I drove into Campbell Town at about 2pm, looking for food. I had heard that Campbell Town was the place to eat on the Midland Highway, all I could see was Subway and Brumby’s (one of many in a bakehouse chain), I wanted a nice sit down, get served at your table kind of lunch, I just didn’t see any nice looking cafes.

I spotted an antique store and thought I might kill two birds with one stone, bird one: shop for antiques and bird two: ask where there is a good cafe. The shop had some beautiful antiques, but everything I liked was too big to fit in my car and not in the budget for this week. So I asked the proprietor where there was a good place to eat and she recommended Zep’s Cafe, about 6 doors down, I must have been blind because I completely missed it.

I’m so glad I asked though, because their food is delicious. I ordered a roasted vegetable wrap with ricotta and artichoke pesto, yyuummyy!! I had spotted a Tiramisu on my way to my seat and thought if I was still hungry after my meal, I would give it a go.  After finishing my wrap, I did think I had enough room for the Tiramisu, but once I ordered and started eating I realised my eyes were bigger than my belly and only got half way through it. What I did have was d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s. and I soooo wanted to finish it, but I didn’t want to feel stuffed on my drive home so I left it, with a tear in my eye.

When stepping out onto the street from the antique store I noticed some bricks, or tiles in the footpath that had writing on them. I had thought they were just decoration but when I took a closer look I realised they were a kind of plaque, each one representing a convict deported to Australia, or a ship, which brought the convicts here. Like the Hollywood walk of fame, only this is the Tasmanian walk of infamy.  Each tile stated the convicts name, age, the ship that brought them here, the crime they committed, the length of their sentence and what eventually became of them. Looking out the window of the cafe was a tile for 19 year old Joseph Speed, transported on the Albion in 1823 for pick pocketing, for which he was sentenced 7 years transportation; he was to go on to become the licensee of the London Inn in Tamworth New South Wales. Ah, the beginning of the Aussie “she’ll be right” spirit. Never let a little thing like being deported from your homeland get in the way of a beer.

To walk off my lunch, I strolled a little further along the street to admire the architecture. On my way back to the car I came across a wonderful little shop called A Little Piece of Heaven; looking very plain from the outside, I nearly walked by, but, luckily glanced in the doorway. I had to do a double take, for in front of me were shelves and shelves of hundreds and thousands of colourful lollies. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was like walking onto the set of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I couldn’t get the grin of my face, I felt like a five-year-old again seeing lollies I thought long extinct. ‘A little Piece of Heaven’ indeed!  

On my way back out of town, I pulled in to a street near The Red Bridge. This lovely little bridge has stood the test of time remarkably well.  Constructed by convict labour in 15 months and completed in 1838 it was designed for horse drawn traffic only and now takes 1 200 000 vehicles annually and has never needed major repair work. All the bricks were made locally alongside the site and the stone brought from Ross by handcart (about a half-hours drive away). Such a pretty little spot; I spent an hour just strolling the river bank taking photos and enjoying the peacefulness of my surrounds. There were  some ducks swimming on the river who, when I went down to the water’s edge to get some closer shots, came up to have a good stickybeak (no pun intended) at what I was up to.