Days Seven and Eight - Launceston

For our time in Launceston we actually had some lovely weather - what a pleasure! Having self-contained accommodation again, our main aim for shopping was to purchase plenty of good gourmet food. This is not difficult in Launceston with providores, delis, markets, pastryshops and other specialty food stores galore. We ended up visiting a number of different places: 'delicacy' in Canning Street was especially good, particularly for cheeses and smallgoods. We made a special trip to an award-winning pastry shop and cafe, Tant pour Tant, to buy bread. The bread was very good, and the entire time it took to select our loaves, our eyes were out on stalks looking at the amazing pastries, and our nostrils enjoyed the aroma of good coffee. We determined that we would have breakfast there the very next day.

We retired to our accommodation for a luncheon of very fresh bread, Tasmanian ham and other tasty treats, and a bit of a rest before ...

Now my dear Charming Friends, I don't want you to hate me, but the next thing that happened was so amazingly good that I fear to tell you too much would be to torment you. There is a place in Launceston called the Roman Baths. This is a swimming and spa centre, obviously modelled on the ancient Roman style of bathing. We had a special spa package booked which involved ...

Well, a series of hot rooms, both dry and steamy, in which one lounged to gradually bring up one's body temperature and relax the muscles (and the mind), followed by a full swimming pool at a delicious warm bath temperature, followed by a series of hot spas (or jacuzzis, for our US cousins), all decorated prettily in faux-ancient Roman sttyle. Very clean, very elegant. So far so traditional. The hour-long full body massage that followed, along with the half-hour Indian head massage, and the half-hour reflexology foot massage - they were nice too. Not bad. Not ... ah, who am I kidding? The whole experience was bliss-on-a-stick. I'm still utterly relaxed. Darla will probably never forgive me.

Just to gild the lily, we then went on to dinner at one of Launceston's best restaurants. Stillwater was probably one of the nicest restaurant evenings, in fact, that the four of us have enjoyed together. Our waiting-person, Sarah, was a large part of the reason for this, as she was extremely knowledgable, friendly, funny, highly efficient, willing to be consulted, and she even put on a tour operator's hat for us for a short time, helping us to plan our next day of winery-visiting.

On top of Sarah's efforts, the food was superb, and beautifully matched with wines. Even the martini I had was fairly good ... okay, perhaps a little more vermouth than I like ideally, but served beautifully and very drinkable. I have to mention especially the cheese plate I had for dessert. Often cheese plates in Australia are based on the concept of 'more equals more' with enormous wedges of cheese nearly disappearing beneath mountains of fruit, dried fruit, quince paste, piles of biscuits, breads, nuts ...

This plate was austere by comparison. Three modest serves (thank heavens) of excellent cheese, a few dried muscatel grapes, a few pieces of toasted breads, a pat of quince paste. The cheeses were served at the perfecct temperature - and Stillwater's attention to detail was revealed in the fact that they were not all the same temperature. They were each at the temperature to suit the individual cheese.

A serious bravo to Stillwater and our thanks to Sarah. Wow.

The culinary adventure continued the next morning at Tant pour Tant for breakfast. We arrived early, and just as well, since a steady stream of Launceston locals passed through the place the entire time we were there, hoovering up the limited but magnificent range of breads and pastries.

The breakfasts were superlative. I had a simple scrambled eggs, slow-roasted tomatoes and bacon with panini, and this fairly straightforward meal was completely satisfying - the eggs were sensational. I couldn't help myself: I tried a forkful of truffled polenta from K's plate (also including soft poached eggs) and swooned. Even the coffee was amazing. We are seriously considering going again tomorrow.

And once again, the staff made the experience even better. Rachael looked after us this time, and she could not do enough for us. She was full of advice about where we could go to find the wines and cheeses we were after, she was friendly and knowledgeably and attentive. She was happy to share with us the low-down on what was good in the patisserie that day (and yes Rachel, we ADORED the cherry and sour cream danishes, oh my goodness). Pastrychef Paul even popped out to say g'day and talk cheese with us. We left with a big gooey incredible raspberry and chocolate cake, and even bigger smiles. Thank you - we will return! Please, Charming Friends, drop in whenever you are in the vicinity.

The rest of the day was spent in a pleasant walk through the daffodils at the Cataract Gorge, and a drive through the Tamar winery region where we did a bit of tasting, especially enjoying meeting John at Rotherhythe Vineyard, where we took his kind offer of free freight and ordered a case of delicious matured merlot, pinot noir and cabernet sauvignon to share when we return to Canberra. John - and his adorable dog Izzy - once again proved how friendly and helpful the lovely people of Tassie can be.

We completely ran out of energy after that and all we could do was return to our accommodation for a home-cooked meal of terrine, cassoulet, salad, cheese and cake.

Today I was so impressed with the region and people (I have visited before, so this was simply confirming previous impressions) that I seriously wondered about living here for a while some time. That has to be sign of a good holiday, yes? So Darla, ever considered Tassie?

Oooh, I must go. We are about to sample the Tant pour Tant raspberry and chocolate cake ...