George Town a beautiful town on the edge of the gorgeous Tamar River. It is the third oldest settlement in Australia. I have only ever visited in summer months but I do understand it gets very cold in winter. The town is a blend of the historic on the edge of the river and residential further inland. It is surrounded by vineyards and orchards to be explored on another day. However, it is the Tamar River that is spectacular. Standing on the edge and looking out is mesmerising.
Today I said to Anthony we are staying local, exploring George Town. His response was that he has seen it all. Not through an outsider's eyes, so we started the day with the George Town Heritage Trail. This is a self guided walk with a brochure that we obtained from the Visitors' Centre. George Town has a rich history dating back to 1811.
The Heritage walk takes you past the many historic buildings, post offices, old watchhouse, pubs, banks and original cottages. It also leads you down to the Tamar River and the inlet. It was a beautiful day for our walk and took around 2 hours to complete. The walk was filled with Anthony’s stories of places and houses which were not on the Trail brochure. It might be worth adding them for a bit of laughter to the trail. The sad part of the walk is that there are many closed shops in the main street and these are being subjected to vandalism. Hopefully the economy will pick up for George Town.
One of the best little museums is the Bass and Flinders' Centre, a maritime museum. This is a brilliant tourist ‘must do’ when in George Town. We had a guided tour around the Centre and the tour guide was so knowledgeable about the nautical history of the area. I loved it! Inside the museum is a replica of the 'Norfolk' which was used to re-enact Bass and Flinders' adventures in 1998.
