We both slept well and woke around 5:30am. We had some of the pastries for breakfast with a cup of tea, packed our bags back up and drove the short distance up the road to see the Country Club Resort and Casino (the Villas we stayed in are part of the resort)
The Country Club is a typical Aussie Casino with lots of poker machines and opulence. There is a lot to do within the resort complex. There is a golf course, Pony tours, bike hire, a huge pool area, gyms, a number of restaurants and of course the main casino area.
After a look around at the Country Club, we set off for the Cataract Gorge cruise, which was due to depart at 9:30am. There were only 14 of us aboard the “Lady Launceston” for the 50 minute cruise and our captain, Graham, was very knowledgeable and gave a good commentary of the Cataract Gorge, the Tamar River and Launceston in general.
I found this video on YouTube of the Cruise. (Great YouTube Channel with some nice videos)
The last time we were in Launceston was January 2010 and we did a 4hr Tamar River cruise with this same company and it was also excellent.
After the cruise, we were travelling south again back to Hobart, but today we would travel down the coast via Bicheno, Swansea and Sorell before crossing midway and back to Hobart.
We had decided on perhaps Fish and Chips or a Burger for lunch and Google told me that the best place was “The Gulch” in Bicheno. It must be good because after finally finding somewhere to park and securing a table, I was told there was a 1 HOUR wait for food….um no… it was already 12:30 and we were hungry 🙂 Back into the Main Street of Bicheno and we found a nice cafe and shared a huge burger and chips ( in 10 minutes )
After Bicheno, it was a nice drive back to Hobart. The highway is quite narrow and windy but quite often we would get amazing views of gorgeous beaches and bays. Given that this is only 60-90 minutes from the Hobart airport, it really is amazing that developers have not jumped on these areas. I can easily imagine a “Noosa of the South” with great Tassie produce creating “celebrity chef” restaurants with good wine and awesome views thrown in.
We arrived back at the Shoreline Hotel around 5:00pm. I put on a load of washing in the free guest laundry, ordered a pizza to eat in the room and another early night was in store.
