Lingering in Lonnie

 After a rich and full Easter, we find ourselves slowing interiorly and exteriorly in Australia's second oldest city - Launceston, Tasmania, affectionately known as 'Lonnie'. On Saturday we commence the Overland Track walk with the Tasmanian Walking Company. We arrived in Lonnie on Tuesday evening, originally planning to hire a car and head north west to explore. But hire cars are as scarce as hens teeth here so it's lingering locally for us for these few days. 

And actually, it's just right, since we are both exhausted. On our first night here, staying in the Art Hotel on York St, we both slept for 11.5 hours - a record!

We mooched around the centre of the city in the morning and then wound down to the banks of the Tamar River as the sun was setting. A nice place to wile away a couple of hours until dark. Another early night and long sleep ensued.

 In the morning we did a walk up through Cataract Gorge, just minutes from where we are staying. 

Back in the 1890s, colonials tried to domesticate this rugged landscape. Their attempts met with limited success and look a bit tired now but the gorge, carved by the South Esk River is amazing. 

The Tasmanian tiger used to roam through these parts but disease, hunting, dogs, and human encroachment on its habitat all contributed to its extinction by the mid 19th century. The following print is John Gould's lithographic plate from The Mammals of Australia. 

While the Tasmanian tiger declined, James Boags' brewing fortunes continued to rise, and last evening we passed the Boags brewery still located in Launceston.

In the end we settled for a very nice Tassie pinot noir down by the banks of the Tamar River. 

As we sat sipping the weather started cooling as the clouds grew heavier. Apparently, there is a blast of cold air coming in from Antarctica. Temperatures are forecasted to plummet over the next week, with rain, hail and snow predicted. This could make walking very interesting!!

Here's a map of the route and we hope to post photos once we are through. For a more detailed look at what we are doing, check out the following link: https://www.taswalkingco.com.au/overland-track-with-Sarah-Bachelard/

In the meantime, it's off for another set of thermals!!