The Tasmanian Ripoff

The next day in my holiday started at 9am (local time) with us all very tired from travelling and having a late night. None the less we decided to have a walk through Launceston and get some breakfast. With a few brief exceptions it must be noted that it is near completely flat; and with the tempered air made for a lovely walk. It's important to note there are an astoundingly absurd amount of cafes in East Launceston, all of which I'm sure a brilliant; but one must wonder how they all managed to keep the doors open and the rent paid when you consider how small the population here is. After pondering this thought for a few moments we made our way to locating a Coles supermarket to gather some supplies for later and food for Hades.

We then decided to stop at a cafe` named “This Cafe” for breakfast. We both ordered a triple stack of pancakes with ice-cream and maple syrup; with Sarah getting berries included. Despite the fact we only got 3 pancakes each (I was always under the impression a stack was 4 pancakes and a triple stack was 12) they were nicely cooked and went well with the superbly creamy ice-cream and perfectly sweet syrup. After our leisurely breakfast we walked back to the apartment to plan our day.

After looking through the the assortment of pamphlets and travel guides we found inside our room we decided we didn't want to travel far today and settled on going to Tasmania Zoo. After a brisk 15 minute drive we rolled up to what in all honesty looked like some ones house with “Tasmania Zoo” written on it. As we entered through the sliding glass door we were greeted with a mostly open space, comprising of a ticket/food counter to the right and a small amount of merchandise to the left. We paid our $18 each to enter the park and an extra dollar for a map and exited the building through another glass sliding door. In front of us a large dirt area with wooden swings classified as “playground” on the map. To either side of the playground a series of what look like standard sized garden sheds although green in colour, with the front cut out and replaced with fencing wire.

Inside we found everything from all manner of birds and monkeys, a little further down a fenced area with emus, kangaroos and a deer; and some pits bordered with tin roofing sheets holding rabbits and Tasmanian devils. Right down the bottom we found some goats, a pony and we found 2 massive eagles in a tree. Needless to say we found somewhat ripped off by this whole experience. Even more so when we found out upon returning to our apartment and looking through a previously undiscovered travel newspaper that Tasmania actually has 2 other zoos both of which FAR better than the over advertised “Tasmania Zoo”. Unfortunately we won't have time to visit the other zoos while we're here, but I promised dee that we'll go to Taronga Zoo in Sydney on another trip.

When we made it back to the apartment our thoughts turned to dinner and we had already planned on trying this burger joint called “flip burger” who home deliver. We were excited because they have an option between a large or small burger with a large costing $12.50 and a small $10 so we were expecting something special. I ordered a double cheese burger with bacon, chips and ketchup and Sarah ordered a house special. Within 10 minutes there was a knock on the door, good sign right? $29.50 later we found out the story wasn't so great. I really wanted something to rave about, I wanted Flip Burger to shatter my conception of a burger in Australia, but it unfortunately wasn't to be.

Our “Large” burgers were actually the same size as a standard burger; which makes me wonder what the heck a small looks like. The meat also was chock filled with onion, which I'm sure to some people is a good thing, but to someone who is allergic to onion it's a terrible thing to happen. The cheese wasn't even layered correctly, instead the to meat patties where just on top each other then came 1 piece of cheese then a tiny piece of bacon, FOUR chips another piece of cheese and then some TOMATO! TOMATO, not ketchup, sliced tomato. There was no ketchup to be found. After removing the tomato and meat patties I was left with a standard white bun with a piece of cheese, bacon and 4 chips. Sarah's burger was meant to come with pancetta but they gave her standard bacon!! Another rip off. Lets hope tomorrow is a better day.