The dawn chorus was in full swing this morning. Who knew magpies could be so chatty? After yesterday’s cool temperatures and strong winds, today was warm, sunny and still.
We packed up the tent and went for a walk through Russel Clark Nature reserve and down to South Beach. In the car park were a number of people gathering for a fishing competition and on the beach the locals walked their dogs and got their morning exercise, probably before heading to town to have coffee and cake at one of the many cafes.
We chatted with a lady who told us she is lucky enough to live here, in the world’s most liveable town. We’ve since found out that indeed, in 2012 Port Fairy was awarded this title at the well known (?) Livcom Awards – International Awards for Liveable Communities. Joking aside, I really hope we are able to come back someday, it really is a special place.
Before leaving town, we returned to Bank + Co for a hearty brunch to set us up for the afternoon of travel ahead. We both had bubble and squeak with bacon and poached eggs. The flavors were fabulous and I was still thinking about this dish weeks later
It was a 3 1/2 hour drive to Melbourne airport with the obligatory stop for coffee and cake at The Red Door Cafe in the 1 horse town of Inverleigh. Although to be accurate, there were 2 horses, tied to a tree in the shade while their riders enjoyed coffee and cake too. Today’s sweet treat for me was an oat slice with apricot and coconut – absolutely delicious and I wasn’t even hungry when we stopped!
Our flight to Launceston was like getting on a bus; check in was easy, boarding was uneventful and the flight was only 45 mins so by the time we took off, we were landing. We’d forgotten that you aren’t required to show any form of ID on internal flights in Australia, so there we were, passports in hand and no one was interested in looking/laughing at our passport photos.
Picked up our luggage and rental car in Launceston and were on our way to our accommodation in no time at all. Our Airbnb was near Cataract George and wow, what a place! Architecturally stunning, high spec fixtures and fittings, a wonderful view and a fabulous location.
Once we picked our jaws up from the floor, we set out to have a look around with the brief light left of the day. The zig-zag trail was conveniently located a few steps from our swanky accommodation so we took that down to the waterfront, getting spooked on our way down by a wallaby in the bushes.
We had a wander around the very quiet and fairly nondescript downtown and then we turned a corner and came upon an area that was absolutely heaving; guys in suits, women in dresses and hats. I for sure didn’t think this is how people usually dress in Launceston. A wedding on a Wednesday? Turns out today was the Annual Launceston Cup, a horse race, a public holiday and a pretty big deal attracting a crowd of around 16,000 and stakes hovering around $300,000. No wonder people were out to party.
Not having a hat or fancy frock, we left the crowds and went to Saint John Craft Beer Bar to sample a few local brews and eat a messy but delicious Pork Belly Burger and fries (yes, a pork belly burger!) cooked in a van out the back. Then we hiked back up the hill to our accommodation, avoiding the wallabies as we went.