After a yummy breakfast (coconut rice pudding), we caught an UBER to the Cascade Brewery. This is the oldest brewery in Australia and was opened in 1932. The company operated as a sawmill from 1924. The tour starts in the visitor’s centre, which occupies the old family house and associated buildings. We collected our safety gear—hard hats, high-vis and safety glasses and headed across the road to the brewery building.

What followed was a crash course in making beer, which I had no idea about prior to this tour, including an explanation of the different types of beers. This was followed by a beer tasting. G and I shared one because he just had a couple of sips, and there was no way I would drink two paddles of beer. My favourite was the 4Pines ‘Enigma’ XPA, “described as a pale, light-bodied and slightly hazy XPA, with hints of pineapple, guava & lychee, and floral aromas.”

After the tasting, we decided to have lunch at the Cascade Brewery Bar. It was packed, but we got a high-top table, and G went up to the counter to order. Not long after, he came back with a couple of soft drinks and told me he hadn’t ordered any food because it was going to be at least a 45-minute wait, and we had places to be. After finishing our drinks, we had a quick squizz at the gardens, which were beautiful, and then wandered down the road to the Cascade Female Factory. This is another site in the group comprising the UNESCO World Heritage Australian Convict Sites. This was where female convicts were housed and put to work. The conditions were dehumanising, with the women assigned a class by the ships doctor when they arrived that controlled the conditions they lived in and the work they did. Some were sent out to properties to work, often becoming pregnant and being shipped back in disgrace to the factory for punishment. Of course, it was considered only a crime on the women’s behalf when, really, they most likely had very little choice in the matter. Children were removed from the women as soon as they were weaned, between three and nine months, so the mothers could be assigned to work and not be a “drain on the public purse.” Over the years, the factory was expanded to hold 700 women, but at its peak, it was massively overcrowded, holding 1200 women and children. We took a Convict Women’s Tour, which was very informative.

Very little remains of the original buildings, apart from the perimeter walls enclosing yards 1, 3, and 4, plus archeological remains and the Matron’s Cottage.

Afterwards, we wandered back along the Hobart Rivulet into town. I’d booked an early dinner at the Black-Footed Pig, which is down on the wharf, so after having a short rest in the apartment, we headed down there. The food was pretty good. We shared four tapas dishes, and the setting was lovely. We caught up with our friends afterwards, who were joining us for our walk the following day to lend them a watch charger because they’d forgotten theirs. Then it was back to the apartment to pack and get an early night.