Tasmania 2

The second part of my Tasmania trip had me driving from Hobart in the southeast to Devonport in the center of the north coast. That big empty area in the middle that I had to drive through was gorgeous mountains, pastures, hills and farms selling fresh food. One place in particular I stopped at was the Ashgrove Cheese (1, 2, 3). The cheese was made fresh and there was a big table in the middle of the shop with little bins of each of the cheeses so you could walk around the table and try them all. I walked around the table a few times! The best were the aged gouda and something called bush-pepper cheese which is a spice that apparently comes from a a plant indigenous to Tasmania and has a strong peppery smell and taste. It was delicious. I picked up a few blocks to bring back to the office to share with our weekly Friday afternoon drinks.

After that and a few other random stops, I arrived at a cute little B&B where I stayed the night. It being nearly 6pm on  Tuesday, the proprietress informed me that the only place still open for dinner would be a fish and chips shop in Port Sorrel. I took the food and walked down a boardwalk to sit at a picnic table by the beach. This was the view from my dinner table. Not too shabby.

In the morning, before my meeting, I nipped over to the House of Anvers. A.K.A. chocolate factory.

And like the cheese before, the chocolate was frickin delicious. They made all sorts of flavours and types an you could try them all...as many times as you want...repeatedly. I bought a few boxes of truffles and fudge for the office as well. (Yea, they were pretty jealous.)

And then, I had a life changing moment.  I still had a bit of time so I sat down in the attached cafe and browsed their menu. Shockingly, there was hot chocolate. And not just any hot chocolate, but white hot chocolate. I thought to myself, if anything was going to beat the hot chocolate from Huonville, the hot chocolate fro a chocolate factory might be the contender.

I think EPIC, is the best way to describe it. Not only did it come in a vase twice the size of a normal mug topped with white chocolate froth, but it was the thickest, most chocolaty, and surprisingly not very sweet, hot chocolate I've ever had. I would almost consider a trip back to Tassie just for that. The rest of the day flew by. Work got done, and I spent a bit of time picking strawberries before I headed to the airport and home.

More pics here.