Launceston has been chosen as the AFF Annual Gathering destination for 2023, occurring over the weekend of the 13 to 15 October. The average temperature range for October is 7ºC – 18.2ºC (November is 9.1ºC to 20.5ºC). The average rainfall is 48mm with 7.5 rainy days. It is Tasmania's second most populous city following Hobart – which held AFF#7 in 2013 – and Australia's 21st most populous overall.
In addition to the usual dinners, planned activities (all subject to confirmation) for Saturday include a visit to the Table Cape tulip farm in full bloom, Ashgrove cheese and/or Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm and/or Anvers chocolate, and a separate wine excursion along the Tamar River, perhaps including the Beaconsfield Mine (disaster) museum. On Sunday, a visit to Cataract Gorge and/or a cruise on the Tamar and if possible, a visit to the National Automobile Museum and the Boags brewery.
Costs are expected to be inline with past AFF Meet-ups, subject to fuel price increases!
However, the organisers have noted that wineries in the area who will take groups of more than 10 are limited. An alternative to the usual style of AFF-organised bus may be an externally-organised paid tour, but this would be more expensive - perhaps $170 including transport, lunch and tastings but this could take a bigger group. Those who may consider themselves 'Platinum' or 'Gold' may wish to express their willingness to pay for the second option if the usual style tour is not possible, to assist with planning.
Please make it known what activities you would be interested in (generally) when indicating attendance, so the organisers can gauge numbers before announcing final plans and itineraries. For example:
- interested/not interested in alcohol-based activities (vineyard/distillery/brewery),
- interested/not interested in food based activities (cheese/chocolate/fruit),
- interested/not interested in general activities (museums/flowers/cruise)., etc.
The lead organisers this year are @RooFlyer & @Steady , however they encourage all members local to Launceston (or surrounding areas) to raise their hands on helping coordinate the weekend.
The AFF Leadership Team can provide support in terms of money collection and distribution, and editing this thread as needed. If something needs to be updated, please simply report the post with the update so anyone on the team can action it (starting a conversation only alerts one person).
Links:
Tulips: VDQ Bulbs | Van Diemen Quality Bulbs
Ashgrove: Ashgrove Cheese, Tasmania, Australia
Christmas Hills: Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm Cafe
House of Anvers: https://www.anvers-chocolate.com.au/
Beaconsfield: Beaconsfield Mine & Heritage Centre
National Automobile Museum: N.A.M.T.
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