We left Hobart around 10:30 this morning and headed north on Highway A-3 along the east coast of Tasmania toward Launceston. Most of the trip was along the eastern shoreline of Tasmania with many little towns interspersed at intervals. Much of the scenery was beautiful as you can see from the following shots. The first two pictures were of Cole's Bay:
This was a little further up highway A-3:
This was taken a little further up the road near the town of Swansea:
We stopped in Swansea for lunch along the beach. It is a pretty little town that looks like it ought to be in New England:
This area of Tasmania is a big grape and wine-producing area. We saw numerous fruit orchards, vineyards, and wineries along the whole trip. This was taken along the A-3 just north of Swansea. You can see a vineyard in the valley:
A little further up the coast we stopped at Freycinet National Park on the Great Oyster Bay. We took this pic at Wineglass Bay in the Park:
From the Park, we continued up the A-3 to the A-4 and over Elephant Pass Road, which was a lot like driving up Mt. Wellington in Hobart. Narrow, steep, and winding. We arrived in Launceston around 5:30 or so and will be here for the day tomorrow. On Sunday, we leave at 6:00 am for Christchurch, New Zealand!
Pat's Paragraph...... We ran in and out of raindrops all day but by the time we arrived in Launceston it was all sunshine. We're staying at an old hotel that has been remodeled and yes, there is only One 18 inch towel bar. The really odd thing about this bathroom is that the shower does not have a drain. All the water runs under the shower door, across the bathroom floor and into a drain in the center of the bathroom. We had this at one other hotel and we thought, since it was a brand new hotel, some 'brilliant' engineer didn't read his blue prints correctly. But to have this twice, I guess this is new and 'edgy'. The thing I have to wonder about is the slippery wet tile floor, getting all the towels wet drying the tile floor and yet we're supposed to be saving the environment by keeping and re-using the same towels, that are now soaking wet. Is this a 'conundrum'? hmmmmmm
We hope everyone is having, or had, a wonderful Thanksgiving. And we're also wondering how many are gearing up for their run out to the stores on Black Friday? They have a day set aside here for big sales to kick off the Christmas shopping season, we just can't tell you when exactly it is.
