By the time we left Stanley we had completed about half our journey around Tasmania – our next stops would be along the north coast to Devonport, tasting the wonderful food along the way! We passed through Port Latta, then took a detour along a scenic coastal road, past Table Cape Geological Site to the seaside town of Wynyard, then on to the city of Burnie.
Once we arrived in Burnie we made our way again to the Makers’ Workshop (also houses the Information Centre). It was lunch time so we walked around the Workshop to see some of the wonderful arts and crafts on display, as well as the produce of Tasmania, then had a very healthy lunch (well,I did!) of a roast vegetable wrap and Pete had one of his favourite lunches, a pie and salad (above left)). I agreed with the poster (above right) quoting Miss Piggy, Puppet Extraordinaire “Never eat more than you can lift”.
It was at the Makers’ Workshop that I discovered Tasmania’s “The Art of Tea” French Earl Grey – “A delightful tea for Earl Grey lovers. A stunning brew with bergamot, hisbiscus flowers, sunflowers and rose petals” – had to take a packet home!
The Workshop had a colourful display of Tasmanian produce such as cheeses, dairy products, wines, preserves, jams, sauces, teas,chocolates, biscuits, cakes, olives, honey, fruits and vegetables – how lucky are these Tasmanians to have such fresh produce available all the time. If you have a touch screen you can enlarge the images to have a better look!
The Anvers Chocolate Factory was a visit we were looking forward to. Located at Latrobe, in the property formally known as “Wyndarra Lodge”, it is a stylish Californian bungalow house which was built in 1931. Set in 1.12 hectares of old tree gardens, the property features trees from around the world.
You can see the qualified confectionery staff tempering, moulding and enrobing fine couverture chocolates, truffles, pralines, fudges and more, and buy their products at the shop – overwhelming display!
The Ashgrove milk and cheese factory is located in Elizabeth Town, in the heart of the dairying and cropping region in Northern Tasmania. Several generations of Bennett families have been farming the land surrounding the milk and cheese factory since the 1880′s. We loved the model cows around the property, and enjoyed tasting the various cheeses and seeing how they are made and stored.
In 2012 Ashgrove Farm Milk won a number of awards including best Farm Light Milk at the Dairy Industry Association of Australia awards.
Just down the road from Ashgrove Cheese is the Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm. It was established in 1984 when they planted twelve acres of raspberry canes on a north facing hill on the property, just off the Bass Highway between Elizabethtown and Deloraine. In 1995 they built a café featuring stone and timber and large windows overlooking lush green lawns running down to a lake filled with water lilies. The garden features native trees and a herb garden overlooking the raspberry canes in the distance.
The cafe was quite busy when we called in, so after a short stay we continued on our way to Deloraine, Ulverstone and finally Launceston.
Read more on my Tastes page
