A Breakfast Hamper, Oyster Farming and a Winery!! Oh My!!

Today was checkout day from our fabulous room at Freycinet Lodge.   Hard to go since the room was so nice with great views from  the deck.  But we still had one more morning.  For our room category of Coastal Pavilion, breakfast was included in the rate.  We had the option of eating in the restaurant, which we had done yesterday or having a Breakfast Hamper delivered to our room.  Since we were only here two nights, we wanted to do both options fo our last morning we arranged for the hamper to show up at 8AM.   I had no idea what to expect.   Two wooden boxes were brought out to the deck.

The first one had raspberry and cheese danish, flaky, buttery croissants, buttery and jams for the pastries and mason jars of fresh fruit and a trail mix.    The croissants were my favorite with the salted butter and raspberry jam.

Then an assortment of meats and cheeses.  We had some camembert and a mild cheddar (not bitey!!) along with some smokey and salty salami and corned beef.  

The baguettes looked good, but weren't as fresh as I would have liked.

The other box had dairy milk, a juice which tasted of apples and grapefruit and then yogurt with fresh pureed mango.  The yogurt here was quite good - thicker than greek style yogurt.  

 This was such a great start to the day, especially being able to enjoy it with this view on our own deck!!  I highly recommend checking out these types of rooms if you have a chance to get to Freycinet.

Checkout time was 10 AM.  That seemed to be the standard checkout time for all hotels in Tasmania and mainland Australia.  I know in the United States we are used to a noon or sometimes 11AM check out time.  This is a good tip if you plan a trip to make sure you will be able to "get up and go" in that amount of time.  You can always request a late checkout based on availability and sometimes there will be an extra cost.  The 10 AM check out wasn't an issue for us.  We had arranged for a trip to an oyster farm to get up close and personal with some oysters.

Freycinet Marine Farm is only about a ten minute drive from the Freycinet Lodge.  We arrived just before 10 AM and checked in for out tour.

One of the first things we had to do after the drive to the water was to put on hip waders.  We would be headed out to the water to where the oysters are growing!!  Our guide showed us the containers where the oysters live from when they are just larvae to when they are ready for a restaurant.  That whole process can take from 18 - 24 months.  The larvae are purchased from another grower for about .02 each oyster.  When full grown, the oysters can sell for about $18 AUD a dozen (wholesale price).    These containers are made of plastic and were invented by the farmer who owns this farm.  They are similar to a large milk rectangular crate that has doors on both sides. They hand on what I will describe as a clothesline with clips on both ends of the basket to hold it in place. And there is a plastic mesh bag inside that is used to keep the oysters from falling through the holes in the crate.   This one location could farm up to five million oysters at one time - all in various stages of growth.  The guide estimated that there were only about three million currently on site.  Since no one can actually own the water where oysters grow, farming them requires a site license to be purchased.  This farmer's license had been active since the 1950's but he had only purchased it in the last 20 years.  We got the impression that there are lots of licenses available for purchase, but not all are in favorable spots for farming.  Much like real estate, for oysters, it is all about location.  The better the water, the better the oysters.  And the water safety is heavily controlled by the government who can issue warnings for algae or bacteria which can halt harvesting for weeks or months.  So it can be a lucrative business, if you can risk the variableness of the water.

The oysters are filter feeders so the ones closer to the water will get more food and likely grow faster.  Over time the oysters are graded for sizing and the bags can be rotated so that all the oysters get optimum feeding opportunities.  

We were able to sample some oysters fresh from the crates.  They were much saltier than the ones we tried at Lease 65. while we were in Launceston.  I think this is because when they are commercially shucked. some of the salt water is washed away.  Here, the oyster had just been opened and  there was lots of salt water adding to the extra brininess.

Before this farmer invented  the plastic cages, there were nets that hung on a pole.  It was much more time consuming since it required two workers to lift them from the staging to check on the oysters.  The new system only requires one person.

Sorting is done mechanically.  There are different inserts with different sized holes, depending on the size they are looking for.  If an oyster falls out, then it won't be selected for sale and it can be put back on one of the baskets to continue feeding.

After all we learned, it was time to try a dozen!!   They were so tasty, knowing they were only minutes earlier in those baskets.    They came with a vinegar minuet which was tasty but not needed.

Interestingly, the ropes they use to hang some of the baskets out for deep sea feeding attract mussels.  Our guide called it a happy accident since they didn't plan on farming mussels.  But they are able to get enough to be able to see them, without a lot of extra work.

 While we were at the farm, I saw they had sea urchin.  This was something I had always wanted to try but never had the chance.  Now was the time!!

It looks like it has a very rough texture - perhaps like the bumps you have on the top of your tongue.  It also looks like it would be very gooey or like a paste.  Appearances can be deceiving.  When I picked it up with my fork, the texture was clearly firm but flexible.  Now it was time to taste it.  Immediately I got a bright, clean, fresh taste of the ocean with just a bit of savory notes.  Certainly not as briney as I expected.  The texture was somewhere between the belly of a fried clam and an escargot.  It didn't melt in my mouth like a clam belly would, and it had a small amount of chew.  The finishing notes were of fresh ocean.

I imagine some would have a hard time with this based on the appearance alone.  I agree it is not the most appealing snack.  If you are able to put that aside, or perhaps use a blindfold, I think anyone who likes the fresh taste of seafood would also like sea urchin.

We couldn't end our day and start the journey to Hobart without visiting a winery!!  Freycinet Vineyard was only a few minutes away from  the Marine Farm.

We were able to taste all their wines.  The Louis Chardonnay was my favorite and we picked up a bottle of that along with one of their house rieslings - again not on the sweet side like California ones.  The setting was really beautiful, looking out at the vineyard.

I thought their Children's Corner was a bit sad looking.  

We made it to our Hobart hotel the RATC in about two and a half hours.  The roads were so variable.  We would be on a two lane highway and then suddenly it turned into a windy, narrow mountain road.  Some very interesting driving.  I am glad that this was not my first day driving on the "correct" side.  It was good to have several days of practice behind me.

Dinner tonight was at the restaurant attached to the hotel called Cascade on Collins.    It was happy hour and we were hungry after the long drive.  My wife and I both ordered a pulled pork bowl.    The grilled corn salsa really pulled this all together with fresh nuggets of corn.  The pulled pork was well smoked and the rice had a bit of cajun seasoning.  At first I tried sampling each bite, but found that mixing it all together was a better way of eating ir.

We also got some fried chicken bao buns.  These had a KFC (Korean Fried Chicken) type sauce on them but were still super crispy.    Australia has had some terrific asian food!!   That has been a great (and welcome) surprise!! 

Fried Chicken Bao Buns at Cascade on Collins

For a beer, I tried the White Rabbit Dark Ale which was a tasty stour. 

Tomorrow would be a big all day excursion to Tasman Island and Port Arthur, the former penal colony.  Look for that blog to be posted soon.