Everyone getting really hungry and we drive around to look for dining place. We walked to Pluny's Thai just 5min from apartment but sadly it's closed. We finally bought a pack of Indomie, a bunch of Pak Choy and frozen squid at nearby IGA supermarket. There are only four food places there which are Letterbox Cafe that already closed at the time we reach, El Perro Tapas and Pizza, Pluny's Thai and Penguin Country Bakehouse. Nothing to do here after walking along the beach and explore the small town, we end up rest and enjoy the modern concept apartment.
Day 8 - 27 Aug 2016
Wake up early in the morning, preparing simple breakfast and heading back to Launceston. Actually we planned to go up to Cape Grim and Stanley but after few days long journey, its so tiring and decided to cancel it. Stopped by at Christmas Hill Raspberry Farm which located just at roadside, they have lakeview cafe that serve drinks, ice cream, signature raspberry based food, frozen raspberry, jam and many more. The next destination is Melita Honey Farm but unfortunately it's closed on Saturday, we endup stop at Ashgrove Cheese to buy Tasmanian Honey to bring back. Along the way is Anver's Chocolate Factory but we didn't go in since nobody interested with chocolate. Arrived Launceston during lunch time and having deep fried squid and pasta at Hallam's Restaurant Launceston. This restaurant got high review but we really feels its overrated. The food is tasteless, normal and pricey. Launceston town looks like Hobart with less people there. The shops there mostly closed on weekend and we just managed to go in Coles supermarket, Woolworth and Chemistry Shop. It's a bored day since nothing to visit and we just check-in to Best Western Launceston Hotel and go out for dinner at Me Wah Restaurant owned by Hongkong man. At night, we started to packing our luggage for next flight.
Day 9 - 28 Aug 2016
Woke up at 4.30am, preparing to checkout, and heading to Launceston Airport located 7min driving from hotel. Returned car and depart to Melbourne at 7am by Virgin Australia. Having a small pack of Craman's muesli and water as complimentary. Arrived Melbourne after one hour flight.
Depart to klia2 at 6.30pm, arrived at 7.15pm
Baggage drop, self printed bag tag, having dinner at Nan yang Restaurant, duck egg char kuey teow, tapao Chicken Siew Pao, departure gate P12, depart to Melbourne at 10.30pm, 7hrs 15min journey, having homemade steam corn in flight, arrived Melbourne airport at 8.10am aus time, filling visitor declaration form, rushing to domestic departure for next flight to Tasmania, bought aus sim card pack at AUD30, depart to Tasmania via Virgin Australia at 10.40am, 1hr journey, got complimentary Raspberry cookies and orange juice, arrived Hobart Airport at 11.40am, walk to rental car office just opposite the entrance, got new x-trail that enough for 5 person, going to first stop which is Sorell Market located 11min from Airport. Market nearly close at 12pm so left one food stall, one veg stall and others sell handcraft souvenir, having lunch at seafood Gourmet, grilled scallops with salads, check-in at Travelodge Hotel, Budget Room equipped with iron, heater, kettle, fridge, rest and sleep, woke up at 6pm, having dinner at Pier, deep fried school shark with chips, grilled salmon with coleslaw and chips, muesli soup, stop by at Woolworth since others shop already close, bought Tamar Valley yogurt, avocados, strawberry, milk and tea for tomorrow breakfast, back to hotel.
Day 3 - 22 Aug 2016
Woke up at 7.30am, having yogurt with strawberry and banana as breakfast, looking for Telstra shop to activate sim card, luckily they gave us one more free sim card pack. So we save AUD30, dropped by at T2 teashop, so expensive, my friend bought a hand scrub and body oil at Locittance, the promoter suggest us to visit Mona, St Helens place and Freycinet winery, back to hotel to get car, drove to Brooke Street Pier to accomplish our first itineraries, Mona. Can't park at nearby parking since its allowed for 2 hours only. There are 2P signboard there which mean 2 hours only. The guy asked us to park at provided parking located at Woolworth, 3 block from the pier. Bought a ticket for AUD45 which is AUD20 for bus shuttle and AUD25 for entrance fees. Took a 12pm bus and arrived Mona after 30min journey. Its an amazing architectural building gallery, Going back to pier via ferry at 5pm. Actually we a bit frustrated today, not because of the gallery but because of the transport there. Better to drive there rather than pay the parking and shuttle fee. Getting dark, dropped by at Chemistry drug shop to survey vitamin price, took car and need to pay parking at AUD16. Drove to Royal Thai Restaurant as our dinner place. Fish fillet fried with Thai dressing, tofu and veg with ginger and steam rice, back to hotel.
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| View from MONA |
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| Having brunch at The Source Restaurant, MONA |
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| Looks like camping area |
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| Inside the gallery |
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| The art |
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| Along the way to the chapel area |
Day 4 - 23 Aug 2016
Woke up early 30min than yesterday, having leftover yogurt and bananas as pre breakfast, packing and check-out. Start our sightseeing journey at Richmond, having brunch at Bangor Restaurant, scallop pasta, salt and pepper abalone with salads, a dozen of pesto oyster, continue driving to Tesselated Pavement, Tasman Arch, The Blowhole, having short break at Port Arthur Lavender Farm which serve cakes, cookies, ice cream and lavender based souvenirs. Enjoying havalla lavender ice cream. Its too milky for me. Check-in to Abs by the bay for one night. Continue journey to Port Arthur Historical Site but endup decided to go others place because is seems like prisoner place. Bought button mushroom at Port Arthur Centre for AUD4.50, potato chips and eucalyptus candy. Back to hotel and preparing dinner which is chicken flavour maggi with salt mushroom. So yummy! Cooked with microwave.
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| Bangor Restaurant entrance and parking area |
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| The view of wineyard |
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| Fried abalone |
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| Pasta |
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| Pesto oyster |
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| Tesselated pavement |
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| Plaque of information regarding tesselated pavement |
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| The Blowhole |
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| Beside The Blowhole |
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| Tasman Arch a.k.a Kitchen Devil |
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| Lavender Ice cream at Port Arthur Lavender Farm |
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| Lake behind Abs by the Bay. As informed by the owner, here got shark and nobody will swim here |
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| Such a nice sunset |
Day 5 - 24 Aug 2016
Arghhhh we did not manage to go out early. Still needs 2 hours to get prepared. hahaha. It's ladies symptom. Today itineraries is check-out, then go to Spiky Bridge, having brunch at Freycinet Marine Farm, visiting Wineglass Bay Lookout, Richardson Beach and Great Oyster Bay. It's takes 2 hours from Abs to Spiky Bridge. If you plan to visiting this bridge, please alert the Spiky signboard since its located at the roadside and you might not notice it when speedy. Just spend around 5 mins here to take photos and continue our journey to Freycinet Marine Farm. After 57km driving with quiet surround of trees and coastal, we having our mouth watering fresh oyster at these garden style restaurant. The cooked prawn, oyster with cheese and grilled salmon taste really good! The price cheaper than others, you need to place used plate and utensils to the provided bin. At the same time, we met a group of Malaysian and having little chat. Opps, its getting dark. After half way driving to Wineglass Bay Lookout, we decided to cancel this from itinerary since there is no enough time and just spent time at Richardson Beach. Parked at the provided parking area and walk down to the beach. It's a quiet beach, no facilities, and we just saw one couple walking there. You can see more than three campsite area with basic facilities along the way to this beach. Stepping out the car, a quick look around revealed a beauty and calmness of the Great Oyster Bay. Have a seat on the bench facing ramp, looking to the boat and surrounding. One of the information plaques told about boating safety information and type of recreational sea fishing. Ends today's journey by check-in at Diamond Island Resort, Bicheno. Space full room equipped with kitchenette, cooking utensils, heater, seating area, tv, dining table, glass sliding door, toiletries except bath towel. As per informed by reception ladies, there are penguin watching at 7.30pm but when we go out to see, there was so dark, no light and very quiet. There are no intercom provided and we also afraid to go out since the lobby is far. We end up didn't go out and start preparing dinner. One of us preheat the fried chicken that we bought earlier while others preparing hot drinks and salt mushroom. There are very limited restaurant here and close at 5pm, it's very recommended to buy all groceries at the town before check-in.
Day 6 - 25 Aug 2016
Start a day with two pieces of hard boiled egg as breakfast. Preparing to check-out and spend a time to walk along Diamond Beach seaside. Wow, it's so amazing and clean private beach just in front of our room. Need to walk a bit to see these beautiful beach since there are huge bushes that obstruct the view from the room. Unfortunately all the penguins are already out and we only get to see their habitats which is a small dome made from concrete. Journey begins! Today's itinerary are going to St Helens, Binalong Bay, and Pyengana Cheese Company. After one hour driving via Tasman Highway, we arrived St Helens which is a small town that running oyster business since there are so many boat parked there.There are primary school, pharmacy, health centre and few restaurant. We decided to have brunch at Captain's Catch Fishmongers Fish & Chips which serve cheese bakes scallops, mussels, grilled salmon and grilled blue eyes at average price. The food there are really good with fine dining level. The bill's total is $86. As usual, taking photos is a must and continue our journey to Binalong Bay which located just around 5min from St Helens. We have bad impression about this place since it's looks amazing in photos but not in real. There are quiet place in front of residential area with one information kiosk for those who want to join a boat trip, and there are just some stone having the orange colour so that is the reason people called it as Bay of fires. I've touched the orange things and actually is a mud. We didn't spend so much time here and heading to the next stop at cheese factory. Pyengana Cheese Company located 40km from Binalong Bay and it's a good place to visit for those who loves cheese and dairy so much. They serve hot meals, coffee, cakes at Holy Cow Cafe and provided various choice of souvenirs from t-shirt, cow bear, handcraft, mug, thermos, and others. The cheesecake with blueberry sauce makes a good combination with hot cappuccino. Having it by facing a wide greenery view and fresh air. One of the best memories there! After bought few bottle of fresh milk and cheese, we head to Beauty Point and it's a very tiring journey since it's takes almost 3 hours to reach our hotel and there was no signal at the jungle road. Reached Beauty Point Tourist Park Cabin at 7pm and its really dark there with nobody at reception room. Luckily the owner already put our cabin key at the safety box and we managed to go in after 15min. There are no light there and we need to find our cabin called Cormorant depends on car light. It's a long cabin built using 40ft container with spacious kitchen area equipped with kitchenware, small living room with sofa and television, small room with queen bed and toilet at the end. As usual, we prepared our on dinner which are scallops with habanero chili, baked salmon and salt mushroom. All groceries we bought at Coles supermarket at the town area. Two of us get hand burn due to direct touch with the habanero which is one of the hot chili in the world. It's really painful and we tried traditional remedies to cure it by soak hand in warm salt water and after that soak in milk.
Day 7 - 26 Aug 2016
After having same cooked scallops as breakfast, we heading to Gorge Scenic Chairlift at Launceston. There are parking area provided with 50 cent per hour and the fee for chairlift is $18 per person. Gorge Cataract Reserve is a recreational park in jungle with lake area, hanging bridge, playground, BBQ area, cycling and walking path. In the park, we met few elderly couples that still able to walk through stair passage. It's a one of Australian healthy life culture that should be emulated. We spend around one and half hour there before going to Truffle of Tasmanian at Deloraine. Unfortunately we can't find the real location of this truffle place since there are no signboard and waze also can't bring us there. Everyone getting hungry and decided to stop at Elizabeth Town Bakery Cafe to grab a meal. They serve various type of muffins, cakes, pies, pastries and meal but we just take away hot drinks and continue driving. On the way, we stopped at Ashgrove Cheese, having free cheese tasting, and bought few more cheese. There are glass window provided for customers which shows live cheese making procedure on Monday to Friday end at 3pm. There are more type of cheese here such as Wasabi, Lavender, Jalapeno, and Herb with convenient packed for souvenirs. We check-in at Penguin Beachfront Apartment after 1 hour driving from Elizabeth Town to Penguin. Everyone getting really hungry and we drive around to look for dining place. We walked to Pluny's Thai just 5min from apartment but sadly it's closed. We finally bought a pack of Indomie, a bunch of Pak Choy and frozen squid at nearby IGA supermarket. There are only four food places there which are Letterbox Cafe that already closed at the time we reach, El Perro Tapas and Pizza, Pluny's Thai and Penguin Country Bakehouse. Nothing to do here after walking along the beach and explore the small town, we end up rest and enjoy the modern concept apartment.
Day 8 - 27 Aug 2016
Wake up early in the morning, preparing simple breakfast and heading back to Launceston. Actually we planned to go up to Cape Grim and Stanley but after few days long journey, its so tiring and decided to cancel it. Stopped by at Christmas Hill Raspberry Farm which located just at roadside, they have lakeview cafe that serve drinks, ice cream, signature raspberry based food, frozen raspberry, jam and many more. The next destination is Melita Honey Farm but unfortunately it's closed on Saturday, we endup stop at Ashgrove Cheese to buy Tasmanian Honey to bring back. Along the way is Anver's Chocolate Factory but we didn't go in since nobody interested with chocolate. Arrived Launceston during lunch time and having deep fried squid and pasta at Hallam's Restaurant Launceston. This restaurant got high review but we really feels its overrated. The food is tasteless, normal and pricey. Launceston town looks like Hobart with less people there. The shops there mostly closed on weekend and we just managed to go in Coles supermarket, Woolworth and Chemistry Shop. It's a bored day since nothing to visit and we just check-in to Best Western Launceston Hotel and go out for dinner at Me Wah Restaurant owned by Hongkong man. At night, we started to packing our luggage for next flight.
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| Heritage locomotive train at Devonport |
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| View at Cristmas Hill Raspberry Farm |
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| At Ashgrove Cheese |
Day 9 - 28 Aug 2016
Woke up at 4.30am, preparing to checkout, and heading to Launceston Airport located 7min driving from hotel. Returned car and depart to Melbourne at 7am by Virgin Australia. Having a small pack of Craman's muesli and water as complimentary. Arrived Melbourne after one hour flight.
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