Ashton Gate Launceston

... acidity, light rose petal palette – little too astringent for me

2008 Sauvignon Blanc – Grassy, herbal, perhaps a little lychee. Good acidity, little short on the palette, lemon grass, gooseberry

2008 Pinot Gris – closed nose, grapefruit? Full palette of apricots, a little spice and zest

2008 Pepkik (2nd Label) C******nay – 6-10 weeks French Oak, easy drinking, fruit driven – green ...

... Rocky Cape National Park to get another photo of the Nut from the other side (about 20 kms across the water), then head to Burnie where we stop for coffee and a visit to the farmers markets. Not much to see there, some local produce, sheep manure in bags for fertilizer, some live chickens and a bit of craft. Liz bought some jam for our breakfasts. Back in the car and off to Anvers Chocolate Factory in the La Trobe area, where we stop just ...

I got my first overseas byline this week. When I visited the Examiner newspaper, a 30,000-circulation daily here, I expected to just observe and listen. Oh no. Reporter Rachel Williams, who I was shadowing, had other ideas in mind. She brought me to a press conference in which a local politician announced the appointment of a gallery director to head an arts commission. When it was over, with no particular ...

... Launceston and up to Cataract Gorge before visiting 2 posh vineyards (the posher the better!) where we (well: Maria, I had to to drive) did some wine tasting and I ********ted successfully about Hungarian wine (I especially like their Merlot Sauvignon due to its characteristic & distinctive mellow aftertaste - I don't actually have a clue about Hungarian wine BUT NEITHER DID THEY! They agreed with me! Fools!).

... to my hostel I got talking to a guy from Wagga Wagga (Just North of Melbourne), I had cooked too much stir fry so shared that with him and also some wine - we sat in the garden all night putting the world to rights. It was great to have a conversation that had meaning for a change rather than just idle chit chat. Sunday started rather grey and wet, but I manged to get two museums in and also a visit to Captain cooks cottage - shipped brick by brick ...

... Hobbart, il faut remonter à Launceston" Et hop, demi tour, alors qu'on était à 80 km de notre point de chute, pour 400km de plus... on s'etait dit qu'on allait rentrer à Hobbart, faire le vélo et Port Arthur et finalementpasser la dernière journée à Freycinet... Mais ca nous faisait au total perdre plus de 600km et on était limitées... donc retour a la case départ : Launceston. puis la Midland Hyw vers hobbart, 350 km plus bas. Une route part vers la côte est, fermée. UNe ...

... wrong side of the road, so Theo got the driving seat. He quickly got the hang of it, and off we went on the A1 north towards Cradle Mountain National Park, where we would be starting the Overland Track. Lots of road kill, possums and wallabies (small kangaroos)on the sides of the highway. Just as Theo was relaxing a bit (Theo relaxing?) a hoard of possibly 50 motorbikes came from an off ramp, and a scene from the ...

Lauceston is the second largest city of Tasmania. I reached the city by bus from Hobart passing through the village of Ross, which is famous among Japanese tourists due to the film "Kiki's delivery service". The city was one of the most compact and beautiful cities I have ever visited. People there were friendly. I was asked if I was lost, even though I was just looking at ...