Our last day in Tasmania. It has been extremely relaxing touring this little island. Being a little over three weeks since we left home, Caroline and I feel like we have been away a lot longer than we have – a great sign of a restful holiday.

Our final day in Tassie would involve more sightseeing, in-particular visiting a few vineyards and seeing some more of the wildlife. Before leaving our beautiful ‘farm’ caravan park, the girls were allowed to get a little glammed up for the impending departure this evening. Ava and Audrey received rainbow coloured stick on nails from Santa as part of their stocking presents and wanted to wear them all day. Cleverly Caroline restricted the stick on nails to only one hand on each of the girls – so they could still perform some of their usual functions without parental assistance! Having once worn stick on nails, another story all together, I can appreciate how difficult it is to perform basic tasks with the clicking and clacking of talons! Nether the less the nails provided entertainment for the girls, keeping them occupied for a significant component of the day.

Leaving at a leisurely pace this morning, cellar doors didn’t open till 11am, we arrived at our first cellar door called Holm Oak. Beautiful grounds and friendly staff. The wine specialist was extremely well versed and passionate about her craft. Hiring the right people is imperative, yet so many businesses make the mistake of employing a person, rather than investing a personality. Holm Oak was also an extremely clever cellar door, having many options for occupying the young travellers. Ava and Audrey had an opportunity to feed the pigs apples, one LARGE pig was named Pinot, pick berries or pat the ‘wine dog’.

Caroline and I were entertained by the wine specialist, whom helped us work through their hand picked wines. In summary, delicious! First case of wine purchased for the day. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc… The 2017 Chardonnay had hints of white fruits and light oak integration, while the 2017 Wizard Chardonnay came from 5 oak barrels with different grains. It was creme brûlée and roasted walnuts. A totally different and enjoyable expression of chardonnay. We also worked our way through the Pinot Noir, particularly liking the 2017 Estate and the Wizard Pinot Noir along with the 2018 Cabernet Franc a small production wine grown from three rows and tasted like tomatoes and boiled lollies. Believe it or not it worked extremely well.

Next stop, Goaty Hill Wines. Pristine row upon row of machine cut vines, looked more like topiary than for wine production. A small cellar door and friendly wine specialist, whom lent me a spare pair of glasses so I could read the fine print of the wine list. Specialising in Riesling and a few Pinot Noir, the wines were lovely, not lovely enough to have purchased.

To keep the girls entertained, next stop was for food followed by a viewing of platypus and echidnas. We ate at a small cafe in Beaconsfield – hard to believe it has been 12 years since the Gold mine collapsed, initially trapping 17 men. Fourteen of those managed to get out, one man died, while the remaining two were trapped underground for 14 days. Such a small community, hard to fathom it feels like it was a recent event.

After extremely large country sized portions, we headed to Platypus House, Beauty Point. I have to admit I was initially a little suspicious of what we were about to observe. Pleasantly surprised! We watched a short video about platypus breeding and saw the development of new chicks as an endoscope camera was inserted into the burrow. After the video we were taken on a tour by a lady with good voice projection skills. She discussed that the platypus and echidna were mammals, typified by laying eggs rather than bearing live young. Male platypus are different to their female companions, having a poisonous spur on their rear feet. While the venom itself is not lethal to humans, it is extremely painful. In total we saw one male and three female platypus before transitioning to the echidna enclosure, where the three echidna roamed among our feet as our guide told us more about these unusual animals. The main facts that I took onboard about the echidnas were; they have an 18 cm tongue, they travel 10-15kms per day and eat a volume of food per day equivalent to their body weight. We were extremely impressed with Platypus House – a hands on educational experience.

Next stop.. Another vineyard called Wines for Joanie. A beautiful rustic, farm styled cellar door we parked the van and walked into the tasting room, greeted by the grape grower – husband to the wine maker. When asking about the significance of the vineyards name, we found out that Joanie was his late mothers name, whom used to take her family on trips to many cellar doors when he was young. Caroline shot me a look that I immediately understood. Our girls journey is similar to that of this grape grower – maybe one day our girls will have their own vineyard or be involved in wine? Who knows!

The wines at Wines for Joanie were exceptional, showcasing museum stock alongside of their newer wines. The reason for this was to highlight how the wines would age and change with time. Another exceptional cellar door and wines – yes another case purchased.

Planning our day perfectly, as expected, next stop was dinner in Devonport at Central Restaurant. Ava and Audrey started writing their Christmas thank you cards while I started the blog. We ate another large meal and watched the Spirit of Tasmania come to port – right on time. We leisurely finished our meals and headed to wait in line to board our ferry. Audrey dressed as a unicorn, Ava as a cow! I am looking forward to a good sleep on the ferry and easy arrival back to the mainland.

The final map of our tour of Tassie…