Tasmania trip - part 3 - The lovely Swansea and beautiful Freycinet~

Day 4 - We headed to Sullivan's Cove for breakfast, our original plan is to have breakfast at Jam Packed Cafe situated at the IXL atrium at Henry Jones Art Hotel, but we were very early, and they only start serving breakfast by 8am, so we went to Timeless Way instead. In Hobart, most decent cafe would serve pretty good breakfast, so we decided to change our plan.

The service was pretty good, we decided to share the breakfast and they offer to separate it into two portions for us. The breakfast has nothing to shout about, well it is definitely better than most of the western breakfasts I can get in Malaysia, but in Australian standard this is just average. Good enough to kick start my day :)

IXL building

After breakfast, we headed down to Franklin Square, to where the big chess board is. Do drop by the park to play chess here, from 8.30am -3.30pm only on weekdays. :) 

the big chess board at Franklin Square

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We left for Swansea soon after, stopping by at Richmond on the way. It took about 30mins from Hobart-Richmond.

In Richmond, we stopped by a popular tourist attraction, which is the Old Hobart Town, a place where you can step back in time and learn the history of Hobart town.

the models at Old Hobart Town

all the buildings are made in detail

There is a nice wood craft shop next door, a place where you'll find a lot of handmade items, good place to shop for souvenirs if you didn't get any from the Salamanca market.

Another attraction in Richmond is the Richmond bridge itself. The stone arch bridge is one of Australia's oldest stone bridge, built by the convict labour during the old time.

the stone arch bridge

The journey from Richmond to Swansea took about 1.5 hours, with beautiful scenery, slightly windy country roads, lots of green fields and flocks of sheep. I was so tempted to stop by to snap some photos, managed to make a few stops on our way, and i love the sheep!, so cute!

the sheep who look at my camera :)

Upon reaching Swansea, we checked in to the Meredith & Mews, a lovely place! We booked into one of the studio rooms adjoining the main house, it is like a small house with a porch in front, and a balcony where you can walk out to the house garden. Suitable for those who are driving around as you can just park your car right in front at the porch. And there's hot muffins, fresh out of oven for you when you check in. :)

We then grabbed lunch at Horny Cray, takeaway lunch to eat on our way to Freycinet National Park. Oh ya, the salmon sandwhich/burger is really good.

The Horny Cray - great place to takeaway your lunch/picnic 

Share a Coke with ME!~ 

It took about 1 hour from Swansea to Freycinet Park. If you happen to be driving, take extra care and be cautious as there are many small animals which do not have road sense. I see so many dead ones along the way :( so be really careful especially if you're driving there early morning / at dusk. 

Freycinet National Park in Coles Bay is one of Tasmania's oldest park, located on the sunny east coast of Tasmania. You will need to get a park entry pass, depending whether you are driving or you want to get a per person pass. We got a pass for vehicle (up to 8 people) for $24. 

There are various walks in the park, depending on the time you have, you can opt for longer walks. We took the Wineglass bay lookout (1-2 hours return). Wineglass Bay is a crescent moon shaped beach, listed as one of the most beautiful in the world and known as a remote beach due to the fact that there is only two way there : by foot (and the walk is definitely not an easy one) and by tour boats.

There are quite a number of rough steps on this route and pretty steep at certain points, but it is a well constructed track. The views of the beautiful white sandy beach and crystal blue water is definitely worth the walk. 

the magnificent view

Next, we went for the Cape Tourville walk. Thank God, the weather was perfect that day, and since it's end of spring, we have longer daylight thus longer time to explore the beautiful places of Tasmania.

It is a short 20 minutes walk and you get to see the stupendous coastal views of Freycinet. This track is wide and has even surfaces. 

Since we still have some time, we went for the Sleepy Bay walk and to the Little Gravelly Beach at Sleepy Bay. Both walks took us about 40 minutes-1hour (return). From here, you can see the rocky shore line of Sleepy Bay, and if you follow the track on the right you will come to the cove. This track is rather tricky as it passes through some high cliff tops. There are uneven steps leading to the beach. The view is definitely rewarding.

There are few other more challenging walks which are equally rewarding but due to time constraint we were not able to go for those. I really want to try out the Wineglass Bay walk which takes about 3-4 hours, and you get to enjoy the beach.

Dinner that night at Bark Mill Tavern. This place is also a museum, but we did not get to visit, coz it was closed by the time we reached. However, it is a good place to have your meal and to have a feel of the region. Indulging in a good meal after a long day walk with great company is just enjoyable.

our table :)

fresh oysters

risotto

specialty wood-fired pizza

Day 5 - The next morning, I woke up to such beautiful scenery and the best of all home-cooked breakfast. I checked out tripadvisor before my road trip and found that House of Meredith offers one of the best breakfast in town. And indeed, it was such a sumptuous breakfast, I wish to come back for more!~ A very good choice for a short stay at Swansea.

our car parked outside the studio room

home-baked muffins, croissants and assorted pastry

buffet breakfast

home-made jam

the super soft and fluffy croissant, one of the best I've tried so far

the made-to-order breakfast

juices and cereal

the garden behind our studio room

beautiful flowers

Bear Cottage craft - the place I bought my little cute hoggie(hedgehog)

After breakfast and packed some fresh muffins for morning tea later, we left for Kate's Berry farm.It is open at 9.30am, 7 days a week. Just Dessert Cafe in the farm is famous dessert house and a must visit in Swansea. Although there were no rows of berries' trees, due to the prolong drought, this place is still pleasant to visit. You can buy so many hand-made products made out of Tasmania's fresh fruits, and get to try the mouth watering desserts. I bought homemade jam and chocolate-coated berries :) yum!~ And the humbleberry pie is just delicious. 

cafe overlooking the farm

humbleberry pie with vanilla ice cream 

(humbleberry is a combination of boysenberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and blueberries)

hoggie!~

Swansea town has so much to offer, yet I only manage to squeeze in 1 day for Swansea and Freycinet. I have yet to visit the Friendly beaches which I heard from the locals, is a beautiful place. So much more Tasmanian delights in Swansea, more lovely desserts and yummy food and many other craft stores. 

Hope to drop by in future :)

Upcoming next: Visit to Tasmazia and the Village of Lower Crackpot

Tasmania Trip Part 1 >>

Tasmania Trip Part 2 >>

To get more information on the places I've mentioned above, please visit their respective websites.

Freycinet National Park:

http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=3371 

Meredith House & Mews:

http://meredith-house.com.au/accommodation.htm 

Bark Mill Tavern:

http://www.barkmilltavern.com.au/ 

Kates Berry Farm:

http://www.katesberryfarm.com/