Enchanted Walk

The Enchanted Walk at Cradle Mountain starts from Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge and is one of Tasmania's 50 Great Short Walks. If you haven't tackled some of these, I highly recommend it, although there are a few extras that I would add in there too!

The walk is a very easy short boardwalk that follows a small river, crosses over and then walks back up the other side back to the start. As you walk you are surrounded by tall Pencil Pine trees, the sound of the babbling river and fresh, simple nature. Apparently wombats and platypus' frequent these areas but we didn't spot any. It is a nice simple walk that might be a tranquil start to your day in Cradle Mountain. There are a few 'art tunnels' on the route, i'm sure intended for kids, but we nipped through anyway.

As it goes from Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge, if you're staying there, it's a great one to do to let your breakfast go down before you tackle a proper hike.

The Enchanted Walk takes about 20 minutes and you need no real special equipment, but a waterproof might be a good idea.

Cradle Valley Boardwalk

We were staying at Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge, near to the Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre (mentioned here) so we left the car behind and headed off on the Cradle Valley Board Walk to Dove Lake, this takes about 2:30 in total but can take a bit longer in snowy or icy weather. The walk has three sections. These are:

1) Visitor Centre to Snake Hill (55 mins)

2) Snake Hill to Ronny Creek (40 mins)

3) Ronny Creek to Dove Lake via Lake Lilla (55 mins)

This entire track is board walk except part of the track from Ronny Creek to Dove Lake, it is extremely well maintained even though it undulates, has steps and lookouts. There are even a few well-placed benches, although we sat on the boardwalk itself a couple of times on route, just to take in the scenery. We went in winter, so snow was thick and there was a good layer of ice on much of the boardwalk that was in the shade, we were fine in our walking boots but you do need to be careful. The boards themselves are covered with mesh to give a little more grip.

We had fantastic weather up there and whilst there was snow on the ground, I stripped back to just T-shirt and trousers for the majority of the walk. This said, there is very strong advice at the visitors centre to make sure that your well equipped for cold and wet weather as weather in Tasmania can change very quickly, even more so in the Cradle Mountain National Park. We met a couple on the walk who we chatted to for about 20 minutes. They commented that they come to Cradle Mountain every year and it has a different but magical atmosphere at all times of the year.

Just before Snake Hill there is a mini detour loop that takes you 5 minute return to a small babbling river which is very pleasant, a nice place for a drink and a snack. 

At the section just before and just after Ronny Creek there were lots of wombats, at times many could be seen from the same spot, we have photos with 2 or more in the same picture. They were pottering around, eating greens and minding their own business. This was our first wombat-spotting experience and was incredible.

Can you spot all three in this picture?

This was taken from the boardwalk! We were careful not to interrupt his lunch!

When we arrived at Dove Lake itself, this is where the obligatory and rather famous photo of Cradle Mountain can be taken. 

We were tired after trekking in the snow and decided to utilise the shuttle bus back to the visitors centre.

Cradle Mountain

My wife and I went to Cradle Mountain in early July 2013, so while I’m posting this a little late, the spectacle hasn't changed. Cradle Mountain is situated in the Cradle Mountain – Lake St Clair National Park, but unlike heading to Lake St Clair, if you want to go to Cradle Mountain you have to enter the park from the North. The drive from Hobart in the south is long, but as you approach it develops into a magical cruise through bush land and natural highlands. The roads tend to thin out a little in the immediate vicinity, especially on the ultra-windy hillside sections, but are still decent roads bearing in mind their remoteness.

We stayed at Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge, which was something in itself. See my other blog on this hotel stay. To be short, it was a fantastic luxury wilderness hideaway.

Upon arriving in early July, we found that it had snowed, quite a bit. The roads were completely clear but scenic lookouts that look towards Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake were covered. There are some excellent photos to be taken on approach to the main conurbation. 

Don’t expect a big village. Basically, it’s lodges (including their restaurants), campgrounds and tourist information huts. All of the accommodation is just outside the park but you’ll need a national parks pass in order to enter. You can buy them from the tourist information hut near the accommodation area outside the park or you can pay for a single day inside the park, at the car park. Warning, paying in the car park is an expensive way to go, it is much cheaper to buy a year pass, even if you’re only there for a week. Plus, it can be used in any other Tasmanian National Park for the rest of the year! The other transport option, where you’d avoid having to pay for a car pass (but still technically would need a ‘people pass’) would be the free shuttle buses that run in and out of the park. They drive a loop route so you can get a bus in to Dove Lake or other walking start point, and walk from there. These are very useful at the end of the day, if light is fading and you’re at Dove Lake, the shuttle bus can be an easier way back to your warm retreat.

The Cradle Valley Boardwalk is blogged here. It's a nice, fairly easy and highly recommended walk (2:30 hours) and is one of my Top 20 things to do in Tasmania. 

Daci & Daci Bakery

Daci & Daci is a fine Parisian style bakery - cafe. It is situated down towards the wharf end of the city at 9-11 Murray St, Hobart 7000. Daci & Daci (or Daci Daci for short) has a shred of mystery about it's name as everyone I speak to has a completely different pronunciation of its name. Day-see day-see, Da-key da-key or Da-chi da-chi, who knows?

Daci & Daci (Da-chi, da-chi to me) is owned by a couple who I’m sure could shed some light on their own name's pronunciation. If you're out there, please fill me in and I can endeavour to end the confusion.

The bakery has a delightful Parisian feel that is complimented on Sundays by a small 'street style' band including accordion, drum and double bass. Even when the band aren't in, there is gentle music filling the air. The feel is casual, yet upmarket and this place gets busy! Be prepared for a few minutes wait for a table, or take away to the park at the bottom of the road. There is a newly done out seating area on the path that features rain/sun shades for any normal 'Hobartian' weather.

The tables are tightly packed and add to the small street café feel. Needless to say, this place smells delicious and whether you're in for a loaf of bread or a cake, it's a nice experience.

The produce available is baked on-site and the delicate creations taste as good as they look, there is something on offer for everyone. A large counter featuring an old carved church pew stretches the length of the building and displays a fine array of cakes and pastries, whilst at the other end of the counter (near the till) you can find pies, sausage rolls and other savouries.

If you’re feeling the need, you can even buy an entire, stylishly decorated cake from the display fridge. These cakes are priced around $40 and the average eat in cake or pastry is priced at around $7.50. There is a very nice salmon and egg brioche which is more of a lunch meal. On a previous occasion we had the lemon curd tarts and some macarons, both something that I could easily enjoy again. The macarons are very reasonably priced for a quick, light snack at only $3. The pies ($12) look fantastic but I haven't sampled those yet! My wife now fancies the 'super macaron' as she named it, more formally know as the 'Strawberries and cream macaron tart' shown above. Maybe next time!

The coffee is good, with a rich creamer, and my wife reports that the hot chocolate is one of the best in Hobart. Of course, when you arrive water is brought over free of charge. It is table service, although you have to order yourself at the till, but that just gives you a chance to stare through the glass cabinets and try to whittle down your cake choice from 30 to 1.

The Henry Jones Art Hotel

Last weekend my wife and I wanted to head out for a meal, something nice, that wouldn't cost the Earth. The Henry Jones Art Hotel can be found on Hunter St, Hobart, down by the wharf here. It has a great vibe when you walk in, you can stay there for the night if you want to splash the cash, but from what i gather it isn't a cheap option. However, there is close parking, and for a free parking option, that we took, you can park over the road in the museum carpark after 6pm for no charge.

We walked in and the mood was sophisticated, with the dimly lit vibe. As the hotel is named, its full of art, most of it for sale and it ranges from photographic, to paint on canvass, to silks....its varied! It also included a load of old posters and signs that harped back to it's days gone by as a jam factory. We wanted to have a pre-dinner drink so headed right towards the IXL long bar. There was a live singer and a pianist (who also appears to be the accordion player at Daci & Daci bakery - another post). The mood was chilled out, but somewhat refined. Its getting a little wintery here at the time of writing this post and there was mulled wine wafting around but the bar tenders clearly knew their stuff as they were mixing a whole range of cocktails. Pouring, shaking, pinches of this, fire, the whole works. It was a really great start and we were really looking forward to our food - we weren't disappointed.

The menu includes two 'style' options, Classic or Evolution. If i'm honest, we didn't particularly spot the classic or radically contemporary aspects of our dishes, they were both fine dining, both included veg etc and were equally good in appearance. I'm sure there were nuances that we, mere mortals, wouldn't notice.

We started with oysters 3 ways, fresh, local, delicious. Complimentary hand made breads with an amazing salted caramel butter. That was such a surprise, delicious. I think if we see it anywhere, we'd have to but a pot. I chose braised pork with rhubarb compote and wafer veg and my wife had salted beef with all of the usual trimmings, 'done in an arty way' as we'd call it. Both fantastic, fall off the bone, excellent.

There was a palate cleanser included, which had a panna cotta and a tangy sorbet. Finally my wife had a malt souffle, which the maitre'd described as being like a Malteaser as it came with a side jug of hot chocolate sauce. It appears, that if my wife could only eat one thing ever again, it would be this and only this. The people on the next table even asked for a review as they were in awe of what she'd chosen. Warning, its a pretty big portion, so I shared it to go along with my coffee.

- I apologise for the quality of picture, I didn't major in food photography.

Overall, it was a great dining experience and whilst we'd had a drink or two in the bar, we'd brought them through to the dining area. If we had let ourselves go, I imagine we could easily have added another $50 on drinks to our bill and the rooms are reportedly $350 a night, so not a particularly cheap stay. Even though a meal here could be reasonably expensive, it was excellent value for money and we left with a bill of approx $90, not so bad after all.

If i'm honest, the Henry Jones Art Hotel  would normally not be a price option for us. It's not at all a criticism, it's a really nice place and one that we'd normally have to save for a special occasion, but the fact is, it's included in the 'Entertainment' discount book. When you'd normally spend $50 on the book for a years worth of discount options, you get close to that saving in one go here. I actually checked to see if the Henry Jones Art Hotel would be in the next, 2014-2015 edition, and it is! So if you have the Entertainment book, or are planning to get one, head here for sure. 

N.b. Pictures from Henry Jones Art Hotel website.

Cascade First Harvest

After reviewing the Cascade Brewery, Hobart, Tasmania, I really did have to follow up with one for something that I really look forward to. Last year I had a few of the select First Harvest beers. This year a got a carton!

Cascade First Harvest is a limited edition beer, consisting of only 5000 cartons that go Australia wide. It is based on the principal of picking the early 'first' harvest of hops from local vines at Bushy Park, Tasmania. The fresh green super hops is then added to the brewing process. The concept of the first harvest is based on picking just enough on one day to produce one single day of brew. The beer and its particular use of hops is seems to be a bit of a trial at creating a craft style beer, bringing it more to the mainstream, if only for a limited release. The hops included appear to be new varieties, named after the main roads in Hobart, MacQuarie, Brooker and Argyle, and don't seem to feature in any other beer-hops list.

The First harvest this year is 5.5% and as Cascade's own First Harvest tasting notes suggest it exhibits definite flavours of toffee and citrus. Being fresh and early hops (and the blend of the 3 they use), the beer is particularly hoppy, something that I really enjoy in a beer. Normally hops are dried and kept cold, to prevent oxidisation and strange flavours ending up in the beer, or god forbid, losing flavour too. The special thing about this hops is that it is green. The tender, fresh, full of life cones are used to make the beer instead of pre-drying and storing it.  Going back to the tasting notes for a second, I don't notice much of the stone-fruit, i'd say its a hint of, as is the aniseed bitterness.

It's pretty well balanced, if not slightly over fizzy, it whips up a real head when poured, even when done carefully. Then again, i was pretty excited to be drinking it again, so i'd probably given it a stir-up by accident. Cascade First Harvest costs ave. $20/4 or $99 for a full carton of 24. Its not cheap but for a once a year treat, please, do yourself a favour and give it a try.

The Cascade Pale Ale is a great second to this beer, and is a good all year round drink to enjoy. This beer arrives mid May each year, this year I got mine on 15th May but it may have been out for a few days prior to this as its not at all well advertised. In many bottle shops it seems practically hidden away, you wont likely see exterior signs saying they have it but you might see it actually on the counter once you're inside.

There is a promotional video on their website, also shared here:



See their Facebook page for more information. There are some classic old pictures of previous editions, the Brewery itself and their brew.

Cascade Brewery

Cascade Brewery is the oldest brewery in Australia and is sited next to the Hobart Rivulet. Check it out on the map here. 

It has an iconic building that is renown around Australia and the mere shape of its 'roof line' and the windows are distinct and I can't imagine any other breweries in the world look quite like this one. Now I have to say 'roof line' as actually its a facade created when the brewery was built to give it stature. Also the windows themselves have an interesting story. This is just one of the things that you could find out about on a brewery tour. The tours cost $25/$20 (adult/student or senior) run for about an hour and a half and ends up, of course, in the bar with a handful of bottle tops that can be exchanged for beers of your choice.

There is a pretty cool looking Thylacene (Tasmanian Tiger) there but when my buddy showed his Tassie Tiger tattoo to the bar tender and got a photo with the 'real' Thylacene, he got a shock to find out that its not actually real. You aren't allowed to buy or sell extinct species. Even so, if the bartender hadn't said, we'd have all been fooled - it looks real and anyone you show a pic to would believe it too.

You can sit in comfy sofas, stand at the bar and quiz the bartender or head outside on nice days, appreciate the gardens and get food to compliment your newly found love for Cascade beer. I haven't sampled the food yet, so i cant officially comment, but I assure you it looks and smells great.

If you're not a drinker (I don't know why you'd be on the tour) you can choose the very nice Cascade soft drinks instead. They are all there on offer and definitely worth a try if you're the designated driver. Please note, there are buses that run from Hobart bus mall up to Cascades so maybe noone has to drive after all. Its also worth mentioning that there is a Female Factory attraction nearby too, so its possible to do both in a single visit.

There is a gift shop where you can buy the usual kinds of brewery mechandise but its nothing radical, just a nice momento to remind you in the morning that you went to the brewery the afternoon before.

You can make bookings for the tour online: Book Now

General information on Cascades Brewery can be found on their website.

Shopping Tasmania

Tasmania is quite well forgotten, and generally, that's just how Tasmanian's seem to like it. Tasmania will never be a hustling bustling place with overcrowded highstreets. Being from England, if you want to go shopping, seriously shopping, then pick another city, probably Melbourne or Sydney on your way over. Hobart does have shops but many of them cater for pastimes such as surf brands, hiking, camping and less so your mega-names of high fashion. Still, you can generally get what you're after.

The majority of the shopping areas are centered around the Elizabeth St Mall shown here but also extends into the Cat & Fiddle arcade and Centrepoint Shopping Centre but of course things tend to sprawl a bit too. There are likely more smaller boutique-y independent shops in Hobart than chain stores which is great for small businesses and there are unique things to be picked up all over town. Things tend to cost a bit more in Hobart than on the mainland as many things have to be shipped over Bass Straight to get to Tasmania but thats where local produce steps in to fill the void. Many local Tassie only things are made and sold in and around Hobart and for many, myself included, is a great chance to be part of the independent, local economy whilst at the same time purchasing something that is often handmade or quaint.

Poms In Oz

For any British people out there (Poms) who are thinking of a move to Australia (Oz) its a great idea to check out the Poms In Oz website. My wife and I used this a lot when we were planning our move out here. There are lots and lots of form pages linking you to different information and users. 

We used it to:

• Find out if any other people had visa problems.
• Find out if anyone else was on the same kind of visa as us.
• Find out if any Poms were living in areas that we were thinking of moving to.
• Look up other peoples shipping experiences.
• Look up costs that people had paid for different parts of the processes.
• General pitfalls.
• Make us feel more confident about our move.

Everyone on there is really friendly and we used this resource extensively, we still meet up with people that we met on PIO (Poms In Oz) for semi-regular drinks, meals and chats.

I cant rate this site highly enough as it had advice and experiences from others in the same position as us, who had done the move and noted their successes and potential issues.

www.pomsinoz.com

A Brit in Tasmania - How it all began!

The term 'Pom in Oz' has been way over used of late and so I thought that I would revise the term for my blog. I'm a Brit and I live in Tasmania, see how clever i am?

My adventure started about 18 months ago, if not before. My wife and I were stuck in a rut, the monotonous drag of everyday life in England. Many people survive, if not, enjoy the routine of work and play but we were beginning to feel like we were trapped in a never ending loop of the-same-ness. 

We'd work, we'd head home, put tea on, sit and watch TV, go to bed [repeat 5 times per week], then when it came to the weekend, we were too tired or busy to actually enjoy ourselves and would get all the jobs done, that we hadn't managed to get done earlier in the week. Everyone has lived this existence, at least for a short period of time. The thing is, we weren't satisfied and it definitely wasn't enough for us. It also happens that number four on my bucket list was: 4. Live in another country. So, could we? Why not? Hey, what an opportunity!

We don't have any kids and our ties to back home (except family) could be changed/cut without major life-shattering drama. Its a scary process approaching 30, in good solid jobs with a couple of rental properties, pets and all the household clutter associated with living somewhere for 8 years, just to then decide, right lets throw it all in to seek an adventure elsewhere. If you ever end up in the same position as us, being ready to pack up and throw in good jobs, sell up and move to the unknown, its pretty daunting but there is definitely success to be found.

After holidaying to Australia a few years before, my wife and I had visited friends in Tasmania and found it to be a 'local' kind of place with a culture and climate similar to that of the UK but even in a 3 week stint on holiday we could see that the pace of life was significantly more laid back. Of course, the people of Tasmania have to work, the same kinds of jobs and livelihoods as any similar climate (like in England) but in some way, when they weren't working they seemed to be really making the most of their spare time. It goes without saying, of course, that not all Tasmanian's live a fulfilling life and ironically I'm sure some would think that living in England is the ideal for them. Nor am i bagging out England, I love England, and it has many amazing places to go, things to see and a cultural history that I love. This blog is all about how at this moment in my life, Tasmania is the place for me to be.

N.b. Before I continue on, many friends from back home had no idea what Tasmania is or indeed where in the world it is. The sum total of some of my friends knowledge of Tasmania is that it has something to do with furry devils that spin around in a mad rage a la the Looney Tunes character, Taz.

Some others even thought that it is it's own country, and that it was in Africa, I think they were confusing it with Tanzania! And, some consider it to be somehow not included in Australia. 

To clarify this point, Tasmania is one of the seven states of Australia and is the small 'triangular shaped' island off the South-East coast of the mainland, Tasmania is 42 degrees South. It is generally sparsely populated and the majority of all residents of Tasmania live in Hobart, its state capital city. See it here on the map!

After having moved out here in early January 2013, we set about finding work and exploring. We found work relatively easily as our areas of work were included on the 'required skills list'. Arriving in January means that we arrived in the Summer season, it was pretty warm, 40 degrees in fact. 

We settled in to working, adventuring, sight seeing, eating local produce, drinking local beer and wine and doing everything that we could to truly embrace the Tasmanian - Australian lifestyle. It only really occurred to us after about a year was that many of the places we had seen and things we had done, whilst incredibly Tasmanian, were indeed beyond the experiences of many of the Tasmanian born population. This was evident when new found friends of ours would comment how they'd not been to a place that we'd just been out to for the weekend, or not seen an event that we'd done.

Our mission from then was to create a blog, noting things that we've done in an effort to show that Tasmania has more to offer than most people, even Australians realise!

P.s. My bucket list is better off for us being here, ive tackled a good few off it, even in the 18 months that we've been here!