Wed 25th March – Thur 26th March
Accommodation: The Florance but we booked via Booking.com.
Wed 25th March
Our check-in at The Florance in Launceston wasn’t until 2 pm so we filled in the middle of the day with a visit out to Cataract Gorge where we did a bit of a walk, had lunch and rode the chairlift. It was quite good rather being mild and sunny which made for fun exploring. We did find the sign posting of the different walk around the Gorge a bit wanting but we ended up finding a track that was like the baby bears porridge: not to steep (for me) and not too boring (for Mark).
Our accommodation for the one night was at The Florance; a grand old Victorian-era building that had been converted into a boutique hotel. Our room, Number 2, was at the front of the building and on the ground floor with a nice aspect but very little privacy. We had two large windows, which opened luckily, so we could get some fresh air into the very small space. The Holland blinds looked neat and suited the aesthetic but a more sensible design would have had sheer curtains for daytime privacy and heavy curtains for night time. The main thing I was thankful for though was that we didn’t have to share the space with Dagwood! That would have tipped me.
Dinner for our last evening of the trip was at Black Cow Bistro, a restaurant we’d been to before and loved so it seemed a fitting place to head to for my birthday dinner. It did not disappoint and our meals were delicious. This is a restaurant that I would highly recommend you visit if you are ever in Launceston.
Thurs 26th March
It was a clear morning so we set off for a walk down to find ‘Home Point’ along the Tamar River as this was where we were to pick up our river cruise at 10:30am. We were both a bit grizzly however as we’d slept poorly. The windows, that yesterday I had been thankful for, ended up being our undoing overnight. Our room was lit up like a Christmas tree all night with light from the outside street lamps leaking in around the blinds of our two large windows. There was also light from a hall light shining bright, like a halo, around our entry door and onto our bed. Needless to say, we would not recommend Room 2 of The Florance. Also, the hotel offered very narrow breakfast timing, from 7:45am – 9 am, which impacted our morning plans somewhat. Yes, I know….. I can hear you….’first world problems’.
Checkout from The Florance hotel was at 10 am but our flight home wasn’t until 5:15 pm so we essentially had a whole date to fill that we hadn’t really planned for. So at the last minute we decided to take a 10:30 am (50 minute) cruise of the Tamar River and Cataract Gorge which was quite interesting. We then drove out to Evandale for lunch and made one more stop nearby at Josef Chromy winery where I did a wine tasting. The wines were ok but nothing that excited us enough to purchase. It was then on to the airport to drop the car and catch our flight home.
We enjoyed our short trip to Tasmania and especially catching up with Gordon and Judy but think any future visit would be back down to near Hobart or possibly to the West Coast.
