Tasmania Self-drive Day 6, Thursday.

As we arrived in Swansea at about 6pm the day before and didn't see very much of the town, we took a pleasant short walk along the shore after breakfast at the local bakery.

Breakfast in Swansea

Seashore at Swansea

We then stopped by another local business, Kate's Berry Farm, where we tried their blueberry icecream. Super.

Plenty of  jam selections at Kate's Berry Farm

Kate's Berry Farm

The rest of our itinerary of the day was fairly simple. Basically, we made our way from Swansea to our overnight stay, Curringa Farm near Hamilton. The total driving time would be less than 3 hours.

The historic town of Ross provided a convenient stop midway to our destination. We had lunch at the Ross Village Bakery. Interestingly the bakery, small but bearing the rich historical character of the town, is a tourist attraction to fans of the acclaimed Japanese animator, Hayao Miyazaki. The bakery is said to be an inspiration behind one of Mr. Miyazaki's popular animated films, Kiki's Delivery Service.

Staff at the Ross Village Bakery dressed in period costume.

Church in Ross

The historic Ross Bridge, completed in July 1836.

We proceeded to Curringa Farm near Hamilton. Staying in a working farm added to the list of new experiences in this trip for us.

Peaceful Curringa Farm chalet

We were excited to learn that platypuses could be seen in the lake by the farm. As it was just about the right time to see them, we waited expectantly by the lake for a fair amount time. It was a pity that we didn't see any. But the view of the sunset was spectacular.

Hoping to see a platypus at Curringa Farm.

Sunset at Curringa Farm

We had ordered a dinner package for two. Together with some vegetables that we picked up from a corner-store on the way, as well as the bottle of wine bought earlier at the Tamar Valley vineyard, these made up a very nice meal.

Dinner package prepared by Curringa Farm

In the evening, we were visited by a possum or two in the porch of the chalet.