Soliloquy of the Fish: Launceston and Surrounds 19/04/2010

The night before KT and I made plans. I was keen on visiting the lavender farm in Nabowla as it was mentioned in the discovertasmania website. The best time to visit the farm is during the harvesting period of December to January when the fields are at full glory.

We woke up early, excited to the start the day. By 8am, we were out of the hotel. It would take about 40 minutes to get to Nabowla, so we had plenty of time to explore. The map showed that we had to head north-west towards Lilydale, as the GPS could not find the address, and the farm only opens at 9am. It was a leisurely drive, it seemed as if we were the only ones on the road.

Leaving for Bridestowe Lavender Farm.

Truly a road less travelled.

Our first stop was purely coincidental. When I saw the town called Lilydale, I joked to KT perhaps that is where we get the Lilydale free-range chickens from. Then I spotted this shop:

Was attracted by the gourmet fried chicken banner.

Lollydale Shoppe? Gourmet Fried Chicken? Australia's No. 1 Fried Chicken? That banner screamed "Eat me!" outright, and we WERE hungry by then, having only snacked on Cheezels.

We didn't see a medical centre / hospital, but the pharmacy was in plain sight.

The town of Lilydale

Lilydale post office

I wonder if they have sweet and sour pork on the menu.

Small town indeed - birthdays are remembered

Town bulletin board

Probably the hangout place of the entire town.

After a bit of sight-seeing, it was down to the business of taming our stomachs. Alas, the chickens had yet to be fried. There were pies and sausage rolls, but after having our expectations quashed, nothing sounded quite as appetising as fried chicken. Australia's No. 1 fried chicken nonetheless.

Before heading off, we were stopped for a chat by this very friendly elderly gentleman sitting in the cafe, who seemed interested in everything about us, from why we were there, where we came from, did we really study at Yale and Stanford (as per the sweaters we wore). The lady at the counter had to shout across at him to let us be on our way, before he toned down his enthusiasm at seeing two strangers in town. It was through this conversation we found out the history of the lavender farm.

Lebrina Market - not one person in sight on a Monday morning.

We missed the turning to the Lavender farm, made a three-point turn, and I spotted these fat Tassie chooks roaming around!

After missing the turn-off into the farm, we arrived at the farm after 10am. For a lavender estate of that size (according to the website, one of the world's largest lavender farms), it was pretty inconspicuous. As we turned into the parking lot, we realised that there were very few visitors. As soon as we got out of the car, we were greeted with the sight of this:

Lavender bushes

Lavender fields in full bloom between months of December and January.

128 acres of this!

Bees hard at work!

We then went into the store. It felt as if we were in La-la-lavender land - lavender merchandise of all things imaginable - from culinary lavender, lavender skin care, lavender potpourri, to lavender / wheat pack bears! I was not a fan of lavender oil; but once I smelt the French Lavender essential oil, I was converted. French lavender oil has this vanilla-like smell, that's the best I can describe it. Even KT was hooked on the smell, so much so he bought a bottle of the essential oil, and has been dabbing some on this nose before he goes to bed each night!

How I pestered KT to get me one of these wheat pack lavender-scented bears - I named him Bear-bear Adventure.

Ended up buying lavender oil, lavender potpourri, culinary lavender, lavender honey!

After retail therapy, we went into the cafe to try the lavender-scented ice-cream. It turned out to be lavender-coloured as well! While sitting and looking out into the lavender fields, we licked at the creamy, aromatic ice-cream, and wondered out loud how beautiful the fields would look come December.

I even grabbed all the free recipe cards using culinary lavender, thinking perhaps I could make good use of some of them. Taking one last look at the store, I spotted boxes of culinary lavender for sale. That was my last purchase from the shop, before KT dragged me out of the store. Our next destination awaited us.

Lavender-scented ice-cream.

Very yummy.

About one week before the trip, I purchased the Australian Traveller magazine. It featured a restaurant in the Top 100 Greatest Australian Gourmet Experiences. Daniel Alps at Strathlynn, Rosevears. I made a booking for lunch at 1pm on the 19th.

The GPS took us on a shortcut through the wine route to Daniel Alps', also situated in a vineyard. The drive could not have been more pleasant, as we travelled through vineyards and farms on that sunny, slightly cool, day. A leisurely 20 minutes' trip took us to Rosevears. This is where I will leave a gap, as Daniel Alps at Strathlynn deserves a special mention.

On the road towards our lunch appointment.

This is one of my favourite photos of the Launceston landscape.

Lunch destination - Daniel Alps at Strathlynn

The Ninth Island vineyard.

Daniel Alps at Strathlynn

I love the play of light in this photo.

The camera battery lasted long enough for me to take photos of our meal at Daniel Alps before it ran out. Thereafter I relied on the Sony Ericsson 2MP phone camera.

After lunch, we tasted the Ninth Island and sister vineyard Pipers Brooke wines, and KT bought a few bottles. I on the other hand, bought a bottle of Lentara extra-virgin olive oil, which was very fruity (we had house bread plainly served with this lovely olive oil).

The friendly staff then pointed out a few famous vineyards along the Tamar Valley wine route, and specially mentioned Holm Oak vineyard, also famous for its resident vineyard pig. My ears perked up upon hearing I could feed the pig whilst we tasted wine. I then pestered KT to include Holm Oak to the list of vineyards to visit.

KT mentioned that Tasmania is famous for its whites and Pinot Noir. At the next vineyard, Tamar Ridge, KT tasted and bought more wine, whereas I only had eyes for dessert wines. We also found out about the offer to ship 6 or more bottles of wine back to NSW at just the cost of freight, at any vineyard.

At the next vineyard, Goaty Hill, I decided to wait in the car, since I don't have much appreciation for wine. After that, we drove to Holm Oak, our last vineyard of the day.

Pinot the resident pig at Holm Oak Vineyard.

A description of Pinot.

Holm Oak was a different kettle of fish. Pinot the resident pig was a distraction from wine-tasting, one that I gladly indulged in. Pinot was also of the same opinion. I read its description, and I found out, after a few apples, Pinot would sit when I asked it to!

I would have fed it the whole big container of apples if I was left to my devices, but KT kept calling me into the cellar to taste wines, and I reluctantly left Pinot as it grunted its objection. Inside the cellar, I asked the lady whether Pinot was a female or a male. I thought Pinot was a female since I spotted teats on its belly, but the lady hesitated for a moment before saying that Pinot was an "it". Eh???

In disbelieve, I ran back outside, fed Pinot more apples, before glimpsing what I thought could be a slight bulge in the hind area. Eh??? A hermaphrodite of a pig??? After much pondering and feeding, KT came out, and it was time to go. After a few more apples, and showing KT Pinot's sitting trick, we left, driving back to Launceston.

The last stop was at another lavender farm we passed by on our way back to Launceston, where I bought a bar of soap (KT may be a hoarder of wines, I am the hoarder of all things fragrant). This farm was much much smaller than Bridestowe's, and at close to 5pm (closing time for most shops in Tasmania), we were the only visitors. Still, the lady at the counter served us with cheer and a smile.

We reached the hotel at close to 6pm, rested a while before freshening up for an 8pm dinner appointment at Stillwater Restaurant and River Cafe. Stillwater, like Daniel Alps', was such an unforgettable experience that it deserves an entry on its own. Until the next blogging session. :)