Tasmania & The Devil Where good food and wild scenery
At first sight, Tasmania is like England down-under, but one hundred times wilder and less congested. Early settlers in Tasmania, homesick but determined, lent so many familiar homeland names to the new island that the geography remains confusing. Devonport is on the Mersey, Launceston is on the Tamar and Hobart, the capital, is on the Derwent. Throughout the island there are towns called Swansea, Beaconsfield, Richmond, Somerset, Derby, Exeter, Brighton and many others, but in some disorder, as if the names where drawn at random from a colonist's hat. Tasmania is three times the size of Holland and about ten times higher. The best and fastest way to arrive is by air from Melbourne to Hobart via Jetstar Airways (Euros 224.00 roundtrip). There are 3 to 4 flights a day - a one-hour trip - or by the sea taking the ferry from Port Melbourne to Devonport on the North part of the island (only if you have time to waste). Settled in 1804 (this year celebrates the 200th anniversary), Hobart is Australia's second-oldest city with many 19th century homes and public buildings, workers' cottages and warehouses, parks and gardens still intact. The city's colonial heritage is evident in every day life in Hobart. Shaped and defined by ocean, river and mountain, Hobart is a port city with a busy working waterfront at the heart of the city, right at the bottom of the main street. Hobart contains six distinct precincts: - The Cultural & Heritage precinct; Contains the original founding site for Hobart Town-Hunter Street, the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, Government House, the Theater Royal, Criminal Courts, Wapping, the original University, and the University Arts School. - Macquarie & Davey Streets; With the Old Bond Store, the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, the Maritime Museum and Customs House. - Downtown Hobart; The business heart of Hobart (with a look of England in the 1960's). - The Working Port & Waterfront; Home of the Antarctic Polar Weasels from Australia, Russia and France, and a cross-harbor ferry to Bellerive and Port Arthur. - Salamanca Place & Square; Arts and crafts studios and galleries, where you rub shoulders with restaurants and bars (the best bar is Barcelona's) and the famous Saturday Market (all year round from 8:30 am to 3:00 pm). - Battery Point; This original workers' cottage enclave with its Georgian architecture in quaint narrow streets now forms Hobart's trendiest residential address. Around Hobart you must visit: - Port Arthur and the Penal Settlement established in 1830, regarded as Australia's most significant historic site (unfortunately full of tourists), so go out of the normal tourist track and visit "Fortescue Bay" & the lanterns and Cape Huay.- Richmond; Australia's finest Georgian village set among Tasmania's finest vineyards, with Australia's oldest jail and its oldest bridge. Walk among the convict-hewn sandstone buildings still beautifully preserved today. - Mount Wellington; (1,270 m) a 30-minute drive from the city center (weather permitting). The best views of the city and the Port Arthur Peninsula (100 km around) - Mount Nelson Signal Station; Overlooking Hobart harbor and bay, with the best place for a light lunch at the Signal Station Restaurant, complete with great views, good food and very honest prices - it's a place not to miss (reservations recommended, Tel: (61) 3 62 233 407). - The Bonorong Wildlife Park; It's the best of the three wildlife parks in Tasmania: located in Brighton, 25 minutes north of Hobart. The is the best place to get closer to the "Tasmanian Devil", the wombats, koalas, quolls, echidnas, emu's, wallaby's and more. The Tasmanian Devil is a nice little animal with black fur, red ears, the size of a small wild boar. The name of "devil" is due to his squeal cry - the sound makes one's flesh creep - but it's harmless to humans. His diet is manly dead animals. At night by car crossing the deep Tasmanian forest, you can see them by their eyes reflecting the lights of your car. Early morning you can see lots of them dead on the road, due to the attraction for them of the car lights during the night. - Tahhune Airwalk; Tasmania's spectacular treetop walkway, a 60-minute drive South of Hobart, 29 Km from Geeveston. The scary bits include 597 meters of walking in the treetops at a 20-meter average height above the forest floor. It's 48 meters to the river at the end of the cantilever. The cantilever is 24 meters long and moves and sways if you want it to - or even if you don't. (Sufferers of vertigo be warned!) Open (9 to 5) daily, closed Christmas Day & during hazardous weather conditions. - From Geeveston; You can drive to Dover, Southport, Ida Bay & Cockle Creek - "The end oft he Road." From Cockle Creek, along a 150 carved Km of coastline to the old convict harbor at Straham, there are no inhabited places - not a solitary house. Roughly a quarter of Tasmania has no roads tracks or human habitation. "Rough" is exactly the word for this "Southwestern" segment of the state. It's a wilderness of mountains, forests and gushing rivers going down to cliffs and the sea. The only sounds are of water and wind. Going back to Hobart: On the waterfront, you have the best hotel in Hobart & Tasmania: The Grand Chancellor; The ultimate in superior accommodation with majestic mountain and harbor views from your room. Ask for rooms on the 17th to 20th floors (corner rooms) - They're very difficult to get, but you can try! The price for a double room with harbor view is 195.00 A$ (Leisure Rate). The hotel is the home of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, so it's very easy to go to Hobart Concert Hall in the hotel. The hotel also has a gym and heated swimming pool. The Grand Chancellor Hobart After this Hobart (round the corner) introduction, let's go to "The Gourmet Corner."
Hobart has many restaurants and eating places to catering all the tastes (Salamanca Place), but the two most interesting are: Sisco's on The Pier & Kelleys Sisco's on The Pier: Of course, it's located next to the ferry's pier on Hobart harbor, It is a modern type restaurant with views from every window, and some of the views "are" the view. Sisco is the diminutive of Francisco in Catalan. The owners are from North Catalonia in Spain, immigrants to Tasmania in 1976. After several restaurant businesses, they opened Sisco's eight years ago. The food is "Tasmanian fresh seafood" with Spanish tradition. In the restaurant, you'll find: Getting Started: * Southern Ocean Calamare; char grilled with smoked paprika, garlic, mesclum salad & chive Soy dressing > 16.00 A$ * Spring bay scallops; skillet seared with nut brown butter, blanched baby spinach, harissa & Leek crisps > 16.50 (as starter) or 25.00 A$ (as main dish) * Among other starters: Bruny island oysters & Tasmanian blue mussel pot >12.50 to 14.50 A$ Getting Serious: * Fish of the day; just grilled or crumbed with baked bananas & coconut curry > 19.00 A$ * Chili Moreton bay bugs; pan seared with spring onions, ginger, garlic, chili jam, lemon grass, honey & stir fried rice > 26.50 A$ * Mariscada sand pot; a casserole of mussels, prawns, scallops, squid, oysters, Moreton bay bug with tomato, cumin chili, coriander, peppers & Tabasco > 29.00 A$ * The seafood platter (serves two); with prawns, char grilled calamare, blue mussels, scallops, bugs, oysters & blue eye > 84.00 A$ * Paella; cooked the authentic way and since all the ingredients require cooking from their raw state, some waiting may have to be anticipated (minimum order of two) > 25.50 A$ p person Getting a Bit on the Side: * Pan seared kalamata olives; with rosemary, extra virgin olive oil, pecorino cheese & pide bread > 7.00 A$ Getting your just desserts: [your choice, all at: 9.00 A$]* Catalan cream; authentic Catalan cream custard with egg yolk, milk, vanilla and torch caramelized sugar * Cold caramel soufflé triple stack chantilly cream soufflé with roasted almonds smothered with Ramona's (the restaurant director) luscious caramel sauce * Tocinillos de cielo (heavenly piglets); An Andalucian monastery specialty of Bain Marie bathed egg yolks, roasted almonds, coconut & lemon * Sorbet Champagne & strawberry; a delicious sorbet after a fish meal There's also a great selection of Tasmanian, Australian, New Zealand & Spanish wines at okay prices. In few months Sisco's will open a new wing facing the water with a fine selection of light bits and "Tapas" and after dinner drinks bar. The restaurant in managed by Ramona, with her sister Pilar and son Seb in the kitchen Sisco's on The Pier The other interesting restaurant is Kelleys (simply superb seafood!) Kelleys, since 1997 located on the hill above Salamanca Place, in an old "Sailmaker's Cottage" (1849). There's a very small sign at the door, so you need to knock the doorknob to get in. Reservations are definitely advised! It has a very "kitsch" decor with lots of Tasmanian landscapes photographs and paraphernalia. The restaurant is a suite of three rooms inter-connected - it's an old private house.Their main fare is fish; and for starters; I recommend: * Seafood Chowder > 12.50 A$ Blue Eye Salmon Wontons > 16.50 A$ * Accidental Occy; Octopus grilled with a rice cake, sweet & sour cucumber and orange & ginger glaze > 18.50 A$ * Chili salted calamari > 13.50 A$ * Kelleys Oyster Selection: * Fish of the Day; grilled or pan fried > From 22.50 to 25.50 A$ * Kelleys Catch; -Fresh fillets, topped with prawns, scallops, vermouth, mushroom cream sauce and spinach - potato timbale > 28.00 A$ * Seafood Platter; -Everything > 38.50 A$ and if you like "The Australian Way": * Deep Fried selection; with fries & tartar sauce > 26.50 A$ * House Salad -Spinach, olives, feta, with roasted vegetables and a pesto dressing > 9.50 A$ For deserts, try the selection of the day. There's a very good Tasmanian wine cellar. With fish I recommend: "Dalrymple 1999 Vineyards" from Pipers Brook, Tasmania North Eastern, Inland from Bass Strait, available at a fair price. Kelleys [Of course, Credit Cards are accepted in the two restaurants!]
Post Scrip on Tasmania: Tasmanian people are very "Slow Down!" and when you ask at the Tourist Office or your Hotel Reception Desk - or in a conversation at the Pub - How long does it takes to go around the Island? - The answer varies from 3 to 5 days. But, in reality you can make the "Big Tour" in 9 hours, even respecting the speed limit of 100Km/h max. From Hobart take the road in the direction of Queenstown (260 Km). It's a great drive through the Franklin Gordon Wild Rivers National Park (a very narrow road!). In 3 hours and 30 minutes, you are in Queenstown - if you maintain the speed limit. But, very often you only can do 60 Km/h due to road conditions and the impossibility of taking whole stretches of "rough" roads that can be more than 20 or 30 Km long. (You should leave early in the morning and never on Sundays!) Queenstown is an old miners' town in the "Wild West" tradition. (You'll feel as if you are in a "Wild West movie" with the old Western Train (only for tourists) and the houses and streets as in the "OK Corral.")From Queenstown, take the road in the direction of Strahan facing the Southern Ocean and continue to Zeehan, Rosebery, Tullah and Burnie on the North Coast facing the Bass Strait. Then take the "One" (the main Motorway in Tasmania) to Devonport. Include a detour to the Tamar Valley and Exeter, to Launceston, and from Launceston take once again the "One" to Hobart. This tour can take 9 to 11 hours depending how good a driver you are (They drive on the left side there!) and the kind of car you rent. I advise you to rent a "Full 4WD" due to the constantly changing weather and road conditions (with the exception of the "One"). The best 4WD cars can be rented at Avis in the Hobart Airport for very interesting and affordable rates (Ask for Jane or Denise at the counter) The other interesting trip is the road on the East Coast along the Tasman Sea from Hobart to St Hellens, Scottsdale and Launceston, and back to the "One" to Hobart. It's a nice one-day trip. Of course, you can always tour around and stay overnight in the towns I mentioned. Remember in Tasmania, there's always a "Grand Chancellor Hotel around the corner" (There are 8 in Tasmania!)
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