Raspberries from Richmond TASMANIA…
as distinct from the towns of the same name around the rest of the world.

While I was unpacking groceries this morning, I remembered buying raspberries on a lunch tour to historic Richmond in Tasmania’s Coal River Valley region.  I checked my catalogues, and sure enough:  I took photos of them.  (I know, I’m obsessed.  I take photos of everything!).  Anyway, thought you might like to see them…

Fresh raspberries from Richmond Tasmania

Richmond Tasmania… Full of Surprises

The raspberries were a surprise find, actually.  I was wandering along the main shopping strip of the Richmond village, and there they were!  A young man was sitting under a shady tree and he had dozens of containers arranged on trays.  I bought two punnets, but when I tasted them, I was sorry not to have bought more.

Raspberries for sale in the main street of Richmond TAS

The original plan was to turn the raspberries into ice-cream, but so many were eaten fresh from the container, there wasn’t enough left.  I managed to save just enough to serve with pancakes on Sunday morning, doused with maple syrup.  Luckily the kids sampled the Tasmanian-made Valhalla ice-cream and raspberry sorbet from Sweets and Treats (the lolly shop) in Richmond, so everyone was happy.

Raspberry sorbet & Tasmanian made Valhalla ice cream

Raspberries, Lollies and Ice-creams?  Sweet!

The lolly shop is one of those old-fashioned types, with rows and rows of jars.  Bright and pretty, filled with all manner of toffees and jubes and jellies.  Some are wrapped, some are plain; some are boiled sweets and some are chewy.  There’s chocolates and mints and novelty knick-knacks.  And it’s a very popular place, judging by the amount of people squeezed along the counter.

Sweets and Treats lolly shop, Richmond Tasmania

Our group didn’t really need too many lollies, though (not that NEED ever comes into it).  We’d just eaten lunch at a lovely restaurant called Ashmore on Bridge Street – which was also filled to the brim during a sunny Tasmanian weekend.  Richmond is so close to Hobart, it’s a regular on the day-trip radar for tourists and locals.

Lunch tour: Ashmore on Bridge Street, Richmond Tasmania

Lunch Tour in Richmond Tas

A trip to the ladies room while dining at Ashmore’s is a little quirky.  The wait staff direct you out the front door, down the side driveway and out the back of the shop next door… to the dunny!!  I was a little apprehensive as I made my approach, to say the least.  But the look of the dunny from the outside doesn’t do justice to the standard of the bathroom, really.

The dunny! Maybe a unique experience in Richmond, Tasmania?

A Richmond lunch tour can be enhanced by some extra activities…

• tastings from the Tasmanian wineries in the area
• a safari bus tour at ZooDoo Wildlife Park
• tours of the heritage buildings, churches and bridges
• the many other attractions in Richmond Tas

For those in a hurry to travel Tasmania on a fleeting holiday, Richmond in the Coal River Valley can be incorporated in a driving tour to the Port Arthur Convict Settlement on the Tasman Peninsula from Hobart.

But I’d suggest making Richmond a Tasmanian destination all on its own.

Map: Richmond Tasmania…

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