Another Day In Tassie: Exploring the Launceston Area and The Bay Of Fires

Today we were headed out on a full day excursion to a Lavender Farm, a rainforest walk and finally a trip to the Bay of Fires.    I only had a granola (aka muesli bar) at the apartment and one coffee, so I needed a bit more sustenance to get me through the morning.  One the walk to the local transit station where we would meet our bus, I found this a place called Bread and Butter.  I just had to and order a delicious piece of their blueberry banana bread which is served with their homemade butter all wrapped up in a little parcel.

We met our bus at the local transit depot at 8:30 AM, and we were off!!  First stop was to a lavender farm.

I learned that lavender is a very large industry here in Tasmania.  Not only is it grown for soaps and perfumes, but it is also used in distilling.  Who knew you could drink lavender?  They also had many coffee drinks and ice creams made with lavender.  The lemon lavender sorbet was pretty good but had only a whisper of lavender taste.  If you are going to label something has lavender, bring it!!!

The large fields of lavender are overwhelming.  It wasn't harvesting season yet so the fields were quite barren.

While this was an all day excursion, there was not a dedicated lunch stop.  Later on in the day, we'd be stopping at a beach where we could eat our lunch, which meant we needed to buy some appropriate lunch supplies before then.  I liked this option since I have been on many tours where the lunch stop becomes an unneeded break in the momentum.  You are doing all this exploring and then you come to a dead stop to go to a restaurant for an hour or more.  Everyone on the bus has to find their favorite seat, the servers need to come and bring all the drinks and entrees.  And there is usually only two options so you may not be eating something you like or want to have.  Then after lunch the tour guide is usually trying to collect everyone to get back on the bus.  And then there are usually stragglers who have somehow mysteriously wanted into the gift shop!!  That wouldn't be happening on  this tour.  After the lavender farm we stopped a local bakery to get whatever sandwiches or sweets we wanted for our lunch.

They had so many delicious looking pies and pasties (pronounced PAST-ees).  You could have them make you a sandwich to order or they also had premade ones.  I went with a pre-made salami sandwich on a brioche.  I also ordered a bacon and cheese pie.    On our way to the next stop, I ate the bacon and cheese pie - sadly no pictures.  It was essentially a small quiche.  Very flaky crust and the filling had lots of cheese Canadian bacon.  It was a bit dry but full of savory flavor from the bacon.

Our next stop was a rainforest walk.  

There were lots of cases where trees are hitchhiking on ferns for nutrients.  As our guide told us, they aren't trying to kill the fern, because if they did that, the tree would also die.  

The root systems of this tree was almost completely out of the earth - but it still survives and creates these little nooks like looked like something out of Lord of the Rings!!

It was now nearing lunch time and I needed that salami sandwich.  I wasn't going to wait until our next stop at the beach so it was time to break out that sandwich and eat on the bus.  While I was expecting your average salami sandwich, what I had was so much more.  As I found with the veggie burger at Saint John Craft Beer, the Australians really seem to like pickled beet on their sandwiches.  And there was plenty of it on this sandwich.  It added a needed moisture and additional meatiness to the sandwich.  The brioche was the perfect vehicle for both the salty meat and the sweet and sour beets!!  There was also a light spread of aioli which gave it a nice creaminess.   I will definitely be experimenting with beets on sandwiches in the future.

We arrived at the Bay of Fires!!   This is an area combined of white sandy beaches, crystal blue water and perhaps what it is most famous for are the orange covered rocks. But those are not why it is referred to as the Bay of Fires.  That name comes from a ship captain back in the 1773 who saw all the fires from the Aboriginal people are his boat was coming ashore. 

The orange is a lichen, a combination of algae and fungus that react with the salt spray to produce the fiery color.  You will find that the lichens are growing above the normal high tide line since being in direct contact with the salt water would kill it.

What surprised me the most about this stop was how amazing the beaches were.  I never expected to see white, powdery sand beaches with crystal clear water.  Water that changed colors depending on the sky.  Everyone wants to head to the Caribbean for these types of beaches - but here in Australia they have so many.  In Bay Of Fires alone, I think there are over twenty different beaches all around the bay.  Some are not safe for swimming because of the undertow  - called "The Rip" here.  It is generally beaches that are flat - meaning they don't have a rounded beach area.   But the locals will just find another beach that is safe to swim at.  The one we visited was nearly deserted but was beautiful.

Our final stop on the tour was one I had been waiting for for seven years.  Last time we came to Australia in 2012, we had delicious Tasmanian oysters.  Now we would get to see a farm where they are grown and sample some!!

This farm called Lease 65 in St Helens only raises Pacific oysters.  They have been found to be the easiest to grow and most desired by local restaurants.    This farm can have over five million oysters growing at any one time.  It takes up to two years for an oyster to go from larvae to the size a restaurant would want to serve to a customer.    The oysters were as good as I remembered.  Slightly salty with the taste of the fresh ocean.  I think the setting also had something to do with how they tasted, knowing they were only recently harvested.  I also learned a couple of things.  While there is not any real difference in taste between male and female oysters, the females usually have a creamier texture.  Next time you look at an oyster up close, check if you see striations (or lines) in the belly.  That is an indication that it is a female oyster.   The belly will be a little plumper compared to the male.  All these years eating oysters and I never thought about there being any difference.   

Before we headed back to Launceston, one last stop for a quick snack.  I wasn't hungry but did need a little caffeine boost.

This iced coffee was similar to what I see Starbuck's sells.  It was slightly sweetened but still had a great, deep coffee flavor.  I never have sugar in my hot or iced coffee since I don't want it to taste like a milkshake.    Even though sweetened, it was not overwhelming.  Just the pick-me-up I needed!

Our tour guide was kind enough to drop us off about a block from our apartment.  Before leaving, we asked him for a dinner recommendation.  He suggested O'Keefe's which we had seen before while walking around Launceston.   O'Keefe's is actually a hotel which has a pub in the bottom floor.  It is quite a common thing to find throughout all of Australia but especially in Tasmania.  I imagine it is a carryover from Australian being part of the British Empire where there would be a pub on every corner - and still is that way in many parts of London. 

My wife ordered a salad which had the option of fried scallops.   The salad was quite nice and fresh.  The scallops weren't the best.  In hindsight, Launceston is not on the coast so ordering seafood probably is not the best choice.  They were not inedible - just not as fresh as you would want especially since we had just had the greatest fresh oysters in St Helens.

I ordered the Roast special.  Today's was Roast Pork.  And it was so good.  Moist pork, savory gravy, roasted potatoes and fresh veggies.   It was a very satisfying meal after a long excursion.

   

It was going to be an early night since we were a "good tired"!!   That kind where you know you had one of your best days.  Tomorrow would be our long lunch at Josef Chromy.