Sunday, November 3, 2024

[Travel Tasmania] Exploring Richmond - Breakfast at Ashmore, Pastries from The Richmond Bakery, Ducks Sightings at Richmond Bridge

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It was morning time, with a slight drizzle and we dropped by Richmond for breakfast. Tracy wanted to revisit this town so she brought us along.

Weather was not so fine that morning, so the sky was gray with a slight drizzle. Nothing that a good breakfast with a hot cup of coffee couldn't cure.

from the outside

cafe menu

I need eggs in da morning. I really do. Hahaha. 

The shop has a warm local vibe and it was cosy inside. There were two staff that morning. One more aloof while the other was more friendly.

interior



Orders were taken from our table by the lovely staff and it was only a short wait before our drinks and food started to arrive.

flat white


no need for additional sweetness


I was pretty impressed when the eggs benny arrived. Presentation was on-point! The taste of the hollandaise sauce here was definitely more flavourful than any that I have ever tasted. Rich, slight tangy and thick. Good call on this.

Eggs Benedict with Pulled Pork @AUD27.50


poached and yummy


Next, my friends ordered the sweets. Pancakes and scones.

Devonshire Tea @AUD15.50 (2 scones with regular jam and cream + a regular hot drink)


No idea why but the regular cream and jam tasted soooo good! Think we got the mulberry jam. One can't have too much cream, the more the better on the scone!

Pancakes with Bacon and Maple @AUD21


Hehehe, pancakes served with ice-cream? Why, give me more of course! This was a good choice as well to pair savoury bacon with sweet maple glaze and topped with ice-cream on the soft pancakes. Yums.





lovely tree from across the street


One thing that we discovered in this town, is that the washroom are located outside of the shops. One just needed to ask and the locals will direct you to the nearest Public washroom.


Ashmore

Address: 34 Bridge St, Richmond TAS 7025, Australia

Websitehttps://www.agfg.com.au/restaurant/ashmore-on-bridge-street-43747

Business Hours:

Daily: 8:30 am–4:30 pm







Next up, we went to visit a nearby bakery to see if we could get any vanilla slice.



raining outside

main counter area




sandwiches, pies, quiches

pies of all shapes and sizes and sausage rolls


I didn't realize it then, but looking back now as I typed this, it was at the Richmond Bakery shop that I first became acquainted with 'Curried Scallop Pie'.




Curried Scallops Pie @AUD10.90

can you see the scallops?


Initially we thought we'd do a take-away and eat inside the car or something but then, decided to just dine-in since it was still raining outside.

indoor dining


Vanilla Slice @AUD4.80


Blackforest



Lamington @AUD5.20


inside a lamington



The curried scallops pie was interesting. Not the curry that I am used to, and it was really mild. More like cream with a hint of curry. Leaning on the sweet side. But the pie here was one of the better ones that I had in this trip.

The best item for me personally, was the Blackforest cake. Best texture, best taste. Lamington was better than I thought it would be.



The Richmond Bakery


Address: 6/50 Bridge St, Richmond TAS 7025, Australia
Website: https://www.therichmondbakery.com.au/
Business Hours:
Daily: 6 am–5 pm








Then, we moved on to our next destination which is a nearby attraction in this town.

Richmond Bridge


According to Google, it is a picturesque sandstone bridge over the Coal River built in 1825 by convicted prisoners. Not sure why, but there're ducks waddling or resting peacefully nearby.

Mallard

Muscovy



behind the scenes


Thursday, October 31, 2024

[Travel Tasmania] Bruny Island - Half Day Exploration in Sniffing Out the Elusive local Whisky, Slurping Up Fresh Oysters, Enjoying Cheeses with Craft Beer and Honeylicious Treat

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We set off leisurely close to 9am to catch the ferry to Bruny Island. Lucky us as the wait for the ferry was relatively short. Hmm, there's a washroom near the smallish cafe at the ferry wait area but be quick as not to miss the queue! Hence got the e-ticket earlier and one just drives up to the queue. Need to show the e-ticket at the gantry. The ferry to Bruny Island was smaller than the one to Queenscliff.

Shermaine looking on with curiosity

peace at sea

Frankly speaking, I didn't do any research on Bruny Island on the places to visit except to view Chonnyday YT video on what they did there. Hehe.

So I went with the flow and first stop once we reached there, was Bruny Island House of Whisky. Can't imagine we start drinking this early in the morning, but here we were. At 10am. Haha.


Bruny Island House of Whisky


let's visit!


cosy classy environment

drinks of choice

feel free to look around

wine is available too

which tasting menu to choose?

We wandered freely on-premise and staff was friendly but not intrusive. Ask your questions and he will share with you freely. As we were the only visitors that early in the morning, he greeted us with a smile and offered us adequate time to decide on what we would like to do at the shop.

Eventually, we decided on the AUD55 tasting set for 3 selected whisky.

3 selection - White Label Sherry, Spellbound Wauss Harbour Bourbon Cask, Overeem Bourbon


Staff was more than happy to share his knowledge if you're interested. Being a whisky noob, I asked him if there's any particular sequence in enjoying the whisky flight. He shared his thoughts and seemed like it is pretty much up to individual preferences.

I learnt alot from the staff that day. He shared snippets on the 4 of the oldest distilleries in Tasmania, the whisky that they produced. He even voluntarily brought out bottles stored high up on the shelves for me to take a look.  

Well known distilleries in Tasmania includes Hellyer's Road, Lark, Sullivan's Cove, Overeem, Old Kempton. 

March 2021 release edition - sold out

raw, unfinished product before becoming whisky

there's some interesting stories here



Loved the time spent at this first spot and hearing all the stories from the staff there. Very interesting and educational. Thank you! 

We left for the next destination once the next group of visitors arrived.



Bruny Island House of Whisky

Address: 360 Lennon Rd, North Bruny TAS 7150, Australia

Websitehttp://www.tasmanianhouseofwhisky.com.au/

Business Hours:

Daily 10 am–5 pm








Get Shucked



It wasn't a good idea to drink on fairly empty tummies, so off we went to the next spot to fill up our tummies. It was pretty nearby so we reached within minutes.

strolling in


the question was not on which to get, but how many



Yes, one of the must do at Bruny Island? Eating oysters. The place was comfortably spacious as it was less busy that day. We went up to the counter, placed our orders and brought back drinks or prepacked stuffs to our table while staff prepped the oysters.

We only got a dozen natural, and half a dozen Kilpatrick. Am going to enjoy mine with a glass of Chardonnay. 

Natural Oysters (12) @AUD29


Devil's Corner Chardonnay @AUD10


The fresh oysters were plump, not too briny and tasted good. Plus, I was hungry. 

closer view



The Kilpatrick version needed quite some time before it arrives. An additional 15-20 minutes if not wrong. There's a sign to inform visitors on their menu pertaining to the longer time required for cooked food. So not an issue. Meanwhile, we placed additional order for fries to try try.

view from our table

Oyster Kilpatrick @AUD19


Oyster Kilpatrick has bacon and worchestershire sauce. Served piping hot, so be careful! While it was tasty, the oysters had shriveled up from the baking. Give me more of the natural ones! No, we didn't get more as we will be visiting the cheese and breadshop after strolling around.


have a  bite


Tracy went all ninja and bought a tub of chili lime salmon pate. Foie gras pate, liver pate, pork pate and for the first time, having salmon pate.



scoop it and try it


What were we going to eat the salmon pate with? Aint got no bread with us. Then, aha! Just use the fries to scoop it up. It was good. Super good!

The chips were in the form of shoestring fries style and tasted good on its own. Salted of course and served hot. It was an elevated experience to have the chips with salmon pate. Yummy!

Chips @AUD8



Get Shucked


Address: Lease 204, 1735 Bruny Island Main Road, Great Bay, North Bruny TAS 7150, Australia
Business Hours:

Daily: 9:30 am–4:30 pm








Bruny Island Cheese Company


Ok, it was now closer to lunch time. Wait, what... after all the whisky, oysters and it was only noon? Keke, we're fast!

car parked and in the mood for some cheese, beer and bread


The place has dining tables on-premise and visitors could see which table or section they would like to be seated, go inside the cheese shop to place order and there's a bar counter to order up some beer or ginger ale. Adjacent to this area, was the cottage/area where they make the cheeses.






One could get small taste of the cheeses first, order ala-carte or order to dine-in, or do all of the above!

Beer Paddle (bottom to top) - Farm Ale, Cloudy Bay Pale Ale, Oxymoron, Whey Stout


The Farm Ale, Cloudy Bay Pale Ale were both refreshing and thirst quenching. Oxymoron was interesting but after some months had passed, I can't really remember how it tasted. But somehow I ended up with the entire glass of whey stout since Ivan preferred the more refreshing ones. Strong flavours yet with hint of sweetness.

cheese, bread platter with added wallaby meat


The cheeses served for the platter, if I still remember correctly were C2, George and O.D.O. Loved the bread though the crumbs would be everywhere. For cheeses, all were nice. O.D.O (One Day Old) was soft and pliant to spread on the bread. Topped it with wallaby meat which, hmm does sound exotic. No funky taste and just lean meat. 

wallaby meat



I love C2 as it had a stronger taste initially but after a while, both George and C2 tasted pretty similar.

O.D.O and pickles

George


C2


One question though, do you or do you not eat the cheese rind?


The relishes were interesting as well. There's one that tasted like pickles that one usually eat with porridge. One that tasted a tad like curry. Very interesting to jazz up the experience.


Bruny Island Cheese Company


Address: 1807 Bruny Island Main Rd, Great Bay TAS 7150, Australia
Business Hours:
Daily: 10 am–4 pm








Let's go walk walk and do some sightseeing after this.





Bruny Island Lighthouse

zoom-in view


wild chooks


Going to the public washroom at the place near the lighthouse was an adventure on its own. The toilet was connected to a seemingly endless hole into the ground. Going back into the nature.




Bruny Island Honey






Didn't have much time as we have a ferry to catch to go back to Hobart. So, grabbed a small tub of ice-cream to try. It was lovely. The shop has a house-dog and he came to sit beside us.

leatherwood honey ice-cream @AUD6

peekaboo


All in all, it was a fruitful trip enjoyed with beautiful people. Thank you Tracy, Hence, Ivan and Shermaine for being in this journey!


Bruny Island Honey


Address: 2184 Bruny Island Main Rd, Great Bay TAS 7150, Australia
Business Hours:
Daily: 9 am–4:30 pm





 
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