Launceston

So it was just Fixit and me, on our own, for 24 hours in a small city. The Cherub was in his Nell's capable and loving hands and the Climber went off on his own adventure with his best friend's family to a holiday farm in Alexandra.

Fixit, being a mechanical type and a speed freak, thought the flying part was definitely one of the highlights, whilst I was glad that I had the final instalment of the Twilight series to distract me from my white-knuckled thoughts about what a long way up we were.

It was too early in the morning to check into our hotel, so we decided to drive north up the Tamar river and look at historic Georgetown. (Apparently Australia's oldest town and here was me thinking that title belonged to Botany Bay.) Anyway, we must have missed the good bits of historic Georgetown because what we saw was a lot of clapped out 70's fibro beach shacks. But the lighthouse at Low Head was definitely worth seeing and I waved at Melbourne from the other side of the Bass Strait. As you do. Until your other half looks at you like you're a crazy person.

We drove back south to Launceston and lunched in the CBD where we ate the best calamari ever. And we strolled around and admired the prettiness of the architecture and marvelled at how steep it was. And did the Melbourne city-slicker thing where we couldn't quite fathom how close everything was and how easy it was to drive around.

Before a great dinner at the Marina (but after our deluxe spa bath; I am bath-deprived at home so a hotel room with a nice big bath was a must) we took a twilight stroll round The Gorge, a fantastic bit of wilderness right next to the city centre.



The next morning we had an hour to kill before our flight home so we had a second, proper, look at the historic town of Evandale and were very glad that we did. (So pretty!) Even more so when we found that the Sunday market was on. And look, it was a bit expensive to get in, but definitely worth it once we coughed up.

If we'd had more time and had not been limited to carry-on luggage only, we might have spent a fair bit of money there. But we managed a few presents and some jam and came away content.

It's good to have some time away with just your partner. But on the other hand, it was lovely coming home to see our boys again. Next time we might even take them too.