LAUNCESTON CENTRAL

NESTLED AT THE CONCLUDING point of the Tamar Valley estuary and a 2.5-hour drive north of Hobart, Launceston is fast erasing its somewhat dead-end reputation, thanks in no small part to a host of locals who are giving the working-class Tasmanian city a new lease of life.

Its inner-city architecture is largely colonial and dotted with petite, pruned gardens that contrast the wild beauty of nearby Cataract Gorge. The wealth of incredible, locally grown produce makes for buzzing farmers’ markets that are brimming with smallgoods, breads, preserves, cheese and more, outshining – I’ll wager – anything you can