A traveller's reflection: 05 Tasmania: St Helens

My Travel Journal

"There isn't much I haven't shared with you along the road and through it all there'd always be tomorrow's episode" - Elton John

I started traveling around the world since early 80s when I had the opportunity to combine business trips with vacations. Then later when my rezeki is in abundance, there were numerous other trips along the way for vacations, most of the time with hubby and the kids when the timing is right. I have also started to compile the journal and photo-pages covering almost more than 45 years of world wide travel. Some destinations I visited just once, others many times. Many of those places are the obvious famous places people would like to visit but some, the casual traveler doesn't even think to try. I have placed links to my travel at the side bar of my personal page, My Life Reflections, and will be updating them from time to time.

My wish is to continue my travel and complete circumnavigate the globe, insyaAllah…

Thursday 24 August 2023

05 Tasmania: St Helens - Launceston

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams..." - Eleanor Roosevelt

(Riding the chairlift at Cataract Gorge, Launceston)

Day 05: 24 August 23 (Thursday)

Route: St. Helens - Derby - Launceston
Distance: 160 km
Hotel: Coach House Hotel, Launceston

We had cereal for breakfast. After we checked out, we drove to the wharf for some photo shots.

(Double-storey Queechy Cottage, St Helens

(A morning walk at St Helens Waterfront)

This morning we decided to drive on Highway 3 to Launceston via Derby. The journey was slow as the road was winding and slippery. It was raining all the way to Launceston.

(The route from St Helens to Derby)

(The small town of Derby)

(The scenic route from Derby to Launceston)

In Launceston we drove direct to Cataract Gorge Reserve, a river gorge approximately 1.5 km from the city centre. It is one of the premier tourist attractions in Launceston. We had brunch at the Basin Cafe before we rode on the chairlift, the longest single-span chairlift in the world. The chairlift was built in 1972. We could opt for a one-way ticket and hike back or buy a return ticket. We opted for the latter as it was raining quite heavily.

(An urban wilderness)

(A public park with a chairlift, trails and gardens)

(Collections of walking tracks)

(Meeting the wallabies and peacocks)

(5 km stretch of forested river reserve)

(The Cataract section was closed due to landslides )

From Cataract Gorge we went to the Launceston Mosque. The doors to the prayer hall were locked when we arrived. We were fortunate when a Muslim brother gave us the pass code for the lock. We performed the Zohor/Asar prayers in the mosque.

(Launceston Mosque at Kings Meadow)

(The mosque was opened in 2021)

(Performed our solat in Launceston Mosque)

(The House of Guidance, Launceston)

(The interior of the mosque)

Checked in at Coach House Hotel. Later we drove to the University of Tasmania but failed to locate the mosque which was one of the faculty rooms, converted into a prayer hall.

From UTAS we drove to Mowbray Baba's Kebab for an early dinner.