Launceston

Our first outing this morning was out St. Helen's point. This area is different than other areas, with sand bars and wide beach areas all along the point. There are also huge sand dunes, so we ventured off to climb a dune, our feet sinking deep into the soft, fine sand. If only we had brought our pails and shovels.
We set off to drive to Launceston, the second biggest cite in Tasmania. When we started, the terrain was rough, mountainous, and very dry. The only green on sheep pastures were in the valleys or on fields where they could irrigate from a stream. As we drove over ridge after ridge of these small mountains, things changed. It got greener and more lush, and many crops grew, including potatoes, fruit and opium poppies. Tasmania grows a big part of the world's legal opium to be used as pain killers. As we came down the wide valley to Launceston, we saw why they refer to this area as the prime wine making region. We had been told that one side of Tasmania is wet and the other dry and here seems to be the happy medium.
Out accommodation in Launceston is an old inn downtown. Our room has a four-poster bed and a fireplace...very cool.
We had time to go for a good walk along a gorge right in the middle of town. When we got to the end of the trail, there were people jumping off the rocks and swimming in the river on this warm day. A teahouse is out at the end of the trail and peacocks roamed around there posing for photos. There was a famiy of black swans floating around too. Although we didn't have a lot of time to explore this area, we were glad we had taken the walk along the gorge.Read more