A Family Trip to Launceston, Tasmania

 

By Mark – Jabble Musashi Kosugi

 

 

Earlier this year, my older son and I took a trip to Launceston in Tasmania to visit my family.

 

We were both pretty excited about the trip because neither of us had ever been to Launceston before. I had heard a lot about Tasmania from my family, but there’s a big difference between hearing about somewhere and actually seeing it for yourself.

 

Getting there was a bit of a journey.  

 

There aren’t any direct flights from Japan to Launceston, so we had to fly to Sydney first and then take another flight to Tasmania.

 

The flight to Sydney was already quite long, and then we had a bit of a wait at the airport before our connecting flight. By the time we finally headed to Tasmania, we were both pretty tired.

 

However, the flight into Tasmania was actually one of my favourite parts of the journey.

 

Looking out of the window, I could see farms and huge open fields below us. The sunset and clouds made the scenery look incredibly dramatic. It was completely different from the views you usually get when flying over a big city.

 

When we finally arrived in Launceston, the first thing I noticed was the air.

 

It was winter in Tasmania, and the air felt incredibly crisp and fresh.

 

We had experienced some winter weather while we were at Sydney Airport, but Sydney was relatively mild. Tasmania was definitely colder!

 

We arrived in the afternoon, and after such a long journey, my son and I were exhausted. We didn’t do much that first day. We went to bed early and slept extremely well.

 

The next day, my family took us around Launceston.

 

One of the first things I noticed was how quiet the city was.

 

Launceston is definitely much smaller and more relaxed than Sydney or Melbourne. It felt very peaceful, but at the same time, it didn’t feel empty or boring.

 

There were quite a few nice cafés around the city, so naturally, checking out some of them became one of our first activities.

 

We also explored some of the shops, including a few toy stores.

 

My older son has been really interested in ships recently, and so when we found a cruise ship building kit similar to a Lego one, I decided to buy it for him.

 

And Actually it was a good thing it wasn’t Lego. 

 

Earlier, at Sydney Airport, my son had seen an actual Lego cruise ship (it was the Titanic) that he really liked. Unfortunately, it cost around a thousand Australian dollars!

 

That’s a little more than I wanted to spend on a toy. The one we found in Launceston was much, much cheaper, so it was an easy decision.

 

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One of the things I really liked about Launceston was how close you are to nature.

 

You don’t have to travel far outside the city to feel like you’re somewhere completely different.

 

One of the city’s main attractions is Cataract Gorge, and depending on where you are in the city centre, it’s only about a 5-to-20-minute walk away.

 

The Gorge was one of the highlights of our trip. The scenery was beautiful, and we also got to see some wildlife. I was surprised by how peaceful it was, especially considering how close it is to the city centre.

 

I was also surprised to see quite a few international tourists there given it was a weekday, and Launceston itself was relatively quiet. 

 

That was another nice reminder of how useful English can be when travelling.

 

Travelling is one of the best reasons to learn English. You don’t need perfect English to enjoy a trip, but being able to communicate makes travelling much easier and gives you more opportunities to meet people and have interesting experiences.

 

At Jabble, we want our students to be able to use English in situations like these—not just answer questions from a textbook.

 

Because when you’re travelling, you never know what conversation is going to happen next.

 

And that’s what makes it exciting.

 

 

See you at Jabble Musashi Kosugi!