The pit stop: Launceston
If Launceston was a love interest, then the courtship would be long and the attachment lasting. This understated, friendly northern city will slowly but surely draw you in, give you love and feed you well. Elspeth Callender shares her tips for where to start your romance…
Eat
Take one chef with an insatiable passion for Japanese cuisine and add fresh Tassie produce. Mix well, fold in two dozen seats, sprinkle with an arcade game-related name and you have Quadrant Mall’s Pachinko. Yes, it is licensed and, yes, there is always ramen.
Drink
Havilah is a wine bar with a food obsession, which doubles as a cellar door on Sundays. It opened in mid-2020 and its wide-ranging wine list is carefully curated by the owners, one of whom is a winemaker. Shared plates favour local, seasonal ingredients and service can be deliciously cheeky.
See
Design Tasmania, in the Gary Cleveland Galleries in City Park, is a not-for-profit enabler of design innovation. Events, exhibitions and activities take place across five interconnected spaces. The work found in the extensive Wood Collection is exclusively made in Tasmania by local designers.
Shop
Don’t miss Saturday’s Harvest Market for excellent local produce. If your purchasing enthusiasm extends beyond what can be chewed and slurped, then drop into Hope & Me in Quadrant Mall for predominantly Australian and New Zealand made homewares, baby accessories, stationery and gifts.
Stay
Change Overnight is Australia’s first social-enterprise hotel, with a portion of your room rate donated to one of eight Australian and international causes. This boutique, self-check-in hotel in a centrally located re-purposed warehouse has 18 self-contained apartments, of which two are accessible.
