Australia: Tasmania's Tamar Valley

The River Tamar flows north from Launceston to the Bass Strait, which
separates Tasmania from mainland Australia.

 

Wine is not what one thinks of first in regard to Tasmania. There are the devils, and history-minded people may recall Britain's infamously brutal treatment of British prisoners at Port Arthur during the early days of British settlement. Of course, Australia is a major international producer of wine, but the big brands are all based on the mainland. We had read, however, that Tasmania is producing very good wines, including good sparkling wines, but in very small quantities. That, and the idea that Tasmania is a bit more exotic, prompted us to visit there and skip the better-known mainland destinations.

We stayed three nights at Peppers Silo Hotel in Launceston, which is a bit of a disappointment as a wine destination. There are no tasting rooms (here they're called "cellar doors") in town and little indication that there are more than a dozen wineries just outside town.  Not that it isn't a cool town in itself -- it has a huge world-class playground in a park adjacent to the Silo Hotel, and it has beautiful hiking trails along a river gorge that lead to a big park complete with a chairlift over the river. Not to mention a bunch of marina restaurants. And black swans that glide among the boats at the marina. But wine was our reason for being in Tasmania. And the Tamar Valley seems to be the best place for wine here.

We toured the western bank of the Tamar with Valleybrook Wine on Wheels and visited four cellar doors, including Velo Wines, where we tasted a very good Champagne-like chardonnay-pinot meunier blend. During the tour we enjoyed a variety of international grapes: pinot noir and pinot noir roses, cabernet sauvignon, riesling and pinot gris.  We dumped very few wines into slop jars jars.  Most lived up to what we had hoped to taste here. 

One bit of advice about visiting Launceston: have in-app GPS running on your phone or in your car. We relied on screen-saved Google maps for directions, which would have been fine if Launceston had street signs at every intersection. But it doesn't, and we circled the downtown area for about an hour trying to find our way out of town, 

I have a couple of recommendations for dining in Launceston: Do eat at Grain, the restaurant at Peppers Silo hotel.  Do not eat at Mudbar, the restaurant at the nearby Peppers Seaport hotel. Rupert and Hound and other places along the waterfront are much better.  Our disappointment with Mudbar was more with the service than the food, which was acceptable but no more than that.  I should say, however, that throughout this trip, including several weeks in New Zealand, we encountered over and over again inexperienced servers (and even cooks) at restaurants at every price point.  We ate at places with "chef wanted" signs out front. It's as if all the experienced servers and kitchen staff disappeared during the covid lockdown. We and others we spoke with kept wondering "Where did everyone go?"

Here are some photos from the Tamar Valley:

Launceston's Riverbend Park, where the North Esk River meets the River Tamar, 
has one of the largest and most amazing playgrounds I've ever seen. 

The park is adjacent to Peppers Silo hotel, where 
we stayed. Yes, giant grain silos were converted
into hotel rooms.  We had a fifth-floor room that
had curved walls. The silo conversion may seem 
gimmicky, but it's actually a first-rate hotel.

A footbridge over the North Esk River connects the
playground with the town's harbor and a string
of restaurants at a marina.

We had a lunch and a dinner at Level Food Co., far left, enjoying its
outdoor seating overlooking a muddy harbor. A big issue in Launceston
is the constant battle with the silting of its harbor, which is on
the River Tamar, a tidal estuary. 

A hostess does the pouring at Velo Wines, one of four cellar doors we visited with
Valleybrook Wines on Wheels.  It's a delightful way to spend. a day: good wines,
conversation with other wine aficionados from around the worlld, and 
someone else doing the driving.

Our wine tour, Valleybrook, arranged for substantial
snacks during one of our tastings.  Each tasting was
at least five wines, sometimes several more.

No, we did not cross this bridge. It's at Penny Royal Adventures, a rather unusual
amusement park where the South Esk River meets the River Tamar.

The South Esk River upstream from Penny Royal.  On one side are the steep switchbacks
of the Zigzag Track and on the other is the slightly less challenging Cataract Gorge
Walk.  They end at chairlift stations that offer rides over the river,

Teenage boys jump into the river from high rocks -- and, of course, make videos.

This chair is headed to the Cataracts Gorge Walk side
of the river. In the distance you can see a corner of a
large and well-used park. The park features a huge
swimming pool, half marked in lanes and half shallow 
enough for toddlers.

Looking downstream as the South Esk flows toward the Tamar, as seen
from the Cataracts Gorge Walk.

One of several black swans at
the marina in Launceston.