THE TASSIE TOUR -- fotop.net photo sharing network

This trip was designed based on 3 nights in Melbourne, 2 nights in Hobart and 2 nights in Launceston. The budget was around HK$18,000 pp (excluding airfare), or HK$15,000 pp for self drive. The main destinations of this tour are Melbourne, Hobart and Launceston. When I first designed the itinerary, I supposed to spend 9 days across the Chinese New Year. The airfare was unreasonably high, so I made use of my Asia mileage to exchange for the ticket. But I needed to book in advance. There is no direct scheduled flight between Hong Kong and Hobart. So I need to change at either Melbourne or Sydney. I have been to Sydney many times. So I chose Melbourne as my first stop. I could also enjoy a scenic flight over the Great Ocean Road.

Day 1 : It was an enjoyable voyage on CX flight 163. I loved the enlarged seat on the economic cabin and also the video programs on board. The only thing that I can make better if possible is the flight schedule. If I could leave on Friday evening, it would be perfect, because I would be able to connect the flight to Hobart the next morning. But it was difficult to book good flights using mileages. It was 21:40 when I arrived at the Melbourne Tullamarine Airport. The taxi fare from airport to downtown was around 70 Australian dollars, pretty expensive. The first night I stayed at City Centre Budget Hotel. This budget hotel is situated at the heart of downtown, only 10 minutes walk to Chinatown. But you have to bear the public facilities. It was fine with me, except the noise from everywhere overnight. It is advisible to arrive not too late, because the office closes after 21:00.

City Centre Budget Hotel

Day 2 : It started with a quiet morning. But it was a good idea to take a morning stroll alone the nearby streets, especially on Sundays. But I reckoned it would not be that quiet later in the morning, because that was the first morning of the Year of Tiger. The noise of the lion dance and dragon dance performance spread over the Chinatown. The festival atmosphere was great. But I had to start a day tour to the Philip Island for Penguin Parade at noon. This tour starts at noon in summer, but it may start earlier in winter time, because we have to wait for the penguins returning from sea after dark. There are many day tours to choose from in Melbourne. I picked two of those. There were many stopovers in this tour, e.g. Moonlit Sanctuary Wildlife Conservation Park, Cape Woolamai , Koala Conservation Park , the Nobbies and Seal rocks etc, before heading to the highlights of the parade. It was a great fun to see the penguins’ home coming. But any means of picture taking is strictly prohibited. Small groups of penguins landed the beach and make their way home on the trials can easily be traced on the observation platform. But we need to keep our voice down. The penguins brought food home for their young ones and darkness became their natural shelter. It was always windy and cool even in the summer evenings.

Moonlit Sanctuary Wildlife Conservation Park

Nobbies and Seal Rocks

Koala Conservation Park

Cape Woolamai

Day 3. The Great Ocean Tour began at 07:30. The highlight of this tour was, of course, the helicopter ride over the 12 Apostles. There were also many stops before arriving at the 12 Apostles at around 15:30. The stops included the lighthouse, Bell’s beach, wild life park and a rainforest walk. It was a great fun over the 12 Apostles, but a little bit short. It was really a long day, as a single journey took about three hours.

The Light House

The Bell's Beach

The Rain Forest Walk

The Helicopter Flight

The Loch Ard Gorge

Day 4. My flight left Melbourne on time and arrived at Hobart Airport at around 10:00. We met our guide, Mr. Murray Smith and his “bus”, a Toyota Tarago (Previa) at the car park. He runs a small business named “Murray’s day out” and received a small business award from the Australian Premier, Mr. Kelvin Kudd recently. There are three ways to travel in Tasmania, (1) day tours (2) self drive and (3) personal tours, the Murray’s way. I would have to pay similar price for day tours as I paid Murray. But I didn’t feel like driving on my own because I got no time to work out the routes. But it is really worthwhile to rent a van, but not a car and ride on the Tassie landscapes. I paid A$175 per person, so the cost of 5 day trip for two persons was A$1750, not too bad. I did not need to search for routes, rest comfortably on the van, stopped as I wished for more photo opportunities. After meeting Murray, we traveled to Port Arthur. I bought a one day ticket for A$28, which included a guided tour and 45 min a boat trip round the port. Then we visited Fossil Bay to see the blow hole. The next stop was the Tessellated Pavement. It was an amazing rock formation made by wave erosions. It is a must see spot. Then we made our journey to visit the oldest church in Tasmania, the St. John Catholic Church. Our last destination of the day was the old bridge built in 1823 at Richmond. It was a long day before we could check in the Water Front Lodge Motel. We missed the office hour again, so we needed to self checked. The motel was situated at an excellent location overseeing the harbour. It is highly recommended for it's facilities, location and price.

Hobart Airport

Mr. Murray Smith

Port Arthur

Fossil Bay

Tessellated Pavement

St. John Catholic Church

Water Front Lodge Motel

Day 5 : Today we traveled to the west coast and overlooked the coastline of the harbour. It recalled my memory of the stunning scenery of the harbour of Auckland, except the skyscrapers. Then we spend almost 2 hour on the highway to reach Geeveston for the Tahune Air Walk. Tree top walk is common in Australia. The one that I enjoyed the most was in Kerri Valley, Western Australia. We enjoyed our lunch in town centre. A very impressive restaurant with a long name "Huon Valley Restaurant at Bears Went Over The Mountain Geeveston Hotel”. You will love it. Then we rushed to pick the fruits at Sorell Fruit Farm. Murray rang the fruit farm to make sure we could enter before they closed. He was informed that a celebrity chef from Hong Kong was on the way. We wondered whom the celebrity chef was. We reckoned there might be a crew team filming or making TV program. But who would be that hard working to work on Chinese New Year! We finally found the answer, a group of about 40 people lead by李純恩. I asked one of the guest about the price of tour. What a “big price”, 7 day tour for HK$38,000 ! I paid less for 2 persons of 9 days on private tour, excluded airfare of course. It would be even less if I chose to drive on my own. Our next destination was the Barilla Bay Oyster Farm where you can enjoy high quality oyster while watching the sunset of the huge oyster farm. We then visited the Signal Station with stunning view of the harbour on the east side. Finally, the sun came out before sunset. So we rushed to the seaside to picture the sunset of the coastline.

Geeveston

Tahune Air Walk

Huon Valley Restaurant

Sorell Fruit Farm

Barilla Bay Oyster Farm

Signal Station

Hobart Coastline

Day 6 : Heading north to Launceston, we stopped at Franklin House. It was built by former convict and successful businessman Britton Jones, Franklin House is notable for its rich use of imported Australian Red Cedar. Franklin House survives with house, stables and garden. Nearby and also accessible is St James Church which was built in 1845 and has many associations with the House. Our second stop was the Cataract Gorge. It is entry free, but you need to pay A$12 for single trip or A$15 return on chairlift across the First Basin. It was a pleasant walk for 1 hour around the gorge. But if you don’t want to spend another half hour to return to the starting point, you need to take the chairlift. We then checked in the Tamar Valley Resort before continuing the afternoon journey. The Tamar Valley Resort has just opened for three months. So I got a promotion price of 2 nights for A$300. Our water front king spa villa was over 400 sq ft with fridge, cooking facilities, spa bath, super king bed and many more. We visited the Rowella Lavender House after lunch and followed by the Platipus House before it closed. Our last two stops of the day were the Brady’s Lookout and the Tamar Ridge Vineyard.

Franklin House

Cataract Gorge

Tamar Valley Resort

Rowella Lavender House

Platipus House

Braddon's Lookout

Tamar Ridge Vineyard

Day 7: Today’s programs were packed. We started with a second breakfast at the Cherry Shed with wide variety of cherry delicacies. We then proceeded to another fruit farm to sample the apples at A$3 per 5 kg. The name of the farm is Avro Park Orchards. Heading further north we reached Devonport, a main port at the North. We visited the Lighthouse and the environ. Moved a bit west, we reached the Lake Barrington. We spotted some poppy on the way. It took three hours to get to the highlight of the day, the Cradle Mountain & St. Clair National Park. It was not a good arrangement because it was 15:00 when we arrived. So we only took a short walk along the trails before having lunch. It may be a good idea to bring a lunch box, or stop for a lunch before proceeding to Cradle Mountain. Our next stop was the nearby historic site, the house of Gustav Weindorfer, an Austrian botanist. There was also another attraction spot, the Pencil Pine Falls. Then we rushed to the last stop of the day, the Honey Farm at Chudleigh. We met a group of 50 people from Hong Kong. The owner of the farm is a family business of the migrants from the Netherlands. The young lady was very nice and she explained every product to the customers clearly.

The Cherry Shed

The Avro Park Orchards

Devonport

the Lighthouse

Lake Barrington

Cradle Mountain & St. Clair National Park

Gustav Weindorfer

Pencil Pine Falls

Honey Farm

Day 8 : We set off at 08:00 and toured round the city of Launceston. On our way back to Hobart, we stopped at Campbell Town to visit the tree sculptures. Then moved south to Ross, a small town full of historic buildings. Our next destination was the Salamenca Place in Hobart. It was great pleasure to walk through the Saturday market, Constitution Dock and the City Hall. Then took a rest on the green and enjoy sunbathing. We visited our last stop in Tasmania after lunch, the Mount Wellington where you could enjoy the spectacular view of Hobart. We boarded the last flight back to Melbourne. It would be a good idea to take the first flight (08:45) from Melbourne back to Hong Kong. If I choose to fly the next flight leaving at 13:00, it would not be enough time to travel to and back from the city of Melbourne. So we stayed at the Formula I Airport Hotel in the evening. It was only 14:00 when we arrived Hong Kong.

City of Launceston

Tree Sculpture of Campbell Town

Ross

Salamenca Place

Constitution Dock

Mount Wellington