Museum of Old and New Art Tassie

2 April 2019
We leave Cradle Mountain for Hobart today.  I decided to take the A5 Highland Lakes Road to Hobart instead of the main Highway 1.  This took us up to 1,1120m on the Central Plateau.  

We stopped at Cruzin' In The 50s cafe at Deloraine for some coffee and fries before the drive up to the plateau.

The cafe is decorated in 50s American milk bar, gas station. 

Ladies toilet at Cruzin' In The 50s.

After about 40mins we reached the Great Lakes lookout on the plateau.  The drive was one of the best drives I've had, with enough wind to keep things interesting but hardly any traffic either way.

We pulled over at one of the boat ramps by the lake for a close-up of the Great Lake and Marcus in front of the car.

After no time at all (3 hours of great driving) we were in Hobart.

Too tired to eat out, so Wang Theng and Marcus cooked pasta at our Sandy Bay AirBnB.  With a face-masking after party.

Another great booking Maylene, nice beaches, restaurants and shopping all within walking distance.

3 April 2019
We are visiting the Mona, Museum of New and Old Art, owned by the famed Tassie mathematician/gambler David Walsh.  It has a brewery, vineyard and restaurants built-in in a very scenic location.

The museum itself is as much an exhibit as is the collections within.

We were issued iPods to explain the concepts behind the vision, design and construct of each exhibit.

It was too complicated for me and I returned my iPod pretty soon.

There were sharp pointy things.

And then there were blue things.  And also red things.

Bikes that don't work. 

And lunch was at Prince of Wales Pub at Battle Point.

We went for a walk around that area including Salamanca without the weekend market.

An Indian curry dinner ends our very nice Tassie road trip, a treat from Maylene and Marcus for our 60th and 57th birthdays. The hot curries gave Marcus a nosebleed.  Thanks kids.  Back to Melbourne tomorrow.

Tasmania Mania

28 March 2019

Wang Theng turned 60 today as we wing back from Wellington on the 6am flight to Melbourne.  Dinner was at Supernormal Fusion Restaurant on Flinders Lane, where we have a picture of every dish on the buffet menu.

Tessa Maylene took us to the Trinket Bar for drinks while we waited for our table at Supernormal.

30 March 2019

The LIM team is together again, as we fly to Hobart on JitStar (hehe).  The Hobart airport is tiny like Kuching airport.  There is no air-bridge here and stairs were brought to the plane for front and rear disembarking.  Now we know how it feels to get off the plane like POTUS.

Marcus hired a Holden Equinox SUV for our road trip in Tassie. 

First stop was Hobart where we parked the car and joined the Salamanca weekend market on the water-front.

Some pies were procured for a snack and sour dough bread for tonight’s dinner.  We are staying in Coles Bay tonight, a 3 hour drive along the east coast highway.  I wanted to join the Sullivan Cove Whisky tour but missed the 11am tour by inches. 

This distillery won the Single Cask Whisky champion award last week, and they increased the price of that blend to $550 a 700ml bottle.

After lunch of Tassie scallop pie and buying supplies at Sorell, we checked into the very slick AirBnB in Coles Bay. 

Tessa Maylene did a good job booking this place, there was nothing missing in this modern unit at this near seaside place.  We were entertained by Netflix that night.

31 March 2019

We have an early 9am departure to cover Wineglass Bay, Launceston and Erriba. 

First stop at Wineglass Bay involves a 80 min return uphill hike to the lookout with views of Coles and Wineglass bays along the way. 

Although downhill, the return walk felt longer.  Perhaps time slows down when you have a full bladder.

Queen of the World.

Then a short boardwalk loop walk around the Tourville Bay lighthouse which was above some steep cliffs and crashing waves.  Glad it was a fine sunny day.

A 2-hour drive to Launceston for lunch, refuel and pick up supplies for our remote Erriba AirBnB.  This Launceston City is deplete of people although cars were a-plenty.  We also struggled to find a restaurant opened at 2pm on this Sunday.   Found a pub open Steve's Grill and even then they had to check with kitchen if they were cooking at 2pm.

We were well fed at the pub.  I have to say the small Tassie scallops are delicate and flavourful.   After lunch, we crossed Wellington St to shop at Coles.

It took another 2 hours to get to the AirBnB cottage in Erriba.  We await to do our Cradle Mountain walk tomorrow.

1 April 2019

We drove to the Cradle Mountain visitor centre where the shuttle bus took us to the start of the walking track at Dove Lake.

  

It was a 1.5 hour hike to Marions Lookout elevation 1,230m.  We walked past Wombat Poo(l).

There were beautiful views above and below on the way up.

A kind walker took a family photo at the lookout.

The way down was less taxing on the muscles but more jarring on the knees. 

They built lots of boardwalks to reduce impact on the flora on the ground.

And on the return leg we were fortunate to see a wombat and her family.  Up till now it was just their poos.