Our last day in Tasmania.
We left our cottage at The Granary this morning at 9am and drove to Sheffield to take a closer look at the murals. Wow, there is some real talent on display here. Here are just some of the 30+ murals on display on this small farming town of 1,500.
After a quick dash into a bakery for some scones and muffins to sustain us on the road, we continued on to Launceston, with a population of 100,000 the second largest town in Tasmania. Our Rough Guide to Tasmania had some nice things to say about the historic town center dating back to the early 1800s, but the reality was quite different. Yes, there were some beautiful original buildings, but the overall impression of the town was not very positive. Some disastrous decisions were made by the city planners in the 60s and 70s to allow the most hideous concrete structures to be built. Now you have beautiful Georgian architecture surrounded by depressing buildings that would look right at home in some former Soviet republic.
The most interesting photos of downtown Launceston I can offer are these two:
At least they have a sense of humor.
The only decent thing about Launceston is Cataract Gorge where you can walk across the South Esk River on a suspension bridge or via chair lift. The gorge looks quite scenic and seems to be enjoyed much by locals and tourists alike.
We had lunch at a nice café in the village of Evandale just a few kilometers from the Launceston airport. The restaurant had a beautiful cottage garden and courtyard with tables.
The Ellis and Bock girls sure enjoyed their lunch!
Car rental return and check-in at the Launceston airport went quickly, and after a 1 1/2 hr flight we were back in Sydney at 5pm. This past week went by so quickly, and yet it feels like we were gone for a month, probably because we saw so many different things!
Another week left in our Great Australian Vacation…
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