If you have never had Muesli, it is best described as a cold oatmeal porridge And I realize that makes it sound terrible and disgusting. However, it is something that really can be tasty based on what other ingredients are added. Rolled oats and some kind of milk (usually non-dairy) are the base. But then you can add many other components such as thin sliced apples, nuts, dried fruits and seeds. You can really make it what you want it to be. Having said all that, this bar with the muesli name, had no flavor component I could discern that compared to real muesli. It was sweet with a hint of vanilla and very crunchy, more like a shortbread cookie. I enjoyed it but it had as much to do with muesli as tea does to coffee. Both are served hot or cold but that is where it ends.
Speckish tasted like mild salt and vinegar potato chips. Shapes are similar to Chicken in a Biscuit crackers which are available in the United States. From what I have gathered, Tim Tams are a childhood classic for many Australians. They taste like a chocolate Kit Kat bar. Solo was a deliciously lemony and tart beverage.
They had many cheeses to sample and I loved that the names told you exactly what to expect. This one here was my favorite. It was what would be labelled as an aged cheddar in the United States. It was so tasty. It would have paired well with some wine, but sadly this lounge was "dry" until 3PM. Maybe next time.
I also found it amusing that the flight status monitors here in Melbourne were very clear on what you action needed to be as a passenger. Both the flights in green needed to get to their gate. Gold Coast passengers better get there now!! We were headed to Launceston so were able to relax - for now!!
The flight to Launceston from Melbourne was a quick one - up and down - identical to flying from Tampa to Miami. The flight attendants had the carts ready for beverage service about 5 minutes into the flight and just as quickly came and got your trash to get ready for landing. Very easy and comfortable flight!! Kudos to Virgin Australia!!
Since this was a domestic flight there was no customs or immigration to deal with. We had flown within Australia even though Tasmania is a separate island. Much like Hawaii and San Juan are islands but part of the United States. Our bags were soon off the carousel and we had checked in for our rental car.
One big difference you may know of is that Australians drive on the left side (or they might say the right side meaning the correct one!!). This was something I had only done one other time in my life when I was in Barbados many years ago. I was able to navigate the roads pretty easily with the much appreciated assistance of my wife and the GPS we had purchased as part of the rental. When I was doing a turn into a parking lot from the left lane, my instinct was to look right for cars - but of course they would be coming from my left hand side during the turn. The first two times felt a bit strange but then it was second nature. I am thinking that getting back to driving in the United States will have a small adjustment.
Our four night stay in Launceston was not going to be in a traditional hotel. We had booked a one bedroom apartment. It was centrally located near the downtown. We had a five minute walk to George Street which I called Restaurant Row since it had nearly any type of food you could imagine on it or a block away. Indian, Chinese, Pub Grub, Noodles. Bistro, Italian, We had snacked at the airport lounge around noon, so that was essentially "lunch". Once we got to the apartment and got settled, it was mid afternoon. We needed to get a small number of supplies for our stay, mainly stuff for breakfast. We found where the local supermarket was and it was only about a ten minute drive.
One of the most important things I need to figure out during any hotel stay is where the morning coffee will come from. I have found that most hotels (even value ones) will have a small coffee pot in the room with enough to make a couple of cups of coffee. Some will have more elaborate Keurig style machines. I've even stayed at hotels where the coffee was included and you just needed to tell them when to deliver the pot to your room. None of those options were available at this apartment. In our thorough search of the pantry, all we found was a tea kettle. So I knew what we need to do. It was time to bring out the playbook from when I first visited China about ten years ago. I knew hotel rooms in China would have tea kettle since we had done some research. I also knew that coffee wasn't going to be available. So what did I do? I brought coffee bags which are the equivalent of tea bags, just with ground coffee. I recall it was Folger's brand I had found for that trip. So I knew we had to find those in the supermarket here. Cruising down the aisles, we finally came upon these.
They made a very good cup of coffee. I highly recommend for camping trips or places where you know you know you can get hot water. We also bought a dozen eggs, a big jug of purified water for our water bottles, granola bars and a large version of the Strong and Bitey cheese since had been so good in the lounge.
One thing we wanted to get was some beer and wine but sadly supermarkets in Australia are not allowed to see alcohol. Those items would have to wait.
We were hungry but not ready for a full dinner. We had some a little research and found a beer bar called Saint John Craft Beer. If you check my blog from St John New Brunswick, I had visited the Saint John Ale House there - so it seemed like it was a calling!! Saint John Craft Beer also had a menu of small bites so it seemed a perfect fit for a lite "first dinner".
I went with the fried chicken which came with a choice of sauces. I went with basil mayo. I paired this with Central State Lazer Raptor which is a Gose style beer. Gose is a style from Germany that got popular here in the United States within the last five years ot so. It is brewed with salt so will usually have a nice tart flavor. This one was a great example, having some delicious limey notes.
The chicken was well fried but the coating needed some seasoning. The well balanced, creamy basil mayo helped with that.
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| Veggie Burger from Saint John Craft Beer |
First dinner was enough for us so we decided to see about getting some beer and wine. We found the nearest bottle shop which was conveniently about a five minute walk from Saint John Craft Beeer across this great city park.
I was prepared for the prices to be high since food and beverages costs in Australia are generally higher - even after you factor in the US dollar exchange rate. I wasn't prepared for what I found. A six pack of a regular domestic lager was $17 AUS which is about $12 US. A 750 bottle of local gin was $75 AUS or about $52 US. It was going to be a "no" for those two items. We did find the wine prices closer to what you would pay in the US. We got four bottles of rose for an average price of $16 AUS which is about $11 US. That and some Strong and Bitey would be our dinner tonight.
Thursday was going to be a day of some rest in the morning with a bit of adventure in the afternoon. After doing a little laundry and working on this blog you faithfully read (!!), it was time for that adventure. Cataract Gorge is named one of the most popular attractions in Launceston - and not just for tourists. It includes a suspension bridge, inner basin, chairlifts, a swimming pool, restaurant and lots of picnic spaces. And it also has lots of peacocks!!
The Gorge has several trails you can take depending on how strenuous you want it to be. My wife and I did one loop around the basic trail which was just about a mile. There are some places with many uneven steps so it will be challenging for some. There are multiple parking lots and one has a funicular which makes it easy to get to the bottom level. We parked at a lot where there were many stairs.
After about 90 minutes at the Gorge it was time for some lunch. We picked a place called Penny Royal which was a collection of restaurants, bars and adventure!! It includes a wine bar, a restaurant, pizza place, zip lining, bungee jumping and a dark ride in a boat!! My wife immediately said this reminded her of Gatlinburg Tennessee and it is a perfect description. If you haven't been there, there is a whole strip of roads where anything and everything imaginable exists from food, roller coasters, alpine slides, bungee jumping, zip lining and haunted rides. Here in Launceston they had one stop shopping for this!!
I was just here for some lunch and the wine bar and restaurant didn't disappoint.
My entree (what we would call an appetizer in the United States) was pork and chorizo croquettes. These were lightly fried with a dusting of panko. Inside was an explosion of bit sized pieces of pork and a creamy, chipotle sauce. It was served with a spicer version of that same chipotle sauce. I good start to the meal.
It was served in a slight sweet teriyaki-style sauce with bok choy. A well cooked piece of fish. We decided to head back to the apartment and would spend the afternoon with a walking tour of downtown Launceston, We started at the clock tower which is one of the famous landmarks here.
Nearby was Boag's Brewery where I wanted to stop to taste their beers.
A sampling of all four was $18 AUS. I had tried the James Boag Draught on my 2012 visit so I knew what that tasted like, but wanted to see if my taste had changed. The bartender said that this beer was the onlt one exported to mainland Australia - the others were unique to Tasmania. It was the same malty, skunky beer I had had before. Similar for the Boag's St George which seemed like a James Boag Draught Lite!! My favorite was the Wizard Smiths which had a decent hoppy bite. The XXX Ale was also good and something I would order again if nothing else looked good.
We did find out there is a a bit of a beer war between Northern and Southern Tasmania. Launceston is the home to Boag's beer. Hobart (which we will visit later on this trip), is the home to Cascade Brewing. Pubs in Launceston will not sell Cascade and the same is true for Hoag's in Hobart. If you ask for a Cascade in Launceston, the bartender will supposedly point you towards the highway and tell you to drive 200 km down Highway 1!!
Our next stop was at Alchemy which had some great local gins and a fabulous ginger beer on tap.
As mentioned earlier, Launceston has a huge mix of different restaurants. There is really not a place that serves "Tasmanian Food" - I don't think there is anything that is truly Tasmanian. Maybe oysters (which you will hear about in the next blog). But beyond that, Tasmania seems to have foods based on the mix of people that live here. No unlike places in the United States. I think many people expect there to be vegemite sandwiches available on every street corner but that is simply not the case. Probably a tired cliche from that old Men At Work song that I bet most Australians would like us to forget. With the mix of foods in mind, I found a highly rated Chinese restaurant that sounded like it would be good for tonight. We had an early excursion to Bay of Fires on Friday so wanted something quick.
The highlight of the meal was this vegetarian hot pot. Succulent mushrooms tofu and bok choy in a savory broth. All served in a hot clay pot. The tofu still had a bit of a chew and was very well seasoned.
I got the sweet and sour pork which was very good. The sauce was similar to what was served with the spring rolls. It was not "gloopy" or "gunky" and really complimented the small nuggets of fired pork. They were still crispy and went well with the great balance of sweet and sour flavor. I would have liked more vegetables such as broccoli or fresh bean sprouts for more crunch. The carrots were a nice add once you mixed them together.
We headed back to the apartment since we had our early excursion on Friday to Bay of Fires.
The Gorge has several trails you can take depending on how strenuous you want it to be. My wife and I did one loop around the basic trail which was just about a mile. There are some places with many uneven steps so it will be challenging for some. There are multiple parking lots and one has a funicular which makes it easy to get to the bottom level. We parked at a lot where there were many stairs.
After about 90 minutes at the Gorge it was time for some lunch. We picked a place called Penny Royal which was a collection of restaurants, bars and adventure!! It includes a wine bar, a restaurant, pizza place, zip lining, bungee jumping and a dark ride in a boat!! My wife immediately said this reminded her of Gatlinburg Tennessee and it is a perfect description. If you haven't been there, there is a whole strip of roads where anything and everything imaginable exists from food, roller coasters, alpine slides, bungee jumping, zip lining and haunted rides. Here in Launceston they had one stop shopping for this!!
I was just here for some lunch and the wine bar and restaurant didn't disappoint.
My entree (what we would call an appetizer in the United States) was pork and chorizo croquettes. These were lightly fried with a dusting of panko. Inside was an explosion of bit sized pieces of pork and a creamy, chipotle sauce. It was served with a spicer version of that same chipotle sauce. I good start to the meal.
I paired this with Ragged Jack a pale ale from Van Dieman Brewing. This beer was an immediate throwback to my 2012 visit to Australia. It lacked any redeemable flavor at all. No hops. No effervescence. Just a terribly skunky taste. I couldn't have more than about three sips. Not recommended!!
My lunch main (or what would be called an entree in the United States) was this delicious calamari salad. At first I wasn't sure what the flavor profile was going to be. The aioli confused me a little since that is something you usually see with fried calamari rings. The shredded veggies made we think of a vietnamese fresh roll. The calamari by itself has some good seasoning but the breaded seemed thick. How was this all going to come together. Was I supposed to eat the components separately or together? As I dug down deeper into the bowl, other flavors became apparent. More of the lime and fish sauce flavor was waiting for me at the bottom of the bowl. I decided to go "all in" and start mixing and to my surprise, everything worked together perfectly!! The flavor profile of all the ingredients together was similar to a Tom Gai soup which has coconut milk for creaminess. The aioli served that roll here. And the calamari breading which I had thought was too thick, was the perfect way to make sure it stayed crisp once you decided to mix it together. A very well composed dish.
My wife had the crispy white fish - but was able to have them grill it instead. I wasn't sure what kind it was, but it was probably Flathead.
It was served in a slight sweet teriyaki-style sauce with bok choy. A well cooked piece of fish. We decided to head back to the apartment and would spend the afternoon with a walking tour of downtown Launceston, We started at the clock tower which is one of the famous landmarks here.
Nearby was Boag's Brewery where I wanted to stop to taste their beers.
A sampling of all four was $18 AUS. I had tried the James Boag Draught on my 2012 visit so I knew what that tasted like, but wanted to see if my taste had changed. The bartender said that this beer was the onlt one exported to mainland Australia - the others were unique to Tasmania. It was the same malty, skunky beer I had had before. Similar for the Boag's St George which seemed like a James Boag Draught Lite!! My favorite was the Wizard Smiths which had a decent hoppy bite. The XXX Ale was also good and something I would order again if nothing else looked good.
We did find out there is a a bit of a beer war between Northern and Southern Tasmania. Launceston is the home to Boag's beer. Hobart (which we will visit later on this trip), is the home to Cascade Brewing. Pubs in Launceston will not sell Cascade and the same is true for Hoag's in Hobart. If you ask for a Cascade in Launceston, the bartender will supposedly point you towards the highway and tell you to drive 200 km down Highway 1!!
Our next stop was at Alchemy which had some great local gins and a fabulous ginger beer on tap.
I also tried a local beer from Little Rivers Brewing. It was a standard lager, much better than Boag's!!
As mentioned earlier, Launceston has a huge mix of different restaurants. There is really not a place that serves "Tasmanian Food" - I don't think there is anything that is truly Tasmanian. Maybe oysters (which you will hear about in the next blog). But beyond that, Tasmania seems to have foods based on the mix of people that live here. No unlike places in the United States. I think many people expect there to be vegemite sandwiches available on every street corner but that is simply not the case. Probably a tired cliche from that old Men At Work song that I bet most Australians would like us to forget. With the mix of foods in mind, I found a highly rated Chinese restaurant that sounded like it would be good for tonight. We had an early excursion to Bay of Fires on Friday so wanted something quick.
The spring rolls were crisp and seemed freshly made. Surprisingly the dipping sauce was not thick which I liked. It was slightly sweet but had a good amount of vinegar as well.
These were called Dim Sum on the menu but looked nothing like the small steamed bundles I was familiar with in other Chinese restaurants, They were really just a well seasoned Italian meatballs covered in a thin dumpling dough. They were delicious, just not what I was expecting to see. I think if you ate these with a blindfold, you would not guess they were asian but instead came from an Italian restaurant.
The highlight of the meal was this vegetarian hot pot. Succulent mushrooms tofu and bok choy in a savory broth. All served in a hot clay pot. The tofu still had a bit of a chew and was very well seasoned.
I got the sweet and sour pork which was very good. The sauce was similar to what was served with the spring rolls. It was not "gloopy" or "gunky" and really complimented the small nuggets of fired pork. They were still crispy and went well with the great balance of sweet and sour flavor. I would have liked more vegetables such as broccoli or fresh bean sprouts for more crunch. The carrots were a nice add once you mixed them together.
We headed back to the apartment since we had our early excursion on Friday to Bay of Fires.
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