Launceston, Tasmania (Part 2)

Tasmania on Day 6 - Launceston - Melbourne

I woke up this morning with a mixture of emotions inside me. Happy to know that I am still in  Tasmania, curious to know what would this day be like, regret for not spending more days here and sad that today I would be leaving Tasmania, a land of serene, beauty and calmness. I started to clear my things and ready to check-out from Launceston Backpackers. Dumped my heavy rucksack here (with a storage fee of AUD 3) and studying the map for a while. And before I started to make my way to Cataract Gorge, I took couple of pictures of the hydrangea flowers grown in the backpackers compound.

Hydrangea at Launceston Backpackers.

Cataract Gorge

I headed to Cataracr Gorge which I was suggested by a Korean room-mate (forgot her name) last night. SHe has access to the internet and she Google mapped for directions to Cataract Gorge. It was a little weird when I need to take a bus which is only 1 MINUTE ride. So I assumed that the place was not very far from the backpackers and decided to walk to get there. Without really knowing if I went to the right direction, I finally saw a sign which convinced me I was on the right way. It took around 15 minutes to get to the pedestrians entrance. Well, the view was beautiful and the sun was shining strongly too (felt my forehead was about to darken).

There were couple of people jogged along the walkway and it must have been a very pleasant time for them to breath fresh air and enjoy the sunny day. I could not take many pictures here because my camera battery was running low and I definitely did not want to miss capturing the pictures of the most awaited place to visit later today. By the way, a visitor may enjoy a cable-car (or is it cable chair?) across the river which costs AUD12 per way, or AUD15 return. I did not bother to take the ride as I think it was a little too expensive for a short ride.

View from the bridge before the pedestrian entrance.

View from the walkway

Upon returning to the pedestrian entrance, I saw something dark resting on the rocks. At first I thought it must be some weird creature but when focusing my pair of eyes properly, those were birds spanning their wings under the sun. I was not sure what were they doing exactly but my prediction was that they have just wanted to dry their feathers after diving through the surface, looking for food. They have shiny feathers which I found it interesting (never saw anything like this before). I have no idea what species was this so I leave this to the avian experts throughout the world.

It was already 10.50 am, so I returned to the backpackers to get my things and recharge my camera battery. 

Was this fellow sunbathing? Or burning itself? Or meditating?

Enjoying the sun eyy?

At 11.30 sharp, Diane (the owner of Beyond Urban Tours) arrived Launceston Backpackers and picked me up there. She handed to me a goody-bag containing several pamphlets, bottled water and some chocolates. I did not expect this but that was something extra offered by her (obviously I have not gotten this extra thing from the many day tour operators before). For a small group or solo traveller, it is my pleasure to recommend Beyond Urban Tour if you are in the mood for lavenders, cherries and berries. There are several other day trips offered and do check it out from the link above.

Some additional information before I keep on writing here : it is not possible to reach Bridestowe Lavender Farm and the berry farm from Launceston by public transport, unless you rent a car or book a half/full day tour. What is so nice about the lavender farm and the berry farm? Just scroll-down and you can see why.

Yondover Goat Cheese Farm

The first stop was Yondover Goat Cheese Farm. I love cheese so don't ask me why I repeatedly visit these cheese farms. And another reason was that, I can do the cheese tasting for free. Yeayyyy....I love it!! This time was a little different because I would get the chance to taste the GOAT cheese, not the normal cow cheese. Goat cheese has a strong 'cheese taste' compared to cow cheese but those who do not enjoy the 'strongness' would dislike it. I am OK with both cheeses and did imagine a cheesy scrumptious meal. They have several flavoured goat cheese but the best as my taste buds could remember was the rosemary-thyme flavoured cheese. There was chillied cheese and several other flavours which I could not remember their name. Again, I thought of buying those cheeses but storage would be a problem. 

I forgot to take the pictures within this cheese farm compound because I was busy chit-chatting with Diane and her friend, Margaret. Below was the only picture I took before leaving Yondover Goat Cheese Farm.

View from the cheese farm

Bridestowe Lavender Farm

After 20 minutes at the cheese farm, DIane drove us to Bridestowe Lavender Farm which was 15 minutes drive from the cheese farm. It was a quiet route and not many vehicles passed by. When entering the farm gate, seriously, I was super excited though the rows of lavenders were not in view yet. And when approaching the parking area, I could hardly slow down myself and got off the car quickly to snap pictures around this region. Woohoooo!!! It was such an awesome moment and exciting. Why? Because I love purple a lot and lavenders are purple and it was like walking on a sea of purple flowers.

A picture tells a thousand story, so what if I have more than a picture? 

From a distance

Zoom a little

Much closer look

Even closer to the heart

Rows of lavenders making me a little high

Word of advice, don't try to get between the rows when the bees are doing their job. If you insist, please ensure you are covered well enough to avoid 'sweetness' of bee sting. To ensure your visit is worth, plan your visit to Launceston in mid December to end of January to see the full purple hue. Other than these months, all you can is just the green bush, or remnants of the harvested lavender bush.

Is that Cradle Mountain?

OK..i know, my purple sweater, scarf and bag

Couldn't resist taking more pictures

A field of lavenders at the edge of the pines.

I bought several things from the farm shop such as the lavender-flavoured fudge, teddy lavender soaps and a fridge magnet. I have never tried consuming any products made of lavender essence and that was why I bought the lavender fudge. There were also skin care products, honeys, pot-pourris and home decorations items. And to complete the so-called shopping, I bought a reusable purple bag. Thihihihi...

We spend more than 1 hour here and we had lunch here too. I had curried egg sandwich and a cappuccino for lunch. I guess that was not a good combination but as long as I did not starve, that was fine. There were lavender scone in the menu but I forgot to order one and give it a try. Diane told me it was nice so I guess it must be really nice.

After lunch, we chit-chatted about many things. I did give some information about my religion and I am happy because they can understand it and respect me as a Muslim. I did tell them about certain things about the heartless deeds ie. dumping their newborns in the thrash bin, flushing them into the toilet and so forth. We discussed about several social problems arising here and there and Australia do have their own set of social and moral problems too. And as traveller, we did exchange some information on the travelling thing, especially travelling in New Zealand which was another piece of encouragement for me to fulfil my plan this coming spring.

The souvenir shop and cafe

Hillwood Berry Farm

The last stop before Diane send me to Launceston Airport was the Hillwood Berry Farm. They have all kinds of berries grown here, strawberry, raspberry, Logan berry, blackberry and some other berries. I have enough of strawberries because we have lots of them in Cameron Highland, Malaysia. But I have never seen raspberries fruiting on the bush/tree. I have 45 minutes to spend in this berry farm so I took lots of pictures of the berries here. And for 4-5 times, I plucked some the berries, doing my own tastings.  Actually there was a fee for self-plucking the berries which was based on the weight of the plucked items. It was about AUD 9.50 per half kilo (for raspberry and some other berries) and other price for strawberries. I thought of plucking the raspberries but on a second thought, I have to forget about it because there was no more space and no proper containers to keep those berries. And again, I would be flying to Melbourne so I thought it would be a little difficult to carry those berries with my almost over-flowing carry-on bags.

Everybody knows this is strawberry

Raspberry....love it a lot

Besides selling fresh self-plucked berries, this farm also sells skin-care products made of these berries which I personally thought they were cheap and good too. There was a small cafe where a visitor could indulge in berry ice-creams or other light meals and desserts during this perfect day. I think children will love this place so much especially when it comes to pluck-your-own-berries and ice creams.

These are cranberries

Wood sage

Our next stop was supposed to be the cherry farm but we could not make it. I have to get to airport by 5 for my flight to Melbourne. So Diane sent me to Launceston airport and we bid good-bye here. Goodbye Tasmania, welcome Melbourne.

Melbourne

I flew with Jetstar to Melbourne and it took 1 hr and 5 minutes to reach Melbourne. Upon arrival, I thought I just have to wait for the VHA shuttle to pick the backpacking tourists to International Melbourne Backpackers but the right thing to do ages ago was to arrange for the pick up. I wasted almost 1 hour waiting. I obtained some info from the information counter and the alternative was to take the Skybus to Southern Cross Station, and from there, get on the free-hotel-transfer-shuttle service. The Skybus costed AUD17 per way but it was a lot cheaper to buy a return ticket.

I reached IMB at around 8.30, clean-up myself, performed all daily obligations and rest, to revive for the next great days.

To be continued.....

Launceston, Tasmania (Part 1)

Tasmania on Day 5 : Launceston - Cradle Mountain National Park

Good morning Launceston. I woke up early in the morning to prepare for the awaited day trip, visit to Cradle Mountain National Park. I started the day earlier because I wanted to see what was Launceston city looked like. I thought it would be a little busy today, then again, it was Sunday so relatively no vehicle and no people on the street. It was really peaceful and for a moment, I thought I was in a world where no one is around, a world of my own. Huh....day dreaming eyy!! I forgot about safety precaution when walking alone in 'quiet' streets because this place looked secure enough for everyone.

Compared to Hobart, Launceston has more Victorian/ English architecture buildings being preserved from the past. I think Launceston is the most charming city in my list, perhaps due to its quietness, cleanliness and lovely atmosphere. While heading to the Launceston terminal at Cimitiere street, I looked for interesting buildings (based on my personal observation and judgement of course) along the street. The houses were simple, neat and tidy with small compounds for gardening. At the end section of this post, all pictures of lovely plants taken from various locations today have been posted so that I will not get those pictures mixed up with other pictures.

Houses within Launceston city

When passing through several streets, I just could not stop admiring the houses there. They were not big like a mansion, but each house was carefully tended to and maintained. I cannot remember seeing any over-flown rubbish bins and I cannot recall seeing weeds at their compounds. There were small terrace houses with Victorian architecture but decent looking one. There were modern houses too which were located at the hill further away from the city centre. Again, the houses were moderate in size and nicely taken care of.

My dream house maybe?

This is so Victorian and they are finely carved

Residential area on the hills of Launceston

Public buildings

With a help of map, one can easily navigate Launceston city and getting to one place to another is not a problem.  There were several churches around Launceston, several were old looking but mostly were nicely taken care of. There was also an assembly hall for god-knows-what activities, a theatre and other government buildings.

Assembly hall for the aborigins. Not sure if it is still used for such purpose today.

Old abandoned church...looks a little spooky.

Beautiful church next to the abandoned church.

I have not seen any halal food restaurant here but I'm pretty sure there is one. The size of Muslim community in Launceston was very small. I saw several Muslim men and women in Hobart, but not in Launceston.  As I have been travelling since the past few years, the only phrase that unite Muslims all over the world, regardless of skin colour, race and ethnic, is the Assalamu'alaikum (Peace be Upon You). If they are really Muslims, they will greet you first once they notice that you are a Muslim. Unfortunately, that did not happen even for once during my trips to Australia. I am dying to meet the Australian Muslims (be it aborigins or the English or Caucassians..whatever) and have a coffee with them, while sharing their life as Muslims in Australia. One thing I really respect Australian government is that, they provide facilities to the every religion in the country and seriously take care of their essential needs i.e halal meat, Congregational place and so forth.

Memory lane

Loving this a lot

This happens to be a bank.

Launceston Grand Post Office

Another Anglican church

It took me less than 30 minutes to see all of this buildings. I have another 15 minutes before the tour operator came to pick me up at Launceston terminal which was 8.25 am. But the driver cum tour guide came in 10 minutes earlier and I was the one to get on the coach. After picking up other guests  from their pick-up point, we started the journey to Cradle Mountain National Park.

We passed several small towns where population were 500-1000 people. I could not remember the names as we did not make a stop but those towns were very quiet, beautiful, and lots of historical remnants. We passed through several poppy farms. These poppies were planted for the production of opioids/opiums..whatever they call it, for the use in medical field worldwide. No one was allowed and there was strict monitoring from planting, harvesting and exporting those poppy pods. Let say these poppy seeds fell to the wrong hand, it would be a very serious problem when there would be attempt to grow poppy for the production or morphin and heroin. However, I was told that these poppies were genetically modified that when improper processing methods ie. in production of heroin or morphin, would be fatal to those drug addicts out there.

There were also huge field where cows and sheeps were happily basking under the sun (my assumption) and something even nicer was a field full of yellow flowers. It was like a bed of yellow flowers. Not sure what flower was that. Might be azalea, or might be tickseed? There was also houses by the river and judging from the colour, this river was very clean and crystal clear. Not sure what they call this river though. Why can't my country has this kind of river?

Lots of Fresian cows here

It was the flowers that made this place yellow, not the grasses.

Would love to spend some times here.

Railton

The route to Cradle Mountain was not really a short journey. However, thanks to the operator for understanding our expectation when joining this tour. We had several quick stops, photo stop and lunch stop that I personally felt this tour was worth every single cent I paid. So our first photo stop was at Railton. Railton has been  known as land of topiary, where there were lots of topiaries (almost each house has their own topiary) and there was also a space where many nice and creatively built topiaries were placed. To build a topiary, the designer needs to consider which type of bush plant is suitable for such topiary and of course, it needs a creative mind and talented hands to set the skeleton.

Cyclist

I was in Railton, Land of Topiary

Almost complete windmill

The ploughing bull..hehe

Choo chooooo!! A train locomotive

Little kid on his first day to school accompanied by his parents.

Another 'flower beds' after Railton town.

Sheffield

Sheffield is another interesting town to visit. It takes 30 minutes to get to this charming town. Something special about Sheffield is its status as Town of Murals. A visitor will find murals are everywhere and each of them has their own message. It also depicts the history of important personnel that has contributed a lot to the development of the town. For example, the famous doctor as in the picture below. Opposite this mural building is the mural park and interestingly, they have sort of mural festival every year.

I had more time to spend around this Sheffield town. It was very small and you can explore every corner of this town in a matter of minutes. I somehow felt that this town was like a cowboy town a bit. I would be even excited if this town was indeed a cowboy town. Errr...do we still have cowboy town in the new millenium?

Dr. Sender, dedicated his entire life in the field of medical and surgery. Salute!!

Murals on the park

As I was strolling looking for something nice and amazing, I met a gentleman sitting in front of a cafe (could not recall the name) across the street. At first glance, I thought I saw a huge 'dog' sat silently beside him. Later at the second glance, I thought it was some sort of huge animal teddy bear or something so I did not bother to find out about it. I headed to the cafe where that gentleman was sitting and he greeted me 'hello' in Indonesian language. I was a bit surprised but then I was happy to know someone who knew a bit about my country, and the language of course. I forgot his name (sorry sir!) but he chatted for awhile until I realised that the big, brown "thing" was not really a thing. It was an alpaca!!! OMG....I was excited to see this cute alpaca. I thought there was only white alpaca, until that gentleman told me most alpacas were white, but there were also variation of grey, brown, and light brown. Yellow too maybe?!! So I took the chance to cuddle (???) that handsome cute alpaca and took several pictures with him, with the help of his master. By the way, meet Pedro...the cutest alpaca in the whole world (as if other alpacas are not cute :p). When bidding goodbye both to alpaca and its master, I went to the cafe to get a bottle of orange juice and vegetarian puff for lunch.

Meet Pedro, the brown alpaca.

Cradle Mountain National Park

After 45 minutes, we left Sheffield and headed to Cradle Mountain National Park. It took another 30 minutes (or 20 minutes..not sure exactly how long) to get there. We passed by Deloraine, another town with its own speciality. I couldn't remember what was it but all I saw was iron/copper statues of horses and other figures were here and there. Deloraine serves as the base for those who want to explore various nature sites such as the Cradle Mountain, Great Western Tiers, Mole Creek and others. Seriously, the more I travel, the more interesting places I wanted to visit so badly. And that is why the Europeans, Americans and Australians prefer to travel for a long period of time so that they will be able to explore more places, find more new experiences and get a wider view of the world. If only I can do that....well, I can do that...hehe..with His wills.

After passing by Deloraine, we travelled at the foot of Mt. Roland, which could be seen from Sheffield town too. The view would much more beautiful if there was less clouds, blue sky and sun ray but obviously today was not really my lucky day. But that was OK because I did not have the power to control the nature. It is the works of God and no one can resist the power of nature.

When approaching Cradle Mountain National Park, the views along the roadside started to change. Before we could get to the main attraction, which was the Lake Dove, the guide stopped at the coach parking area of the park headquarters to get the pass before entering the national park. He returned in less than 5 minutes and we headed to Lake Dove. Masya allah, the view was really beautiful though it was a little foggy and drizzled a bit. However, Cradle Mountain National Park remains a perfect place for those who wish to experience the 4 seasons in a day. It was lightly drizzled when we arrived. We were given about 1 hour to enjoy this place and around 15 minutes, the sun was coming out, glowing every single plant on the ground. And it was almost raining but only for a few minutes and slowly the mist went off, revealing the lovely Cradle Mountain. Did I ever mention that Cradle Mountain National Park is a part of UNESCO World Heritage gazetted park? It is actually one the many national parks grouped under the Tasmanian Wilderness.

Along the path to the hut, it was like experiencing serenity of life when everything was really natural and void of destructive development. The summer foliage shone and shimmered the lake and this was my best experience when it comes to indulging myself with nature. I had quite a difficult few minutes to get a picture of me 'blending in the environment' as I did not bring my tripod but thank goodness I managed to have one (obviously not the best one). I knew I could always ask someone to help me out but that was not a good idea at all unless they know how to handle SLR camera. Err...I'm not boasting but quality pictures do matter to me..A LOT!! 

Foggy, windy and cold!! Brrrrr....

There is the lovely Cradle Mountain

An abandoned hut at the edge of Lake Dove,

Lake Dove

Can anyone imagine what is it like if the sky is cloudless and blue?

After hundreds of inhaling fresh air and several periods of eyes-wide-opened moment, we started to leave Lake Dove and headed to the cottage/chalet where a famous promoter of Cradle Mountain National Park, Gustav Weindorfer, lived before. This was a real history and the summary of his biography can be read here -----> Gustav Weindorfer. It was tragic the way he died but at least, he contributed a lot to the nature and remembered to the many botanists and naturalists.

The house of late Gustav Weindorfer

His mausoleum

A great view from the chalet compound.

After checking out the chalet, it was time to leave Cradle Mountain National Park. And guess what, the guide told us there was a little wombat crossing the road and he pulled over so that we could take several photographs of it. I was sooooo excited to a wombat in a wild. And this one was super-extremely-ultimately cute. The other tourists and I slowly tried to get closer to this little plush and cuddly womby to get good and clear pictures of it. What a lovely day today.

There was also an echidna crossing the road but I could not get any pictures of it as we were all too close and he was a little afraid and went off. Kill joy!!

Isn't it cute and lovely? Baby wombat

We left Cradle Mountain National at 2 pm and headed to Ashgrove Cheese Farm, located at Elizabeth Town. Seriously, I was so sleepy and felt that the ride took like forever before we arrived this farm. Would be nicer if we stopped somewhere before getting to this cheese farm. Maybe it was the effect of strong sun ray that affected my consciousness at that particular time.

I love this cheese farm as all of us get to taste various kinds of cheeses, flavoured and unflavoured. Thought of buying one for my big sister because she loves cheeses a lot. Since I was still have couple of days before flying back home, I guess that would not be a good idea because I would have problem storing the cheeses properly. Sorry sist...

Other than cheeses, other dairy products such as ice creams, fresh milks and chocolates were sold here too. But I was not into those food as I was much more interested on the flowers planted outside building. In less than an hour, we headed to Launceston and still a long way to go.

My fondness on flowering plants.

I do not bother what people would say about posting pictures of flowers because I love flowers a lot. Since it is impossible to have beautifully blooming flowers at my own house (I'm staying in an apartment) and the weather is not favourable for the growth of these flowers (Malaysia is hot and humid all year round), I guess having collections of pictures of these flowers and plants are good enough.

A bush of lavender found at one of the houses in Launceston

Another variety of lavender seen at Sheffield, The Town of Mural

Beautifully bloomed red roses at Launceston

This was found along the path to Lake Dove

Another spotted flower at Lake Dove

Lovely daisies at Ashgrove cheese farm

This is lobelia

Hybrid petunia

These are cactuses but look like flowers. Really nice. Found at Launceston

So I guess that's all for this post. In reality, there were so many things to jot but I could not risk ignoring my daily routines. Will continue on the next part on my 2nd and final day in Launceston. Ciao!!