Launceston

Launceston is not my favorite place in Tasmania but that doesn't mean it's not interesting. The city is big and stretches quite a way so it took us a bit to drive around to discover it. After we found accommodation, we went to the port for lunch before taking a short cruise along the Tamar River. I couldn't believe that I had to pay $23 for a serve of fish and chips which was a bit of a rip-off compared to Stanley where it was only $6.5 and in Melbourne only$9.

Anyway, we took the cruise for 55 mintues and it was very interesting with lots of information from the old captian. It was a pleasant trip into Cataract Gorge along the Esk River and along the Tamar River to see some of the old boats even though the weather wasn't very good with rain at some points. After the cruise, we drove up into the expensive hillside suburbs where there were some great old Victorian and Edwardian houses mixed with some newer mansions. Most of these houses have great views to the river and over Launcestion and because it was spring, the gardens were in full bloom.

We took a trip to the Launceston casino (lost!) and had a nice Vietnamese meal to end our day in that town.