Day 49: Launceston

Today I went on a wine tasting tour with 7 our people from my tour group.  The 1st vineyard was Josef Chromy -- big name in Tassie wine -- we tasted 12 wines -- they've won awards for their Chardonnay -- I thought their wines were good but nothing special -- except for their dessert wines, which were delicious.  2nd vineyard was Velo -- very nice wines -- especially their non-oak Chardonnay (and beautiful sassafras floors).  3rd vineyard was Moores Hill -- again, very nice wines -- especially their Riesling.  We had lunch at Moores Hill -- shared plates of local Tasmanian foods -- meats, cheeses, seafood, and bread -- one of the best lunches that I've had on the trip.  We were supposed to go to a 4th vineyard -- but after tasting 24 wines -- we opted out and instead we drove around the Tamar Valley for a bit and stopped for coffee & chocolate at this weird fake Swiss village (people do strange things when they have too much money).

After we got back to the hotel -- I went for a walk along the Tamar River -- very scenic.  Some of the houses in the area are really cool --- federation architecture -- nice verandahs with lots of detail.  And then a nap (recovering from all of that wine), laundry, and dinner.  This was the last day of the tour for 6 people (I guess there was an option to do a 9 day tour instead of a 13 day tour).  Tomorrow we are off to Freycinet National Park on the east coast.

Weather:  mix of sun & clouds, 60 - 75F
Miles Walked:  3.5

Pics are once again in some random order 

• 1:  lunch at Moores Hill
• 2:  boats at the Tamar River Yacht Club
• 3:  bridge over the Tamar River
• 5 - 7:  1840 corn mill converted into a hotel/motel
• 8:  harbor with my hotel in the far right corner
• 10 - 13:  Josef Chromy Vineyard
• 14 - 15:  Velos Vineyard
• 16 - 20:  Moores Hill Vineyard
• 22 - 27:  Swiss Village

 

 

 

random house