The business is based around more than just one bear—there’s a huge range of lavender products on offer in the shop and cafe. I had refreshing lavender tea but didn’t buy a bear （apparently 11）Kiwis and Tasmanians never do）.
While in the area we headed to the hills to meet the kids—some 200 or so goats at the Yondover Farmhouse Cheesery at Tunnel. It was established four years ago by former West Australians Mike and Gina Butler who sell 14 different cheeses， fresh milk and plain yoghurt. We sampled a selection of their award-winning cheeses out on the deck with a view over the rolling valleys below.
On the west side of Tamar， the first winery we visited also turned out to be my favourite that day—Moores Hill at Sidmouth. This family-owned boutique winery specialises in estate grown single vineyard wines and co-owner Fiona Weller was 12）cock-a-hoop the day of our tasting as their 2012 pinot noir had just won gold at the 2014 Tasmanian Wine Show. I again drank instead of spat， despite the early hour.
The Cradle to Coast Tasting Trail is a relatively new tasting route based more on food than wine.
From the 13）plethora of food and wine producers to visit on this trail we opted for The Honey Farm in Chudleigh. It makes over 50 different kinds of honey and the shop was packed with Asian tourists spending up large. I bought a jar without realising you can’t bring Tasmanian honey back to New Zealand. The shop has free tastings of all its honey and other products—my pick was the hazelnut honey 14）nougat.
Try timing a trip to Launceston to coincide with Harvest Launceston， a weekly farmers’ market selling food and 15）beverages grown and produced only in Tasmania. Just 18 months old， it’s already proving a roaring success.
When we 16）snaffled the last space in the adjoining car park， a local offered us his parking ticket which had a fair amount of time left on it. That’s community for you.
It’s easy to overeat at this market. There’s everything from berries to burgers to beetroot to beef.