Launceston 2013

Australia and Kuala Lumpur October / November 2013

2013 found us on our way back to Australia, this time via Kuala Lumpur. I arranged the trip with AusTravel. I had visited KL on an earlier stopover but this was Jonathon's first time. From there we went to Brisbane, Tasmania, Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road. Please click below to go to the relevant pages.

The Tasmania page got too big so I've split it into 3 to reflect the 3 stops we had.

This is page 3 - Launceston

bicheno

We were moving to Launceston and I'd found a scenic drive to follow rather than just staying on main roads. It was a great route with a few stopping off points and interesting roads to drive along. First stop was Bicheno to see the blow hole and amazing rock formations.

douglas apsley natl park

From there we journeyed to the Douglas Apsley National Park and enjoyed a short walk through the trees to the Waterhole.

A quick stop for a cuppa and then onto the Elephant Pass. Somewhere close to the top we found the Mount Elephant Pancake Barn - yummy pancakes (we had savoury as it was lunch time).

Jonathon really liked their sense of humour - you can see why.

pancake

Don't even think about blocking these gates!
Our elephants will stomp your wretched hire car down to the hubcaps. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

The views as we drove around were wonderful.

A quick stop at Clarendon House for a drink then on our way again.

Final stop before the hotel was Evandale, an historic town from the 1800s. It is also known for hosting the penny farthing championships every year!

We checked in at the Clarion Hotel City Park Grand in Launceston and caught up with news, Emails etc.

launceston

We took ourselves for a walk around the city. Lovely evening light but we had to come back to the hotel when it started to get dark.

There was some great architecture around but you had to look up above the modern shop signs to see it.

Our final full day in Tasmania and we went to Cradle Mountain National Park. John Spinks collected us and was our chauffeur and guide for the day.

Our first stop was Sheffield. It's somewhat smaller than the English Sheffield but it was a really interesting place to visit because of the murals. There is an annual competition and there was a great range around the town. Here are a few of them.

sheffield

This is Senior Constable Harry Clark, who instigated the first mountain rescue using a helicopter .

The one on the right was our favourite - really striking. It was called Bonnie & Clyde by John Eathorne and Leanne Tamas

sheffield

Appropriately enough, this one was on the side of the blacksmith's shop.

As we climbed higher and higher, the green disappeared and the landscape was very different. John explained that even sheep cannot survive in this area.

We arrived at Cradle Mountain National Park. The pointy mountain in the background is what gives the park its name. John suggested we did the 6km walk around Dove Lake which we duly did (albeit that we were a bit tired by the end). We saw some beautiful scenery along the way as well as some pretty plants and one or two waterfalls.

dove lake

The water is a brown colour because of the peaty nature of the local soil.

dovelake

To give you an idea of scale, that tiny person waving is Jonathon. We were about 1,000m above sea level.

We managed to see a little bit of wildlife while we were either driving or walking.

Lunch then back down the mountain and back to the green.

We had noticed earlier in the week that there were a lot of hawthorne hedges. Very pretty they were, all decked out in their white blossom. John explained that these hedges are traditional and protected so this photo can be the final one for Thursday.

Friday morning arrived and we packed up ready to move on. We spent the last hour or so of our Tassie time in Launceston City Park - a lovely green space.

Next stop the airport and Melbourne to see Hillie and Dave.

We really enjoyed our holiday time in Tasmania. There was a lot to see and do and we really just scratched the surface. Hopefully we'll be able to visit again one day.

Australia and Kuala Lumpur October / November 2013
2013 found us on our way back to Australia, this time via Kuala Lumpur. I arranged the trip with AusTravel. I had visited KL on an earlier stopover but this was Jonathon's first time. From there we went to Brisbane, Tasmania, Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road. Please click below to go to the relevant pages.
Kuala Lumpur Brisbane	Hobart Freycinet Launceston	Melbourne Great Ocean Road - page 1 Great Ocean Road - page 2
The Tasmania page got too big so I've split it into 3 to reflect the 3 stops we had. This is page 3 - Launceston
Hobart	Freycinet National Park	Launceston
We were moving to Launceston and I'd found a scenic drive to follow rather than just staying on main roads. It was a great route with a few stopping off points and interesting roads to drive along. First stop was Bicheno to see the blow hole and amazing rock formations.
		From there we journeyed to the Douglas Apsley National Park and enjoyed a short walk through the trees to the Waterhole.



		A quick stop for a cuppa and then onto the Elephant Pass. Somewhere close to the top we found the Mount Elephant Pancake Barn - yummy pancakes (we had savoury as it was lunch time). Jonathon really liked their sense of humour - you can see why.
	Don't even think about blocking these gates! Our elephants will stomp your wretched hire car down to the hubcaps. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.


	The views as we drove around were wonderful.

A quick stop at Clarendon House for a drink then on our way again.
	Final stop before the hotel was Evandale, an historic town from the 1800s. It is also known for hosting the penny farthing championships every year!

We checked in at the Clarion Hotel City Park Grand in Launceston and caught up with news, Emails etc.	Our room	Lounge
		We took ourselves for a walk around the city. Lovely evening light but we had to come back to the hotel when it started to get dark.



	There was some great architecture around but you had to look up above the modern shop signs to see it.



Our final full day in Tasmania and we went to Cradle Mountain National Park. John Spinks collected us and was our chauffeur and guide for the day.		Our first stop was Sheffield. It's somewhat smaller than the English Sheffield but it was a really interesting place to visit because of the murals. There is an annual competition and there was a great range around the town. Here are a few of them.
This is Senior Constable Harry Clark, who instigated the first mountain rescue using a helicopter . The one on the right was our favourite - really striking. It was called Bonnie & Clyde by John Eathorne and Leanne Tamas
Appropriately enough, this one was on the side of the blacksmith's shop.	As we climbed higher and higher, the green disappeared and the landscape was very different. John explained that even sheep cannot survive in this area.


We arrived at Cradle Mountain National Park. The pointy mountain in the background is what gives the park its name. John suggested we did the 6km walk around Dove Lake which we duly did (albeit that we were a bit tired by the end). We saw some beautiful scenery along the way as well as some pretty plants and one or two waterfalls.


The water is a brown colour because of the peaty nature of the local soil.

To give you an idea of scale, that tiny person waving is Jonathon. We were about 1,000m above sea level.







We managed to see a little bit of wildlife while we were either driving or walking.


Lunch then back down the mountain and back to the green.		We had noticed earlier in the week that there were a lot of hawthorne hedges. Very pretty they were, all decked out in their white blossom. John explained that these hedges are traditional and protected so this photo can be the final one for Thursday.

Friday morning arrived and we packed up ready to move on. We spent the last hour or so of our Tassie time in Launceston City Park - a lovely green space.










Next stop the airport and Melbourne to see Hillie and Dave. We really enjoyed our holiday time in Tasmania. There was a lot to see and do and we really just scratched the surface. Hopefully we'll be able to visit again one day.
Back to main index Back to holidays index	Kuala Lumpur Brisbane Tasmania	Melbourne Great Ocean Road - page 1 Great Ocean Road - page 2