Our original plan had been to drive from Eddystone to Lake Rosebery all in one go the next day, but we split it up by stopping at Launceston, the logical midpoint, for the night. As it turns out, there are Peppers Resorts (and also Peppers Retreats) all over Australia and New Zealand! We would have changed our hotel booking in Queenstown in New Zealand if the Peppers there hadn’t been completely booked. In fact, if we had known about Peppers from the start, we might have moved our whole travel itinerary around to accommodate for Peppers.

Peppers Seaport Hotel in Launceston was situated right at the edge of the port, as the name suggests. The hotel had a beach-going vibe, a low-riser with only 3 stories, as compared to the 18 stories at Peppers on Waymouth in Adelaide. The most basic room was a “studio,” which included cutlery, dishes, a teakettle, and a toaster.

With our meager cooking supplies, we heated water and made instant noodles that we’d purchased in Freycinet. For dessert, we had chocolate muffins from the Saint Helens grocery store. We relaxed — clean after a shower! — and watched multiple episodes of Friends. After a few episodes, we decided that we needed a pizza and desperately tried to figure out how to get one without leaving the hotel. Room service failed us (the restaurant downstairs only served gourmet Asian fusion food) and the pizza joints around town were no longer taking delivery orders at the time. Hayden had a consolation piece of toast with butter. We decided we’d definitely get a pizza when we reached Hobart.

The next morning, we ate at Cube Cafe, the breakfast joint downstairs in the hotel. Our table had a great view of the port through the window, and the food was so great. Hayden and I both ordered the Canadian breakfast — pancakes, eggs, and bacon.

I love Peppers.

We lugged our stuff back into the Micra, still lacking clean laundry but feeling much more rested. Next stop — Dove Lake!