Hubby & I recently had a weekend here & I have to say is one of THE BEST places we've ever stayed, & in the last 10 months we've stayed in quite a few. The sandstone house is absolutely beautiful, (what you see on the website doesn't do it justice). It's spotlessly clean, with lovely natural toiletries supplied, a well equipped kitchen with every little thing you could possibly need & even a full-sized laundry. They even have a cappuccino machine. The only thing you need to bring with you is food. There's a tennis court with racquets & balls supplied, there's even somewhere to swing a cricket bat or golf club, plenty of space to kick a footy, & even a basketball ring...& all the equipment is supplied! But the best bit about our stay were the alpacas & sheep wandering about the property. We normally like to explore places when we sty away, but here we didn't want to leave the house. Honestly, folks, if it's the only break you have this year, have it here...it's FANTASTIC & worth every penny.

Approximate cost: $205 per night

Hubby & i ate here for the 2nd time, last weekend, & we were not disappointed. The food really is great. We started with eggplant chips because I was famished, & they were so very yummy. Then hubby had a moroccan inspired salmon dish with this fantastic pilaf rice, which was sooooo good! The fish was simply cooked, but with fresh ingredients like that, the simpler the treatment, the better, I say. I had the most succulent lamb souvlaki; the meat was so tender, you could've cut it with a spoon, & the accompanying salad was really fresh. The young waiter serving us was excellent, although I couldn't say the same about the girl who sat us down. If the girls working there picked up their game a little, this would be a 6 star establishment. There's one more thing that deserves mention, & one of the most important things for me; they deserve high praise for the spotlessly clean crockery & cutlery. There's nothing worse than going to a fancy looking place only to sit down to grubby tableware. Full marks to the staff, because it really makes a difference to ones' dining experience.

Approximate cost: $18-$25

discovered this 'little gem' while visiting the Arts Centre Sunday Market, last week, & have to say the hand made jewellery is just stunning. There were stunning rings set with Mabe pearls, gorgeous necklaces, & beautiful earrings, all in sterling silver, or silver & gold combo. The creator, Jenny, is the sweetest girl you'll meet, who also stocks a fantastic range of "Pandora-style" beads & bracelets, which my daughter tells me is highly fashionable right now, & really reasonably priced too! Some of those beads were simply gorgeous. I'd get in there quick for Xmas gifts, especially if, (like me), you have girls who are getting hard to buy for.

While you're visiting, stop next door for the best Rocky Road you'll ever taste. See my review for Just Sweets.

Approximate cost: $5-200

this is the best Rocky Road you'll ever taste. Not only do they make traditional Rocky Road, stuffed full of marshmallows & lollies, in Dark, Milk & White Chocolate, but they also do other flavours, such as Spearmint, Raspberry Licorice, Chilli, Cherry Ripe, Aniseed, Honeycomb, & 2 Turkish Delight flavours, (rose & orange), just to name a few. They also make these fantastic chocolate pizzas, topped with lollies, like bananas, teeth, spearmint leaves & good ol' party mix. You can have a leisurely coffee or milkshake at the shop in Altona, while deciding what to take home, or you can go to any of the Craft Markets venues on any weekend (Healesville, Mornington, Flemington, Red Hill, or Werribee) to stock up, or head to the weekly Sunday Market at the Arts Centre for a Rocky Road fix. Alternatively you can also order online. Th also do a fantastic nougat, for nougat lovers.

The owners/manufacturers, Enzo & Maria really are the SWEETEST people you'll ever meet, & really passionate about their fare.

Approximate cost: $5-25

I loved this place. On our recent trip to Tassie, this was one of the places Hubby & I ate in & it was faultless...absolutely faultless. It started from the moment we stepped inside & were greeted by our lovely waitress for the night, Kaitlyn. This was matched by the fantastic meals on offer & the simple but groovy, almost-industrial feel of the decor.
We started with a crab salad for Hubby & mushroom cap entrees for me, which were really impressive & followed with a trevalla main for hubby, & I had a dish of local Cressy lamb, which was ironic, because we'd literlally visited Cressy earlier that day for spot of trout fishing, but didn't catch anything, & that's how we came to be at this restaurant to begin with.
We finished with the best desserts; warm lime & coconut pudding with coconut ice-cream, & I had this fantastic raspberry, pistachio & white chocolate semi freddo that came with the dreamiest persian fairy floss.
If ever we get to Launceston again, this will definitely be one of our first choices for dinner or lunch again.

Approximate cost: $25-30

The Worst breakfast I've ever had. The only Swiss thing about this place is it's name. Burnt mushrooms, rubbery, water-logged scrambled eggs, tasteless tomatoes topped with the worst, saltiest cheese ever, soggy undercooked hash browns & really awful salty sausages. Worse than the food was the service...the waitresses were not very welcoming & definitely not very nice. Wouldn't recommend the restaurant or resort to anyone.

Approximate cost: $18-25

Hubby & I recently holidayed in Tassie & stayed here for 3 nights in one of their 'lakeside' cabins. As cute as the whole Village is, the cabins seemed like they'd been newly built, but very very cheaply. They were nice enough, but not very well thought out. They were just too cramped & the sofa was in front of the window facing the bed & not even enough room to turn it around so we could enjoy the lake view (it was just too cold to sit outside on the teeny balcony). the bathroom fared little better. The spa was no consolation, when there was hardly any storage space, & no shower screen so EVERYTHING got wet! There were bath towels, but no hand towels & it was supposed to be 'self-contained' but all that was in the kitchenetts were 2 of each (small) square plates, mugs, t-spoons, forks, knives, & spoons. One cheap, blunt all-purpose knife & a t-towel. There were also rubbish bags, dishwashing liquid & sponges. What was funny though, was that there was also a mixing bowl but no wooden spoon, spatula or anything to stir with. But there was a microwave, iron & hairdryer. It's a real shame that the appliances were really cheap & nasty. The service was also really poor...first it was about a dataport for the laptop. In the room info folder it said that all rooms had dataports near the TV. When we couldn't find ours, I called reception only to get a 'dumb' act. I couldn't believe what I was hearing..."oh, I don't know why it would say that in your folder" then went on some tangent about building, & God knows what...I mean...really...as a service person he could've thought of something a little more intelligent to say. Breakfast in the restaurant was awful! Burnt mushrooms, rubbery, watery scrambled eggs, salty rubbery sausages, soggy hash browns that weren't even cooked through, & tasteless tomatoes topped with the saltiest cheese I've ever had, & they wanted $19 per person. What a joke! And to top it off the waitresses were awful too. When I questioned that I booked a deal that included brekky, the waitress was really rude about it & wouldn't even check with reception because she was right & I was mistaken. In fact they couldn't care less that we were there & we felt like we weren't even welcome. We also had a voucher for the restaurant, from the Entertainment Book, & they wouldn't honour it, all becasue they would've had to do a little extra paperwork, that apparently was just too complicated to do...Phooey, to them. We'll never go there again & definitely wouldn't recommend them to anyone.

Approximate cost: $134 - 369 per night

On our recent trip to Tassie, Hubby & I visited the famous Penguin Market, & decided to have brekky there. And I'm glad we did. There was a "hole-in-the-wall" in the food court called Johnson's, who made great bacon & eggs on toast. Two eggs, 2-3 slices of bacon & 2 bits of toast for...wait for it...just $5.50. That's $11 for 2 of us, & would have to be the cheapest brekky in Australia. We paid more than that for 2 juices from the Juice Bar just 2 'holes' away ($13). I'm not sure if it was a family owned business, but my guess was that it was Mother & Son working it & they were the sweetest folk. They even gave me some great ideas on sights to see on our way back from an attraction we were heading too...& great advice it was too...'coz we fell in love with one place they suggested, & seriously considering early retirement there. If you're going to Northern Tassie for a break, Penguin Market is a must, if for nothing else, just to have brekky at the Johnsons'

Approximate cost: $really cheap

Hubby & I just returned from an all too short break in Tassie & this is where we stayed for the first 3 days. I think they've just undergine a refurbishment, because our room was beautifully appointed. Especially the bathroom. The only thing that really spoiled our stay, was the foul stench in our room, that we believe came from the extra (long) grate in the shower, directly under the shower door. I just can't believe that housekeeping didn't notice it when they were setting our room up. Also, the wardrobe space is very odd & can't really hang much in it. Service was average...we asked if we could check in early as The Spirit of Tassie gets in at 7am, & all they could say was they couldn't guarantee that our room would be ready. So we had to drive around for 6 hours, in the pouring rain, & freezing cold.

Approximate cost: $130-359 per night

Although our waitress was faultless, I can't say the same about the food. the entrees were nice enough, an eggplant parmigiana, which was baked in a souffle dish & very hard to eat out of, hubby had a nice quail dish. My main however was a little average. I ordered "bouillabaise", but it was nothing more than fish & seafood in a creamy orange (coloured) soup..overcooked seafood at that, & the scallops hadn't been cleaned properly & were really sandy & gritty...yuk! I was pretty disappointed. Hubby's steak however, was really nice & beautifully cooked but just too big. When you dine in places like this, you want the meals to be of a size where you can eat 3 courses comfortably...that's why restaurants have portion control. Nevertheless, it was a cute little place & as casual & familiar as our waitress was, she was great, really efficient & very, very friendly.

Approximate cost: $28-35