We awoke to another clear but cool day in Port Sorell. After some discussion with our charming host, Bob decided on an adventurous route down the middle of the island to our destination of Hobart, capital of Tasmania. The road took us over a mountain pass with rain and even slushy snow at the highest point, it was full of huge fern trees, eucalyptus and views of the Great Lake. The road was slow and windy but very scenic, we were very hungry by the time we came to a town with any amenities. Bothwell seemed promising and a cute place called the Bothwell Grange had a sign offering lunch.
We should have turned around an left as soon as we entered this pathetic excuse for a pub. Two young women stared at us as we entered, giving single syllable answers to our questions. We looked at the menu board, how bad could a "Grange burger" be ???....very bad. When our "burgers" arrived we could not determine what they were, chicken, fish, something very dead and very deep fried. I managed a few bits , Bob choked down most of his out of desperation.
Back on the road we were treated to beautiful rainbows as it continued to shower off and on. We reached Hobart, check into out our hotel with it's great views and immediately headed down to the old harbor to explore.
To Bob's delight there were ships of all kinds, including a huge orange ice breaker.
Turns out all the Antarctic explorers began their journeys in Hobart.
The wind made it feel like the Antarctic as checked out the area that would the next morning be the site of Hobart's famed Salamanca Market. The Salamanca Fruit Market had me salivating and excited to be shopping there the next day for provisions for our camping trip. We walked around looking for a dining experience to erase the bad taste of lunch.
Bob was drawn to one place called the Drunken Admiral, it looked touristy to me and sure enough as we headed over there later to try our luck a huge tour bus had just dis-engorged it's passengers there. Instead we headed back to a more subtle looking place call the Mill. It was empty when we first got there but soon filled up and it's menu was both fun and intriguing, dishes of different prices that came in no set order. We enjoyed a smoked fish chowder, fish in butter sorrel sauce, spinach salad with roasted pumpkin, a tender mussels cooked in a dark ale and a strawberry sundae made with crisp meringues and sheep milk vanilla ice cream. Yum, this meal made up for the disaster of our lunch experience.
May 12
This was a day of transition for us, we were turning in our little rental car and switching to a camper van for the tassie camping experience. It was not the smoothest of transitions as the camper place by the airport was tough to find and under staffed, the weather windy, rainy, bitingly cold and the van, a manual transmission. Eventually we were on our way up the eastern coast after a smashingly good lunch at a bakery in Sorell. Bob ordered a hamburger with "the lot", turns out it had a fried egg, bacon, sausage patty, as well as the beef patty,tomatoes, lettuce and bun. I chose the featured curried scallop pie, very tasty.
Seems that the dining experiences are quite varied in Tasmania... Does the camper van come with wifi? Are there very many other people camping?
ReplyDeleteYes, dining in Tasmania is very hit or miss. The smaller towns have very few choices. We have discovered that the bakeries usually have better food and good coffee for Bob. No wifi with the camper, in fact the National Parks barely have dial up. Hence the long silence. Not many other people camping.
DeleteMicol and I had fun looking up the birds you've listed and tracking your journey on a goggle map that included pictures. She loved the wombats and quokkas and pademelon. Happy Mothers Day!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you had fun looking up the birds. You have inspired me to get my list up to date !!
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