In search of the Tasmanian Devils Breakfast (and lunch)

In complete contrast to how British people used to go to Tasmania a couple of hundred years ago, mines was a tranquil 40 minute flight from Melbourne to Launceston. Not the biggest airport in the world by any means, but big enough for our needs, which was to be the jump off point for Cradle Mountain, some three hours away by car. But nothing is so simple when James is in charge of Logistics and Transport. For a start there are at least two meal breaks to plan and at least one winery. True to form James comes up trumps with our breakfast stop at a restaurant on the outskirts of Launceston called Stillwater.Its here we meet up with some old friends in Paul & Lorraine,who we havent seen for at least 5 years, so theres a lot of gossip to catch up on before the eggs benedict arrive (and that was just me & Paul. Breakfast was a sumptious affair with nobody in the mood to rush as the fresh coffee just kept coming and coming along with warm toast, crumpets and homemaded preserves, but we had to leave sometime as we had a lunch appointment to keep ! James had arranged for us to combine two of our mutual great passions. Great food and stunning wines.We drove to the town of Rosevears to the Strathlynn Vineyard, and the restaurant of Daniel Alps, an Aussie Celeb Chef. It didnt dissappoint, the duck terrine for starter was just pure velvet and the venison main course was sublime. Now I've never been one of those wine snobs that sniffs the cork and such, and I've never given much creedance to those who say " I ordered the 2004 and the 2005 is ok but its just not the same" to me wine is wine and you either like it or you dont. Paul on the other hand is a bit of a wine buff and he was insistant. It was the 2004 Starline Pinot Noir or we were changing the menu. According to the sommelier (posh wine waiter)the 2004 would perfectly compliment the venison. He was right. m not sure how much difference the 2005 would have made but it didnt matter the 2004 was going down like nectar. But we couldnt linger we had a drive up the mountain ahead of us and we wanted to get there before it got dark. We failed. We stopped for beer and supplies for sandwiches for our climb, and we went to .......... Woolworths.
Yes I said Woolworths, and yes its the same brand as the now defunct UK Woolworths. With two major differences. 1) Its solvent and 2) Its a supermarket. Caught me by surprise as well. Apparently over here Woolies and Safeway are the same group. Anyhow we popped in to get a few bits for sandwiches and spent 22 quid. On sandwiches yes! They did last all week however so that was ok. The beer however was a different story, as you buy it from the off licence, and we had no room in the car so it did the journey to Cradle Mountain between my legs.

We arrive at Cradle Mountain Lodge a little after dark, and after registration and getting the luggage into the cabins we all assembled at Geds cabin for drinks and to meet up with the rest of the party in Donna & Andrew, so the gangs all here and we have a few drinks then a few more then a few more before going down to the bar for something to eat but nobodys too hungry so we had some spicy soup and a few more drinks before retiring to our cabins as we have a big day tomorrow.

Its the first climb, and boy what a climb !