Borders open, no restrictions, plane flights available = yes, yes, yes. 12 months had elapsed between the fire season and COVID, and I really can’t put into words how relieved I was to actually get my feet on the ground. Even on the plane I wasn’t believing it until I escaped the airport 🙂
Day 1
We travelled down to Sydney the night before to stay with Les & Helen (Loryn’s parents) and we were lucky enough that they offered to drop us at the airport. We had lunch whilst awaiting our flight and couldn’t believe how quiet it was – there was hardly anyone there and most of the shops were closed. It certainly isn’t like the domestic terminal that I’m used to seeing.
Out flight down was fairly uneventful with Ellie travelling really well. We had already filled in our permit to be allowed into the state, so it was a quick temperature check and we were in. I will say that it leaves you bloody nervous travelling now, as there is no guarantee at any point that any of your plans will actually work out how you thought.
Talking of which, I was put to work fairly quickly 🙂
Day 2
The weather was quite interesting (read: wet, cold, snow) so it was decided to have a quiet day at home. Coupled with how busy we had been of late, we wanted to just relax. And I have to say that it was bloody enjoyable
We also did some planning and booking accommodation for the next few days, especially now I knew it was going to snow!!! 🙂
Day 3
We awoke to see Facebook posts and pictures showing that it had snowed, so that confirmed which was to travel 🙂
I will freely admit that this area is right at the top of my list of the BEST places to ever visit. Mind you I’ve probably lost a few brain cells up there too, over the years.
As you can see by the photos, unfortunately there was basically no snow left by the time we travelled up there. So we enjoyed a nice lunch at the pub in front of the fire (the wind was going fairly well).
We decided to divert out to Lake Augusta – I hadn’t been out there for a while, and I wanted to show Loryn what the Lakes was really like when you got away from the route normally travelled.
Back on the highway we stopped at the lookout, Pine Lake and another little lookout that isn’t signposted. I think Ellie found it a tad cold at times 🙂
We had a good run across to Devonport and decided to stretch our legs around the Mersey Bluff and Braddons Lookout.
We checked into our accommodation, had a wander around, caught up with Iain & family and generally enjoyed ourselves for the evening.
Day 4
A quick run across to Launceston reminded me how crap the #1 highway really is in Tasmania. One day (no doubt after I’m well gone) they might just happen to understand that dual lanes is a good thing!!! Anway, the Launceston Gorge is still amazing 🙂
We headed down the highway but we really found a lot of places closed. Ross was open, Tunbridge was closed, the windmill at Oatlands was closed etc. It seems that COVID has had quite an impact on the small rural towns.
We stopped at Richmond to stretch the legs, and then did the same at Lewisham. Ellie struggled with the crabs, especially freaking out when there was a lot of them.
Day 5
We headed off early with a quick pit stop at the Purple Cup Drive Thru in Hobart for coffee and toasted sandwiches. We explored along the Huon River on our way to the Hastings Caves.
We had booked into a cave tour (Newdegate) but unfortunately the thermal pool was closed. The tour was amazing – absolutely loved it
After our tour we grabbed some fish and chips from Southport (very yummy) and continued south to Cockle Creek.
It was a tad windy at the lookout
Ellie had a sleep on our way back north, so we decided to run off at Huonville and follow the Channel Highway through to Hobart and then on to home
