6 Days Tasmania Road Trip

Being a nature lover, I've always wanted to visit Tasmania; for a hike at the majestic Cradle Mountain, to visit the fauna and flora, and to breath in the world cleanest air. Last November, we packed our bags and headed over to Tasmania for 6 days, concentrating mainly around the Launceston area.

Here is my itinerary:

	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday
Breakfast	Café at Melbourne Airport Terminal 4	Exeter Bakery	Self prepare	Self prepare	Self prepare	Self prepare
Morning	Reach Melbourne Fly to Launceston	Strawberry picking @ Hillwood Berry Farm	Check out of Rosevears Hotel Ashgrove Farm Cheese	Hiking at Cradle Mountain	Check out of Cradle Mountain Highlander Sheffield Mural Park	Check out of The Cottage at Nutshell Farm Tasmania Gourmet Sauce Company Return Car Fly to Melbourne
Lunch	-	Levee Food Co	Christmas Hill Raspberry Farm Café	Self prepare	Macdonalds
Afternoon	Pick up car Tasmania Gourmet Sauce Company Josef Chromy Wines Tamar Island Wetland Check in Rosevears Hotel	Cataract Gorge Tamar Island Wetland	41 South Salmon and Ginseng Farm Melita Honey Farm Trowunna Wildlife Park Check in Cradle Mountain Highlander	Hiking at Cradle Mountain	Check in The Cottage at Nutshell Farm Roam around the farm
Dinner	Rosevears Hotel Restaurant	KFC	Self prepare	Tavern Bar and Bistro	Chinese Dragon House Restaurant
Night	Rest and relax	Rest and relax	Rest and relax	Rest and relax	Mount George Lookout Low Head Penguin Tour

Some travelling tips:

1. Hotels in Launceston
Typically, hotels in the heart of a city is usually more expensive, and this rule applies to Launceston as well. Since we had a rented car and some of the attractions are not really in the heart of the city, we decided to stay at a beautiful and relatively new hotel in Rosevears, which is a 30mins drive from Launceston Airport. The hotel, Rosevears Hotel, lies along the Tamar Valley, offers splendid sunset views of the valley, but cost only a fraction of the price we would have paid if we would to stay in Launceston.

2. Car Rental
We rented our car from Apex Car Rental. Although they do not have a counter at the airport, Apex Car Rental provides free transportation services to and from the airport to their office, which is just a 5 mins ride away. The person at the counter was very detailed in explaining the terms and conditions of the rental, what to look out for when driving in Tasmania, and checked the car with us before handing the keys to us. The cost of rental is also much more attractive than what the other car rental companies offer.

3. Driving in Tasmania
Driving in Tasmania is relatively easy with little traffic and good roads, but do look out for wildlife, especially during dawn and dusk. There are very few street lamp, so driving at night may be a challenge for those who are not familiar with driving in the dark.

4. Hiking at Cradle Mountain
We hike for around 5 hours in total with the intention to reach Marion Lookout, but gave up as our legs are not listening to us. Here is the route we took:
Car Park - Boat Shed - Lake Lilla - Wombat Pool - Crater Lake - (Marion Lookout - didn't go) - Boat Shed on Crater Lake - Crater Fall - Ronny Creek
After some rest, we went to Pencil Pine Creek, which is an easy 10mins walk, before heading to our dinner place.

Details of our trip will be updated in due cause. Stay tuned!

Related Links:
Tasmania Road Trip Part 1 - Launceston
Tasmania Road Trip Part 2 - On the way to Cradle Mountain
Tasmania Road Trip Part 3 - Cradle Mountain
Tasmania Road Trip Part 4 - Back to Launceston