Tree Ferns and Windy Roads

 Today we headed to the eastern side of Tassie.  We had two options: go to the coast and follow it to our destination or cut across the mountains through windy roads and see more of the interior.  We chose the later.

Tasmania has a population of around 575,000 with to big cities - Hobart at around 225,000 and Launceston at 90,000.  From this you can see how the remainder of the country is filled with quaint little communities that usually have a small grocery store and a cafe.  We drove through many of these on our journey.  Our first stop was to explore a beach and park.  Australia is home to gorgeous beaches and this was one of them.  Families with their dogs were taking advantage of the nice weather with some fishing while others were walking along the tide.


Our next stop was a little cafe where we had sausage rolls and a meat pie for lunch.  These are both very typical offerings in this country showing off their English roots.  Both of these were very good and would hold us over until dinner.


Once we crossed over to the eastern side of the mountains we started seeing tree ferns mixed into the forest.  We pulled over to hike a small trail so we could get up close to them.  They are quite large and make a beautiful canopy under the trees.






We had to get moving to meet the host of the house we’re staying in for the next three nights.  We would return to Swansea after we checked in to grab food for dinner.  The house were staying in was quite stunning with the exterior being glass with a metal I-beam frame.  It looks out over the ocean and onto a rocky shore.  This will be a wonderful place to base out of for a few days.



We went back into town to find ingredients for our dinner.  The IGA was not all that well stocked so we settled on a pasta dish that could come together quickly.  We lit a fire in the fireplace and enjoyed a pleasant end of our day.

Tomorrow: Tasmanian Devils

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