National Park Wineries: Ben Lomond & Tamar| Pepper Bush Adventures

Ben Lomond & Tamar Valley Vineyards

National Park & Wineries Tour – Rugged Alpine Peaks and the vineyards of the Relbia Wine Region

The Experience – Departs Launceston
A day of contrasts on this Tasmania day tour while visiting the magnificent craggy alpine peaks of Ben Lomond National Park before moving on to the beautiful Tamar Valley region for for wine tastings and lunch.

Ben Lomond National Park
The spectacular Ben Lomond plateau is the largest alpine plateau in Tasmania, and is a mountain environment with extensive and dramatic dolerite cliffs and columns. Its scree slopes, swirling mists and frost-stunted forests are reminiscent of a Tolkien landscape. In departing Launceston or Scottsdale, we travel diverse landscapes before arriving at the Base of Ben Lomond. In making the climb we drive up Jacobs Ladder, a series of hairpin bends to marvel at the breath-taking view from the platform at the top. The Ben Lomond plateau has 8 of the 20 highest peaks in Tasmania and it has the highest drivable point in Tasmania where Bennett’s wallaby and wombats may be seen in daylight hours.

Thursdays to Sundays – Lunch at Timbre Kitchen – The Timbre Kitchen is a restaurant within the Velo Wines complex. Cooking on coals and fire, smoke, and wood, controlling the chaotic. This is Timbre. A unique note in a symphony of flavour.
Velo Vineyard Cellar Door – Velo has enjoyed success with an award-winning range of vibrant fine wines: Vintage Sparkling, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet/Merlot and Shiraz
The Tamar Ridge Cellar Door at Rosevears Estate – is on the western bank of the picturesque Tamar River just north of Launceston. The full range of Tamar Ridge wines and Pirie Sparkling can be tasted at the cellar door as well as a range of the Devil’s Corner

Monday to Wednesdays – Josef Chromy Wines – A stunning location to experience superb Tasmanian wines and fine cuisine made with fresh local produce. The Josef Chromy Vineyard Restaurant provides a truly unique location for you to experience sensational views that overlook the picturesque lake and vineyard. Listed as one of the Top 10 Cellar Doors of Australia, Josef Chromy is the perfect venue for a memorable and relaxed Tasmanian food and wine experience
Velo Vineyard – You will enjoy the wine, the knowledge, and the relaxed character of the cellar door personnel. The vineyard has particular significance with the first vines planted in 1966 by Tasmanian wine industry icon Graham Wiltshire with plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir, making the Cabernet vines some of the oldest in Tasmania, a fact not lost on people with wine knowledge who understand the importance and influence of vine age on grape quality.

Product Reviewed June 2022

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Departure & Duration	Private Charter Tour – 7 hours 9.30 am from Launceston & Scottsdale 2 person price minimum departure
Schedule	9.00 am – Depart Launceston or Scottsdale 10.00 am – Ben Lomond National Park 12.15 pm – Josef Chromy Vineyard and Lunch 2.30 pm – Velo Vineyard 4.00 pm – Return
Inclusions & Terms	Pepper Bush Guide/Vehicle Parks Pass Wine tasting & vineyard restaurant lunch Cancellation – 30 days prior to departure date – forfeit 100%

Great personalised tour of Ben Lomond I did a personal tour of Ben Lomond National Park in early November 2022. I enjoyed my experience thoroughly. You need a certain type of vehicle to get into Ben Lomond National Park and I found it fascinating. My guide made plenty of stops along the way, I had lots of photo opportunities and the scenery is just stunning. I highly recommend. It's a great spot off the beaten track that a lot of tourists dont' think to go to. The wildlife is lovely as well as the lookouts and scenery. Very peaceful place. Even received some delicious fresh sandwiches from the award winning scottsdale bakery. Yum :) Thanks for a great half day trip.

Michelle P

25/02/2023

Tassie wildlife We did a 3 night / 2 day tour enjoying both Mt William & Ben Lomond NP our guide was informative and the meals supplied were more than sufficient The best part was watching the playful baby quolls enjoying their evening seach for food, so small, playful and moved so fast

MAW

09/12/2022

Lifelong memories My wife and I had booked the Canopy Capers’ excursion with ‘Pepperbush Adventures’ as part of our road trip in Tasmania. Ben came promptly at 5 pm and we were taken to a nearby irrigation pond to look for platypuses. Whilst there were a few glimpses it was very difficult to see as it was quite windy so the water was quite rippled. We left there and drove to an area of private land where there was a small cabin overlooking a lake. There were some kookaburras, and we saw some pademelons and some possums. Ben prepared a meal for us to eat - there was an appetiser tray of smoked wallaby and smoked chicken, salmon, grapes and strawberries. After that he cooked steaks on the barbecue which we had a with some beans, new potatoes and salad. We finished off with some cheesecake and fruit. There was wine and soft drinks to accompany our meal - pre-arranged with the company. We stayed until it got dark. Although the animal sightings were rather scant, this was offset by the passionate and educational input from Ben. He is the consummate host / guide and we greatly enjoyed learning so much about the flora and fauna of the area. The next day we enjoyed a full day out with Ben on another excursion - aptly named ‘The Quoll Patrol’. Ben arrived just before 11 am as arranged. We had another look for platypuses but again the sightings were fleeting even though it was much less windy. We then had a long drive into Ben Lomond National Park in the extreme north-east of Tasmania. We had periodic stops, whenever there was a wildlife sighting or a point of interest. We had a stop at a lookout where we had lunch - rolls and sandwiches bought from the cottage bakery back in Scottsdale. We drove further up to reach Ben Lomond village - it was only 5 degrees there. We stopped to look at the interesting geological formations - 300 metre tall dolorite columns with huge areas of rocky boulders beneath. Ben dropped us at the village - we did a short trail for about 20 minutes where we met up with him again waiting for us in the car. We drove back down from the National Park and again made a number of stops, smelling and tasting some of the roadside plants. We reached our final destination, a cabin surrounded by pasture. Ben set the fire and we were able to view and feed the kangaroos which lived there - it was an unofficial nature reserve of about 100 acres. The original kangaroos had come from Bonorong and now numbered about 40. It was a very engaging experience watching the kangaroos as we had our first course - a range of appetisers similar to the previous day. Ben then prepared wallaby meatballs with onions and courgettes. We thought this was the main course but later we were given some salmon and salad - my wife couldn’t eat any more as she was full already. The dessert course was chocolate fudge cake served with raspberries and blackberries. During the evening we sat beside the fire, watching the Eastern Quolls appearing, followed by the pademelons and finally the possums. As it got dark there was a long drive back to Scottsdale. We were exhausted at the end of the day but felt utterly thrilled by the experiences we had. As a guide Ben is truly fantastic. His personable nature, coupled with his commitment to the natural world, will remain in our memories. We thoroughly enjoyed his company - such a kind and generous spirited man. PS. We went to the irrigation pond on our last day as we were leaving Scottsdale and guess what - we saw two platypuses at the surface of the water. We managed to bag some quality photos - result! Thanks again, Ben. You’re a top guy. Good luck with your new hobby of crafting in metalwork.

Owen Thesaints

07/12/2022

A fantastic wildlife experience The 2 days we spent with Craig was the highlight for us of a month travelling around Tasmania and a fantastic opportunity to see wildlife, especially the nocturnal creatures you don't usually get to meet. Craig has a wealth of knowledge and experience of living in the bush, so we learned alot about the flora and fauna of the north-east part of Tasmania and saw platypus on several occasions, along with wallabies, echidnas , kangaroos and, padmelons during the day. The Canopy Capers and Quoll Patrol experiences are both amazing. After a great meal in the open air, we watched as the wildlife drew near at dusk - possums, quolls, wombats. It's an incredible, magical experience, I can't recommend enough.

Island Sue

10/04/2020

A great wildlife experience A great day with Bushy seeing visiting Ben Lomond, learning so much about the flora and fauna of Tasmania, topped off by a delicious bush meal, sharing the site with possums, quolls, wombats and more

D H

31/03/2020

A Wonderful Backwoods Experience With Bushy The Ben Lomand and Quoll Patrol adventure was fantastic. We drove up Jacob's ladder at Ben Lomand and Bushy took us into the forest for exploring. Dinner at the cabin and the night adventure with the Kangaroos, Wallabies, Paddymellons and Quolls was a highlight. You can't believe the wildlife here.

Laura R

24/03/2020

Marvellous Some good walks and opportunity for wildlife viewing. The evening barbecue with kangaroos, wallabies and quolls was magical. A very good insight into local life - the farming and cheese making. Fabulous scenery all around.

Sally G

11/03/2020

Amazing We had a 1 day tour with Craig and it was truly amazing. Started with a sighting of a platypus and then an echidna. A great scenic drive up Ben Lomond via Jacob's ladder and then sightings of some iconic wildlife including wombats, quolls, tawny frogmouths and wallaby's and kangaroos. The bush supper with quality wines was a great success. We loved the whole experience.

LondonWelshboyo

07/02/2020

Outstanding bush experience, some of the best wildlife viewing in Tasmania We thought we had already had some amazing wildlife experiences in Tasmania, but Ben's Quoll Patrol with us was truly over the top. Lots of wildlife, including a number of elusive quolls. You have to see it all to believe it! Kangaroos, wallabies, pademelons, bushy-tailed opossums, eastern quolls, short-snouted echidna, come to mind. Meeting his mob of kangaroos is an experience not to be missed. And on top of it all, Ben cooked us an excellent meal out there in the bush. All in all, a very memorable experience.

LafayetteJohn

Outstanding experience in the Tasmanian bush We spent 9 hours with Craig who took us to the Ben Lomond National Park and its surroundings, watching for a wide variety of Tasmanian wildlife. This ended with an excellent and copious dinner he cooked around a fire in the open surrounded by Kangaroos, Wallabies, Wombats, Pademelon, Possums....and even sighting a platypus and a quoll. We are amazed by the extent of Craig's knowledge of the bush, its flora and fauna and his ability to communicate his passion for them to us. He enabled us to experience at first hand many examples of the plants and animals unique to Tasmania. An amazing and unforgettable experience.

Peter B

26/01/2020

Ben Lomond and Tamar Valley Vineyards

Ben Lomond & Tamar Valley Vineyards

National Park & Wineries Tour – Rugged Alpine Peaks and the vineyards of the Relbia Wine Region

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