Tasmania Travels

The husband and I spent a week in Tasmania earlier this year, with discounted tickets that we booked last year on Tiger for less than $100 return from Melbourne. Unlike previous holidays, we were feeling pretty lethargic and didn't quite plan what to do, what to eat or where to go until we were on the flight to Hobart. Except for Cradle Mountain, each day was a take-it-as-it-comes day, but we had a brilliant time. It was one of our best holidays. Here's the summary:

Wine tasting: Tassie is known for Pinot. Not a favourite grape of ours unfortunately, but anything goes when you're on holiday.   

Tasmania is also famous for curried scallop pies. We were expecting minced scallop, until...

We cut a pie open and found entire scallops. They were absolutely delicious. 

We passed by Richmond enroute to Port Arthur and stopped for a stroll through the town. This bridge was built in 1825 and can still carry 45seater coaches today. 

Refueling during lunch

A pretty good snapper with chips at a cafe at Dunalley enroute to Port Arthur. 

Looking out from behind the Penitentiary at Port Arthur

Beautiful waters at Port Arthur - we can say that today! 

View of the main cluster of buildings at Port Arthur

The blow hole near Eaglehawk Neck

The Arch near Eaglehawk Neck

Wineglass Bay at Freycinet National Park from the lookout - it took us about 30 mins to get to the lookout from the car park. 

Wineglass Bay from the shoreline. Too bad it was a cloudy day. 

Coles Bay at Freycinet National Park with the Hazards in the background - which we climbed over to get to Wineglass Bay. All in, the walk to Wineglass Bay and back to the car took us under 2 hours, which included about 30 mins of lingering and taking photos at the lookout point and beach. We were pretty pleased as the prescribed time for the walk was 2 hrs 45 mins. Not that unfit after all! 

View of Great Oyster Bay on the way back to Hobart

The Neck at Bruny Island separating the coastal Adventure Bay from the isthmus on the right

View out from one of the lookouts on South Bruny

Perfect, pristine beaches at Adventure Bay. 

Hay bales drying out in the sun

Every adventurer deserves a reward. We found ours at the Get Shucked Oyster Farm on North Bruny.  

We started with a platter of a dozen Kilpatrick oysters and a glass of Oyster Bay sauv blanc

They were so amazingly sweet and fresh

The husband had one natural oyster to try, which he described as being extremely tasty and sweet. I didn't dare to take the risk, with a car ferry ride coming up without any certainty of a clean loo.

We also tried the Asian style oysters, tempura fried with sweet chilli sauce. Not fantastic but good anyway, since we weren't heading back that way again. 

We headed out the next day to Cradle Mountain via Launceston, and made stops at a few small towns along the highway. Strangely enough, we really enjoyed walking around these really small but charming places. Probably we might have expected too much if we had planned and read up about those towns beforehand. 

The Mill at Oatlands where wheat around the district was ground - this was a reconstruction. Oatlands apparently contains the largest collection of sandstone buildings in Tasmania, and the main road was quite a pretty one. 

One of the churches at Ross, another small town.

The convict-built bridge at Ross. Apparently after the chaps completed the bridge they were released. Not a bad deal. It was amazing construction work, considering there weren't large motor vehicles in those days to gauge a maximum load. It's still used today by cars and trucks and coaches. 

We stopped by the James Boag brewery in Launceston for a taste. Seems like James Boag is probably Tasmania's most famous export. 

We were pretty happy with a tasting board of two ales and a lager for $10. Plus some hops for nibbling on.  

We did a few short walks enroute to Cradle Mountain, including the Alum Cliffs at Mole Creek.

And Devil's Gullet nearby

Dove Lake at Cradle Mountain. Surely the most photographed spot. We started on the Dove Lake walk which was supposed to take 2 hrs, but turned off after 1 hr to head up to Marion's Lookout. Just as well, since the Dove Lake walk was rather boring. 

It was pretty steep and hard going. From steps like these below. 

Soon the views started getting more and more amazing

And the hike got more and more treacherous. I took this picture looking down on where we had climbed from, and we mapped out the route so we wouldn't have to go down the same way. 

View of the Cradle from Marion's Lookout. 

Really beautiful landscape on our way back to the car park

Just before leaving, I decided now was the time to try out whether I was indeed allergic to raw oysters. We stopped by the Barilla Bay oyster farm right next to the airport, and bought a dozen. 

Super fresh, super sweet. The taste of raw oysters for the first time in more than two years was amazing. What was more amazing was that I didn't. DIDN'T. DID NOT. get the runs! 

New Year's Eve Dinner: Roast Prime Rib

I had never attempted to roast a prime rib rack before, and thought I should try it out while we were still in Australia. The rack of 3 ribs cost me about $17+ for an 800+gram piece, which was just incredibly affordable considering Lawry's charges around $60? $80? for one piece. Of course this wasn't USDA, and this was also bought during the NYE lelong session at Queen Victoria Market, where the butchers were all desperate to offload all their stock. But it was pretty damn good quality Aussie beef, marinated with garlic, red wine, mustard, rosemary, oregano and pepper. 

I had some roast potatoes going on the side too, with garlic, pepper, thyme and rosemary. 

Beautifully crisp when done. 

The prime rib was a huge success. I followed an internet recipe that called for roasting at 70 deg C for 4 hours, then blasting at 250 deg C for 30 mins. It worked like a charm. Although when we cut it up, the meat turned out more medium-well than medium. 

Another angle showing how good it looked from the top. 

We had a friend visiting from Sydney, who thankfully, preferred her beef well done. So the two outer ribs went to her, and myself - because it was my fault the beef was overcooked. Sigh.   

However, it was still wonderfully flavourful, juicy and moist. So even though it could have been just slightly more reddish, the overall experience was extremely positive and we thoroughly enjoyed our meal. 

The husband took the rib in the centre, which was just a little short of PERFECT. It was a beautiful medium in the centre, with the sides slightly more cooked. Which means that next time, I just need to blast the roast for 5 mins less. Easy peasy! 

Christmas Eve Dinner: Thai-inspired Roast Chicken

For our first Christmas Eve dinner away from the family, I was determined to cook something extremely delicious and memorable for the husband. Since I had been working with beef quite extensively, and was quite intimidated by the thought of doing a turkey, I decided to roast a chicken instead. 

One of my fondest childhood memories was of this Thai lady selling Gai Yaang outside the Yaohan supermarket at Bukit Timah Plaza. Just thinking of the name of the dish brought back memories of the smoky, sweet meat that was evenly cooked yet moist. Even though all I had was a traditional electric oven, I thought it was doable. So I trawled the internet for a few recipes and decided to combine the gai yaang marinade with lemongrass, lime and shallots. 

I chopped up the stem of the lemongrass very finely. 

And added minced garlic, chopped coriander stems and roots, shallots and white peppercorns to it. 

I threw in some limes, and mixed it up with sugar, fish sauce and lime juice. 

Left the chicken to marinate in the fridge for around 4-5 hours. 

I made a chilli dip on the side, using fish sauce, sugar, shallots, mint leaves, coriander leaves and chilli powder. 

After half an hour of roasting at 190deg C, the chicken was done. It was absolutely perfect. Cooked right through to the inside, yet moist and juicy. I regret not taking a picture of the meat after the chicken was carved; we were ravenous by then. 

The chilli dip went beautifully with the chicken. 

I also prepared a couple of salads, one with spinach leaves and cucumber with mint, Thai basil, coriander leaves and shallots with a vinegar and lime dressing. 

And another salad of raw swiss browns with asiago cheese, topped with lemon infused olive oil, salt and cracked pepper. 

It was one of our most enjoyable home cooked meals in Melbourne :)

North Island NZ Snippets

We spent a week on the North Island last month, and what a beautiful time it was. Quite by chance, we discovered the western beaches close to Auckland and they were absolutely gorgeous. Miles and miles of scenic coastline, just like in the photo below. 

We went to Muriwai to see the gannet colonies. Those little spots on the rocks? All gannets! 

The two birds in the centre doing a little honey-I'm-home-from-work dance, and you can just about make out a tiny egg under the one on the right. All the other gannets still waiting for their partners to come back. 

We drove to the Coromandel Peninsula for a night - this view was taken at the top of a cliff. The sea was unbelievably blue. 

Cathedral Cove, as seen from the water. It's an arch-shaped cave accessible only by foot or by boat. Lots of snapper swimming around in the area too, but it's a protected marine reserve so the fine for poaching is apparently $200,000. 

Our boat took us inside a sea cave. It was surreal.

We stopped by Hahei to do a short walk up the cliffs to the Pa site, which is basically a Maori fortress. 

Rotorua - lots of bubbling mud. Not terribly pretty and rather smelly. 

Huka Falls

Lake Taupo, which is the size of Singapore. 

Mt Ruapehu, Mt Tarawera and I think it was Mt Tongariro - 3 volcanoes visible from the shores of the lake. 

Roses at the Taupo Rose Garden

We also went to the Auckland Botanic Gardens, which was surprisingly really enjoyable. It's located about 10 mins from the airport, and it was such a great place to kill time before checking in for our flight. 

We didn't have very interesting meals in NZ, unfortunately, so the best shots are entirely scenery pics. However, we made it to Matua for some tastings, and managed to get a couple of bottles of cellar door release Sauv Blancs. 

More Melbourne food posts on the way when I find the time to upload them :)