Every Saturday the Launceston Harvest Market is on in the centre of town.
I had planned on getting the bus, but a look at the Metro app told me the busses were an hour apart on the weekend 🙁 so drive it was.
It was not difficult to find a park (metered until 11:30am – $6.80 for the time we were there). We needed to walk around the corner to the market. It was quite large, so we decided to “do a lap” first to see what was available.
We could see that one stall had a VERY long line and we expected it to be a coffee line, but no…it was harvest fresh vegetables. had a look at the stall and the prices were quite good, but it was the quality that was obvious. Everything looked very fresh and lovely. (There was a coffee shop with a long line as well :). )
We decided on a cheese burger for breakfast and we would come back for a good looking soda bread loaf later.
After our burger, we went for a walk to the Brisbane St Mall.
On the way, we passed the Grand Chancellor Hotel. It is a beautiful building, and we went in to have a look.
We could see the restaraunt and we asked for a lunch/dinner menu. We found out that the buffet breakfast is open to the public and were allowed to have a look around. The Mantra currently does not have a buffet. It has a cafe for breakfast. We have planned to come back to the Grand Chancellor for breakfast tomorrow 🙂
Walking on to the Brisbane St Mall , we first came across “The Quandrant” We were surprised that there were not many people around at all in either mall.
One shop we came across was “The Old Umbrella Shop”
This cute shop has been in this location since the 1920’s
The shop is now listed by the National Trust.
Who would have thought there was such a need to have your umbrella repaired 🙂 when now-a-days it is a case of “throw it out and buy anew one from KMart.
A sign of the times and our disposable society.
The Old Umbrella Shop in Launceston has been operating nearly continuously in its current location for over 100 years. Originally established as R. Schott & Son, the shop was opened by Robert Schott, an umbrella maker from Melbourne in 1907.
Although umbrellas were his specialty, Schott began crafting souvenirs after being dismayed by the number of tourists he saw purchasing European-made, mass-produced items that didn’t represent his home.
He whittled woodcrafts out of local timber and emblazoned ceramic items with images of Tasmania, selling them alongside his hand-made umbrellas. Business flourished as tourists caught wind of Schott’s beautiful, affordable souvenirs, which included items such as ashtrays, egg cups, walking sticks, and clocks.
So popular were Schott’s souvenirs that when Edward VIII, Prince of Wales, visited Tasmania in 1920, Schott presented him with one of his walking sticks.
R. Schott & Son was run by three generations of the Schott family until 1978, when the last descendant, John William Robert Schott, passed away.
After a brief closure, the shop was taken over by the National Trust of Australia and renamed The Old Umbrella Shop.
The shop contains most of its original fixtures and continues to operate as an umbrella and souvenir shop. In the backroom is a museum that displays a collection of Schott’s wares, as well as business memorabilia.
A quick look through Myer (and use their restrooms) and we looked for something for lunch.
I did not want a big lunch, which ruled out the suggestion of the Grand Chancellor. We found a little cafe with a lot of people (always a good sign) called Mojo.
We chose a table and I had just a toasted ham and cheese sandwich and M had spaghetti carbonara. It was HUGE!! It did look very good with LOTS of bacon through it. He said it was good.
We walked back to the market and the soda bread was mostly sold out with only a fig, date and walnut loaf left. They did, however, have good looking pumpkin scones. We bought four of them to warm up in the microwave in the room and have with butter.
Back to the Mantra, I put on a load of washing and M filled up the spa.
The spa in our room is in the bedroom and is lovely and big with good jets all around. On the side of the spa was a box of “Restorative Bath Soak”
Spa filled and M had a while to “lie back in blissful relaxation”
Washing done and it was my turn for “blissful relaxation” 🙂
Nicely relaxed we enjoyed a quiet night with our scones and cups of tea.
Tomorrow we are planning on a buffet breakfast then a look around the City Park.
