Convict bricks built this bar and restaurant, but today you can build a drink at a special venue next to Launceston’s stunning Cataract Gorge.
Convict Built
Bits and pieces of an old convict-built watermill (it took 30 men to do it) make up the surroundings at Kings Bridge Bar and Restaurant.
It’s part of the Penny Royal Watermill hotel but quite separate from it. So even if you’re not staying here, you can order a glass of Tasmanian Boags beer (or a decent white) and a plate of fresh oysters and lemon. This is Launceston, a UNESCO City of Gastronomy – but it’s also Launceston – where locals don’t want to be over-charged.
$30 Burger, Chips and Beer
It’s also unfussy. Come here on Burger Night and get away with a house-made beef burger, chips and schooner of beer for $30.
The place is huge, dark on the inside and nicely served outside with outdoor tables in the sun. If you want one of the most photo-worthy al fresco lunches or summer suppers in Launceston, come here.
If you want to have a laidback, affordable lunch before or after you explore the wow-factor Gorge, steps away on Kings Bridge, don’t miss this.
Walking the Gorge
The Gorge, as Launcestonians call it, is the Cataract Gorge Reserve. It comes with a big sparkling turquoise water, twin children’s and adults’ swimming pool (free) with some of the best views in the world.
The swimming pools are open November to March and there are lockers and change rooms/rest rooms across the lawn, next to the barbecue stone shelter and above, the café.
People spend all day here in the summer.
Peacocks
And, as you may have heard, there are peacocks at the Gorge. Spectacular, fearless green-and-blue peacocks. And a ridiculously long chairlift, from which many feet have dangled over the years.
It’s hard to believe it’s all a brisk walk from the shops in town.
In Autumn and Winter, the Gorge can flood. The walking path can also be closed – so be aware. But it’s still a spectacular sight, standing on Kings Bridge after lunch, watching the rapids.
Tasmanian Oysters
If you’re on a Tasmanian oyster odyssey, Kings Bridge has to be on your list.
Pacific Oysters and Angasi Oysters thrive in the clean, cold Tasmanian water – which gives them their sweet, fishy, creamy taste. Plump and briny, served with a lemon wedge with local wine – they are hard to beat at Kings.
Need to Know
People forget the Gorge is floodlit at dusk and into the evening. Possum spotting is all part of the fun and you may see a wallaby in the bushes.
The Gorge is normally open 24 hours, so if you want to wander with a torch along the pathway, you may see your local Tasmanian marsupials in the wild.
The huge amount of wallaby droppings on the huge green lawns near the swimming pools lets you know – they’re never far away.
The marsupials’ dinosaur ancestors were here 65 million years ago – that’s how old the Gorge is estimated to be.
Good to Know
Leave the car and walk from town – it’s about half an hour to Kings Bridge Bar and Restaurant.
From there, you can easily spend another hour or two walking off lunch, by wandering over to the swimming pools, admiring the bandstand, photographing the peacocks or finding your way to the top of the place and catching a chairlift. There is also a swinging suspension bridge if you want to scare and thrill small children at the same time.
Details here.
