What an adorable place!…read more My nickname is 'Puddleduck', so of course on the way back to Hobart from visiting Richmond I had to stop in and visit this winery. And I'm so glad we did! The first thing that welcomes you is a giant sign letting you know you're welcome to 'Reverse BYO' - that is that you bring the food and they'll provide the wine. A great idea and muchly appreciated, as if you're on a budget you'll have more to spend on wines! The setting for this winery can only be described as idyllic - the main building sits on the edge of a dam and has a deck outside. We happened to visit on a perfect day and sat for a while in the sunshine on the deck watching the various water birds. There's a beautiful grassed area with chairs and tables and even a children's playground and a big area for the kids to run around and let off steam. There were a few families enjoying lunch and a few drinks and I love that they cater to families so well. We opted for the $5 wine tasting at the bar - there is also an option for a $15 sit down tasting or a $25 one which includes a cheese platter. All of those costs are deducted if you choose to purchase a bottle. My favourite was the Pinot Noir which smelled and tasted amazing. They also have all these options available as a cider tasting too! The guy who was serving welcomed us enthusiastically when we arrived and told us a bit about tastings etc. He also apologised and told us that the service may be a little slower because he was running the show on his own. This is a family business and his mum had an appointment so was unable to help out that day. I appreciated the forewarning and preemptive apology but it was not needed - the service was great. When we went to pay for our tasting he even offered them for free as he felt like he had not been able to be as attentive to us as he wanted to be! I absolutely loved my time at Puddleduck and will endeavour to visit whenever I am back in Hobart. It's well worth the drive from the city!

I absolutely love Puddleduck to bits. My first visit was their first weekend open with essentially…read morejust a little hut by the pond and the paint still drying - I've been coming back ever since and watching the place grow into the wonderful business it is now. The 'shop' is still a fairly small building by the pond (major extension coming this year) but with a lots of outdoor seating around the water either under umbrellas on the grass or under the marquee. The Puddleduck wines are great (do NOT miss out on trying Bubbleduck) and you can kick back whilst working through the wine list with a cheese platter made up of 'wicked' cheeses produced just down the road. Don't want cheese? No problem! Puddleduck allows 'reverse BYO'. You bring whatever picnic food you want and they supply the wine! Puddleduck makes a great wine tasting stop along the Coal Valley route, but if the weather is good I recommend putting aside an afternoon and relaxing - the whole business is a family affair and it feels like it, with warm friendly service that makes you feel instantly like old friends. Other important notes about Puddleduck; you can meet internationally famous 'wine dog' Basil and his cohorts Polly and Sybil. You can also meet Lucky the duck (and all of his friends if they are feeling sociable and you can adopt your very one vine!

South of the town of Ross, there's a lot of Convict history here in Tasmania, of which this bridge…read moreacross the River Coal is an impressive and scenic example. A couple other Yelp reviews cover more of this fascinating history. The Bridge is still in use and we were on it on our way to Lunch (meat pie of course) and ice cream. We also took the time to admire the bridge close up on the ground on both sides.

A stop in Richmond is worth it for the Bridge and Ice Cream. Richmond Bridge was built by convict…read morelabor in 1823 and is the oldest stone span bridge still in use in Australia. This engineering marvel represents the hardships of the past convicts and also their craftsmanship and resilience while serving time in some of the worst conditions.

This site was our first introduction to the time when convicts were "exported" from the UK as part…read moreof the punishment for their crimes. Cascades Female Factory was sold off and mostly dismantled after it closed down. The government had to purchase back most of the property and return it to the original state to open the site for historical visits. We took bus 446 (free pending the outcome of the US-Iran war) from near our hotel and it got us there in around 15 minutes. There were two guided tour options offered (1) Notorious Strumpets and Dangerous Girls which was focused on specific women's stories and (2) Convict Women's Tour which provided an overview of life, hardships, conditions and more inside. Each focused on different parts of the factory so it was best to arrive at least 30 minutes early or stay after the tour to see the part of the factory not covered in the guided tour. Good signage were posted throughout the site along with many individual profiles of the women convicts. There wasn't much to see (mostly walls, building outlines and one original home) but the tour guides brought the history and the stories of some of the female convicts to life. Very harsh living conditions, extreme penalties, abuse and heartbreaking separation from the children were conveyed throughout the tour. Well worth a visit if you have time in Hobart. If you have the Port Arthur Historic Site Ticket of Leave (housed the male convicts) then you can visit this site for free.

This UNESCO World heritage site is the best place to connect with a lesser known stories of…read moreAustralia's female convicts. The story is told through bios and artifacts of the displacement, mistreatment and forced migration of convict women & girls, and their contribution to colonisation throughout the history of colonial Australia to the present day. On the journey women were divided into 2 groups depending on their behavior. The class system regulated clothing & jobs of the women while in the factory. The more trustworthy women were employed as cooks, task overseers & hospital attendants. Second class convicts made clothes for the establishment and prepared & mended linen. The crime class was sentenced to the washtub, laundering for the factory, the orphan school and the penitentiary; they also carded and spun wool. All of these tasks were subject to change at the discretion of the Principal Superintendent.

It's a giant tower! Lots of steps to the top and if you…read morecount them correctly you get a 'prize'. New owner is a huge Doctor Who fan and is refurbishing a Dalek to go in the tea rooms! He also sells Doctor Who merch in the shop at pretty good prices.

By far the best cooking school in Australia. A true paddock to plate experience. I have attended…read moreseveral times and I'm never disappointed. Highly recommended.

This was quite an interesting and somewhat exhausting experience visiting chef Rodney Dunn at his…read morecooking school out in the countryside. We were there for eight hours! Chef had planned a very complex menu. The essence of the plan was to harvest all the ingredients or as much as possible from his garden on the grounds. We had a prolonged tour of the grounds and then the nine students spent several hours picking herbs from the garden and preparing them according to chef's recipes. He was there the entire time to supervise us and surprisingly it worked out quite nicely. He personally performed some of the more difficult cooking tasks (such as the retolo), all the while instructing us on the fine points of what he was doing. After more than five hours of preparation work, we eventually sat down to eat lunch at approximately 2:30 PM. Lunch was wonderful and included both a sparkling white wine and later a nice Pinot Noir to accompany the lamb shoulder that we had prepared. If you have interest in the slow food movement, it seems to me this is the ultimate representation of it. We left the grounds with an autographed copy of his cookbook, having purchased it at an additional cost.

One of the most iconic landmark associated with Tasmania was the Port Arthur Historic Site. After…read moreoriginally being sold off after it shutdown down the government has repurchased then renovated some of the historic buildings to recognize Australia's convict history. The parking lot was free and plentiful over three rows plus an overflow lot. The visitor center was modern and contained sit down and casual restaurants, gift shop and the museum. Here they sold all the tickets and guided tours. Every ticket included a cruise around the bay and to the Island of the Dead and full access to the site. The museum itself was small but packed with artifacts, history and profiles of those incarcerated or oversaw the prisoners. A good introduction. Talks were scheduled throughout the day at different buildings and lasted for a few to 20 minutes or so. All except one was well worth catching and all were free. Those definitely helped since we didn't pay for a guided tour. We wandered the ground at our own pace with roughly half restored while the other half just the shells. My recommendations on what to see would be the Commandant's House, Penitentiary, Asylum's Prison, Government Garden and Separate Prison. Tickets were valid for two consecutive days so that added flexibility to our visit since we stayed overnight in the area.

With the assistance of our guide Rob, we unveiled the dark past of the Port Arthur historic site…read morevisiting the site of the mill and tiered prison (Level 1, 2 or 3 convicts) and the horrific separate prison before a ferry to Point Puer and The Isle of the dead rounded out the story of Port Arthur (1830 through to 1870). Robs incredible knowledge base and ability to make Port Arthur come to life and reflect on its impact at the time and since was amazing. His explanation of the conditions that existed in England via industrialization of London, Manchester and Birmingham and the 4 main cogs of control - Religious coercion, Punishment, Separation and classification and industry and training utilised to control the prisoners was particularly enlightening.

We passed beautiful wineries & sheep cheese farms on route to Richmond. This charming old historic…read moretown was filled with restaurants, coffee shop & charming handmade gift shops. We enjoyed wandering around on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. You have to love a town that has free clean restrooms, lots of free parking and even free Wi-Fi. Perfect!