We survived the night in the winds and rain. It did eventually stop around 3: rugged up and headed into Hobart to have a tour of the Cascades brewery. We got to within 3 kilometres of the Tasman bridge and we were stuck in traffic. It seemed that there was an accide30am. Extremely cold when I woke up in the morning 3 degrees with a wind chill factor of 15. Went and all lanes were blocked. There is no alternative bridge close by so we hung in there. As we got closer to the bridge we were able to get some great photos of the snow on Mt Wellington. There was snow down as far as 700m. (about half-way to the top).
Finally got into Hobart and out to Cascades by 10:30am. We got out of the van and nearly froze. The wind and cold was coming down the mountain. We had to wait for about 10 mins in the cold before they opened up the visitor centre. Luckily we were able to grab a cup of coffee before the tour. The tour was really good, very informative but unfortunately it was a rostered day off for most of the workers so the brewery was not in operation but our guide did a great job explaining the brewing works, the malting, fermenting, maturation and bottleing areas. As we went around he asked lots of questions and if you got them correct you got bottle-cap. When we got back to the tasting area we realized that these were tokens to allow us to try more beers. Alex and I got an extra 3 tokens between us, so with the original six we were able to try 9 beers/ciders. After 31/2 glasses each we gave the rest away as we still had to drive. They were not just small tasting glasses they were 6oz glasses.
We then drove off to find a warm spot to park the van and have some lunch. We were originally going to do a double-decker bus tour around Hobart but instead we went back to Richmond to see the Model village of Hobart in the early days. It was quite good. We then headed up to Ross for the night. We have decided that because we had to stuff around a couple of days waiting for documents to arrive for signing for our investment property that we would not have enough time to do the East coast so we will come back in a couple of years time and do the East coast. Alex likes to see everything so we really spent a little too much time on the west and the south coast.
I was a little disappointed but that is the way it goes. So we head into Launceston tomorrow night. Drop the van off on Wednesday morning. Then we hope to drive past Sheffield because we missed an attraction that Alex wanted to see. We should be able to see that on our way to Devonport. We hop on the ferry to Melbourne Wednesday night. Luckily we have booked a cabin so that we can get some sleep as Alex wants to drive straight back to Brisbane and be in Brisbane by Friday lunchtime. So it will be a rush trip back once we get off the ferry.
The weather tonight is really freezing. The locals are predicting it to get to below 2 degrees overnight. Hopefully it will be fine during the day as it makes it a little bearable rather than the rain. Luckily the van has a diesel heater so we are using the heater tonight for brief periods to warm the van up.
Looking forward to some warmer weather in Queensland when we get back.
Finally got into Hobart and out to Cascades by 10:30am. We got out of the van and nearly froze. The wind and cold was coming down the mountain. We had to wait for about 10 mins in the cold before they opened up the visitor centre. Luckily we were able to grab a cup of coffee before the tour. The tour was really good, very informative but unfortunately it was a rostered day off for most of the workers so the brewery was not in operation but our guide did a great job explaining the brewing works, the malting, fermenting, maturation and bottleing areas. As we went around he asked lots of questions and if you got them correct you got bottle-cap. When we got back to the tasting area we realized that these were tokens to allow us to try more beers. Alex and I got an extra 3 tokens between us, so with the original six we were able to try 9 beers/ciders. After 31/2 glasses each we gave the rest away as we still had to drive. They were not just small tasting glasses they were 6oz glasses.
We then drove off to find a warm spot to park the van and have some lunch. We were originally going to do a double-decker bus tour around Hobart but instead we went back to Richmond to see the Model village of Hobart in the early days. It was quite good. We then headed up to Ross for the night. We have decided that because we had to stuff around a couple of days waiting for documents to arrive for signing for our investment property that we would not have enough time to do the East coast so we will come back in a couple of years time and do the East coast. Alex likes to see everything so we really spent a little too much time on the west and the south coast.
I was a little disappointed but that is the way it goes. So we head into Launceston tomorrow night. Drop the van off on Wednesday morning. Then we hope to drive past Sheffield because we missed an attraction that Alex wanted to see. We should be able to see that on our way to Devonport. We hop on the ferry to Melbourne Wednesday night. Luckily we have booked a cabin so that we can get some sleep as Alex wants to drive straight back to Brisbane and be in Brisbane by Friday lunchtime. So it will be a rush trip back once we get off the ferry.
The weather tonight is really freezing. The locals are predicting it to get to below 2 degrees overnight. Hopefully it will be fine during the day as it makes it a little bearable rather than the rain. Luckily the van has a diesel heater so we are using the heater tonight for brief periods to warm the van up.
Looking forward to some warmer weather in Queensland when we get back.
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