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::25.11.02::
Previously...
The rest of the Tassie holiday went well. We went for a road trip to Launceston, stopping along the way to check out my house (the investment property). The receptionist at the real estate agent wouldn't give us the keys though. I thought that was a bit strange because they had given the keys to my mum about three times. I didn't want to stand around arguing with her though so I left.
We were going to make a side trip to a pancake place near Lake Barrington but we took a wrong turn and missed out. Instead we got bakery treats from a place Mum knows. They had toothsome little baby furit tarts with just three raspberries on top. Very good for when you are already stuffed full of food but can't resist buying something yummy.
We got into Launceston and checked out the house we were staying in. It was a lovely old terrace house. Why do all those terrace houses not have doors out to the upstairs balcony? Are you meant to crawl through the window (as I did) or were they designed for decoration? I can't picture someone in Victorian dress climbing through a window.
After showering and sampling the homemade choco-nana muffins that were left for us, we headed out for dinner. When I lived in Tasmania my favourite takeaway was a chain called Praties. They do the best baked potatoes in the world. Not like those shitty excuses for baked potatoes you get in most places in Melbourne that are usually boiled anyway. My friends had said they closed down but I checked the phone book and they were in there. We went to one store but it had closed for the night and I was very sad. By that stage I had my heart set on a yummy, crunchy skinned potato.
We decided to try another store and it was open. I was so happy. I couldn't wait to get home and eat it.
Back at the house we made plunger coffee (this house was stocked with everything a person could need, even bacon and eggs to cook for brekkie). Then we pigged out on yummy baked potatoes. I just can't begin to describe how good they are -- light fluffy potato whipped with butter inside, crunchy yummy skin on the outside and yummy toppings like mexicana (chili con carne type sauce) or the supreme with cheesy sauce and bacon.
We had a nice quiet night -- not much else to do on Monday night in Launceston -- and headed to bed. I curled up with my book but feel asleep without reading more than a page. I bought three books to read in Tassie and ended up reading none of them. Of course I had to duck out the window in the middle of the night for a cigarette. I was a bit worried because I was sharing the room with my sister and thought she wake up when I was halfway in the window and panic. I could picture her braining me with the bed lamp.
The next day, after the bacon and eggs, Mum wanted to do some shopping. We went to Spotlight, which is new and exciting in Launceston, to get some phoofy material to phoof around Mum's bathroom window. When we were leaving we met up with my friend's mum. It really is a small town. After some more shopping we headed for the winery, which was the purpose for our visit.
A few weeks back I had a lovely, but not so cheap, champagne. It was the 'Pirie' from Piper's Brook. I wanted to go get some from the cellar door - hence the trip halfway across the state. We went to a place called Strathlynn which has Piper's Brook and Ninth Island wines. It was fantastic. We tasted many nice wines. I had about 8 bottles I wanted to get and my sister wanted a couple too. They told us it was $6 to shop a dozen to Melbourne. How very sensible. You also get a free bottle. So we added a few more bottles to our order and took one of the bottles of Pirie, at $48 a pop as our freebie.
We headed down the road to another winery. We didn't end up buying anything there but had a nice Gewurtztraminer and a very delicious cheese platter. We sat out on the sun deck looking over the river. It was all such hard work.
After that we hit the road again. The next stop was a chocolate place that does fudge and truffles and things. We sat in the gardens and had a summer fruit sponge and coffee. After stocking up on fudge we headed home.
We had another quiet night. The next day we had lunch with my Nan and my aunties then headed off to fix up the house settlement. I finally got to look at the house. It wasn't a bad house, nothing stunning. After that we headed to the airport for home. And a good thing too, because I couldn't eat another bite.
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