Greetings, all
Returning to Tasmania for third time - have the option of May (actually the 20th or so) or mid-June. Afraid the latter is winter and we've already done that twice, and would really like it to be autumn with trees changing. (LizF, I'm trying to duplicate the trip you just did and wrote about here, with a trip to the Huon Valley and then up the Heritage Highway. I actually emailed you directly but I think I'm either in your spam folder or my new DSL has sent me to the nevernever.) Love Tas at any time of year but would like something different - would a month make great difference? Many thanks.
Oliverandharry

Hi there,
I did get your email and I did reply to you so perhaps I am in *your* spam thingie. Let me know if you can find me and if not I will resend it.
Liz

My apologies for hijacking this thread - but could I also ask what sort of weather - generally speaking -we might expect in Tasmania - will be there October 16 - 29 - covering most of the island.

LizF: Sorry, it didn't come through. Could you resend to [email protected], please? Thanks.

Prue –

We spent the last two weeks of October and early November in Tasmania last year. We had good weather for the most part – 4 days of beautiful weather in and around Hobart, 1.5 days of wind and rain in Cole’s Bay, gorgeous weather in Launceston, rain in Strahan and Queenstown, and 2.5 fabulous days at Cradle Mountain. We met a woman who worked at the Visitor’s Center and she told us that Cradle Mountain only gets about 35 really nice days per year and it had snowed just two days before. Apparently it rains 7 days out of 10 and the sun shines only 1 day in 10. We lucked out and had beautiful weather before it turned on us the day of our departure.

O&H. I have just sent the two emails that I had previously sent to you on the 19th here - so do let me know if you get them please - direct as things may be going a bit strange with emails.
For Prue who is going to be in Tassie in October, today the temp in Hobart will be 21deg celcius, so you will have lovely weather I would expect. I am sure that it could go a few degrees either way but nothing to worry about. I will be there October 3 - 8th so will let you know after that if you like. Sorry I cannot remember the conversion to degrees F.

Thank you Mel and Liz - very helpful with the ever present question of what to pack!!

Prue -

We each packed a fleece jacket and a waterproof/windproof (gortex) jacket with hood that fits over the fleece. We travel a lot and spend as much time as possible outdoors on our trips as we really enjoy hiking. This jacket combination works well for us year round whether we're in NZ, OZ or Switzerland. The jackets can be worn separately or together.

In Tassie, we had several days where we were fine in short sleeves, but the fleece and gortex did come in handy a few times. Our coldest day was in Cole's Bay, where the wind was cold and fierce, but the owner of our B&B told us it was unusual weather for that time of year.

Have fun.

Thanks Mel for the additional information - we are actually starting our trip on King Island in the north of Tasmania where I imagine it will be windy and cool - and then I guess as you did, we will have bits of every kind of weather. We will certainly do the layering of clothes!
We live in Australia so should have more of any idea, but you really only hear/see the Hobart temperatures - so I am pleased to have more of an idea.
Looking forward to it very much.

Oh Prue, you lucky thing. I have not been to King Island and the very thought of going seems to put on the weight.......oh that cheese. I can imagine that the food there would be something really special too. YUM!!!!

Liz,
You are so right - I am doing everything I can to lose as much weight as possible in order to stock up!
Actually I know very little about King Island other than the Cheese and Cream and we are only going there as it was an additional part of the tour we are doing - I imagine it being rather barren and windswept - but then there must be lots of good grass to produce all the dairy products - anyway I will let you know when I return.

We are eagerly awaiting the trip report AND the recipes!

Prue -

I'm in the early stages of planning a return trip to Tassie for April or May. You and Liz now have me interested in King Island, which I'd not heard of before. I've begun to do some research, as all this talk of cheese and cream sounds, well, yummy.

Would love to hear about your stay there when you return. Particularly interested in how to get there (from Melbourne or can you get there from within Tas?), if the planes are puddle jumpers or jets, where you plan to stay and what all there is to do (good hiking?)

Have fun.

I will certainly report when we return - but can tell you that it is quite a pain to get there as you have to fly from Melbourne - for some reason there are no flights to and from Tasmania - and only one flight a day with Rex Airlines to the island.
When we leave the island we have to go back to Melbourne and then have a 6 hour wait for our Jetstar flight to Launceston. There was a better connection but it was cancelled after we had booked!
Mel, the planes as far as I can see are of a reasonable size but I will confirm this in my report! The flights to and from the island are over an hour long - which seems a long time when it looks much closer on the map!

Thanks Prue - I'll stayed tuned for your report.

There has to be other ways to get to King Island - perhaps a boat is the way to go. Will check on that. Mel, the absolutely best cream in the world is King Island Double Cream and the spoon does stand up in the pot too. They also make things like double cream Brie and just about every other wonderful cream stuff you can think of. I prefer it to French cheese as it is creamer and smoother. I did once hear fome story as to why the feed was better on King Island than the mainland but cannot remember the story now. I think it actually had something to do with France but as years go by so does one's memory for details.

My thighs are getting bigger just reading this! My husband and I got into a bad habit of putting fresh cream into our coffee every morning (and evening) while in Tasmania and NZ. Then we discovered some wonderful ricotta rolled in chili and feta marinated in oil and spices in Margaret River. I don't think I can be trusted on King Island - I might have to be rolled back onto the plane.

Liz,
I have investigated the transport angle pretty thoroughly both with a TA and on the net - there certainly used to be flights to/from Launceston with Tas Air but they no longer exist.
But I have not looked into the boat angle as get seasick on a floating restaurant so it is not my chosen means of transport!
The long connection in Melbourne is caused by the fact we were already booked on Jetstar when they cancelled the original flight and to change onto either Qantas or Virgin would incur additional costs - so we will just wait it out in Melbourne. It can be done much more easily - but still seems odd that you can't fly to Tasmania direct.

I did have a look and there is also King Island Air but I didn't get any further than that.
I am with you on the boat thing - I can get sea-sick standing on a jetty looking at the water. It is a pity the transport situation is not better though.
Liz

I have been to Tasmania this year in March and now also September. The difference was amazing. Far more beatiful after winter rains. Lush and green. In March ir was all dried up from Summer.

Like a different place!

So spring would be my first choice in future. However in Autumn there seemed to be far more berries for sale, so may be tempted to return at that time just to eat the most delectable, messy raspberries I have ever eaten.