Day 9 (23 Dec 2017) : Cradle Mountain – Sheffield – Launceston
Breakfast this morning at Highland restaurant was included in our room rates. They serve standard hotel buffet. It was a welcomed change after so many days of simple self prepared breakfast. A break for me!
After breakfast, we checked out of our cabin and headed back to Sheffield to do what we had originally planned to do yesterday. It was raining at Cradle Mountain and we were glad we were leaving and had done our walks the day before when rain was relatively lighter and had occasional breaks.
Tasmazia & The Village of Lower Crackpot
First stop this morning was Tasmazia & The Village of Lower Crackpot, a small theme park with 8 mazes, a miniature village and an Embassy Garden. Adult pass was A$27.50, child Pass was A$13.75 and Family Pass was A$77.
The 8 mazes all had different themes. The Great Maze – at the time of planting the world’s largest! The 8 mazes includes the Great Maze, Cage Maze, Balance Maze, Hexagonal Maze, Irish Maze, Hampton Court Maze, Yellow Brick Maze, Confusion Maze. Some complicated, some easy, but all were fun! I was expecting a kiddy maze, but really it wasn’t. Well worth the entrance fee!
The Village of Lower Crackpot was a whimsical model village built to 1/5th scale. It was fun and cute with lots of humor too. You just need to spend time reading all the signs!
The Embassy Gardens was apparently a recent addition, containing sixty buildings dedicated to over 40 countries.
The most funny must be the representation of USA (Statue of Liberty) and Mexico (cactus). And in between these, they actually have a wall with Trump’s face on it – yes, Trump’s Wall! Hahaha!
If you are visiting Cradle Mountain, do drop by Tasmazia for some laughs and to get lost! It is not only for little kids. Really lots of fun! Highly recommended!
Lunch @ Blacksmith Gallery Cafe, Sheffield
I had made reservations for lunch at Blacksmith Gallery Cafe in Sheffield. Because there were 10 of us, I figured that it was better to call ahead to reserve a table. Furthermore based on reviews I read in the internet, this cafe is very popular. So after leaving Tasmazia, we headed back to Sheffield Town.
This cafe combines traditional style country food in a heritage building that was once the town’s blacksmith and this is reflected in the mural outside the cafe. The interior of the cafe is decorated with a wonderful selection of local art and craft. The whole atmosphere was very cozy. It’s a great place to sit around and relax with friends over a cup of coffee.
This cafe serves simple fare including homemade pies and cakes. As we were there on 23 Dec and they were going to be closed for a few days over Christmas, the choice was a little limited.
Among our family of 5, we had 2 blacksmith burger (A$10.50), 2 chicken and veg soup (served with bread) (A$9.50), 1 sausage roll (A$4) and 1 chicken, cheese and sweet chili pie (A$5.50). For drinks, we had 2 ice coffee, 1 long black, 1 coke and 1 bundaberg guava juice. Total bill came up to A$73.
There is an IGA next to the cafe, and we took the opportunity to shop there for supplies for our dinner that night and on Christmas Day before we left Sheffield.
Sheffield – The Town of Murals
After lunch at Blacksmith, we took a stroll around town to explore the murals scattered all over the town. Sheffield is renowned as a heritage country town with old-world ambiance. It was one of the early townships in Tasmania. Over the years and left behind by development around it, the population of the town declined. Inspired by the story of Chemainus, a small Canadian town that had through mural art, rescued itself from ruin, the Kentish Association for Tourism (KAT) worked on the vision to combine the arts and tourism to revive and reinvent the town of Sheffield.
Today, Sheffield has become a major tourist attraction due to it being promoted as a “Town of Murals”
The first town mural was painted in Sheffield in December 1986. Since then over 60 murals depicting the area’s rich history and beautiful natural scenery have been painted on walls throughout the town and buildings along the roadside. The murals attract an estimated 200,000 people to the town annually.
One of my favourite murals is the one of the old gas station. It look great with the old world vehicle of yesteryear parked next to it.
Murphett’s Cottage, Red Feather Inn
We left Sheffield Town and headed to Hadspen, just outside Launceston, where we will be spending the next 2 nights. We had book Murphett’s Cottage, a stand-alone Cottage of Red Feather Inn which can accommodate all 10 of us, 8 adults and 2 kids. The check in time here was very strict, only between 4-5pm. We paid A$550 per night for the cottage for 10pax.
DSis arrived first and there was a lady who directed their car to the Cottage. She was then handed with 3 sets of keys and then the lady left. The lady did not even bother to show her around or explain anything. When she was checking out the Cottage, we arrived as well. When we counted the beds, we realized that there were only 3 double and 2 singles. The sofa bed was not made up. We figured that we can do it on our own, but we couldn’t find the beddings. So we walked over to the Red Feather Inn, but the lady had locked up and left! There was a phone number to call in the literature that we found in the Cottage but no one answered the phone. I left a message and no one replied in the 2 days that we stayed there. In the end, we made do as there were additional pillows on my bed and we found some duvet in the cupboard. But we couldn’t find any sheets. My 2 boys used that sofa bed, and they just made do. The service here was really disappointing. In fact, no service at all.
But we must admit that the Cottage was beautiful and very cozy and comfortable. The beds were comfortable too. There were 2 bathrooms. Based on the layout plan on the Red Feather Inn website, there was a laundry room. However, we found the room, but there was no washing machine in it. So not sure what they meant by laundry room. Anyway, there was a coin laundromat nearby and DH and DS2 brought our laundry there together with their iPad and iPhone to entertain themselves while they waited. while we ladies were preparing dinner.
The kitchen was well equipped and they had all that we needed to prepare our meals. Oven, microwave, stove and dishwasher. The pots and pans were generally clean and in good condition. That night, we had a dinner of steak, salad and potatoes. I made the steak and DSis did the potato and salad. DMum helped us. Ddad commented that it was the first time that he has seen DMum, DSis and I prepare a meal together!
One big negative here was that while they say they provide WiFi, all of us hardly can get any reliable signal. I think we needed to stand at the gate to get some decent signal which was ridiculous. So don’t depend on it.
Despite the unhappiness of not having sheets and pillows for the sofa bed which was not made up and non-existence WiFi, our stay at Murphett’s Cottage was overall comfortable. It was a very pretty cottage with space for everyone. Although there were 10 of us, we did not get into one another’s way.
When we left on Christmas Day 2 days later, we just dropped the keys in a box outside the Red Feather Inn before the 11am check out time. Yes it was all self service! We never saw anyone except the lady who opened the door for DSis when we arrived. They had already debited my credit card for full payment before we arrived.
Next up: Day 10 – Launceston