Tassie - The Huon Trail

Famous for delicious apples.

The Huon Valley and the entire Huon Trail, have captivated us. The waterways, the forests, the mountains, the gorgeous little villages and towns, the amazing variety of fresh produce, the wonderful cafes and restaurants, and friendly people, make this our favourite part of Tasmania.

We started our stay in the far south, at the lovely little town of Dover. The caravan park is right opposite the beach, nestled under a hill. It is a fantastic setting, and such a shame that the manager is without doubt the most rude, unfriendly, unhelpful person, we have met in Tasmania. Thankfully, the setting soothed me, but I can tell you that this guy is single handedly dragging the gay community of Tasmania down. Bitch!! But not even he, could take the gloss off our stay.

On an early morning walk, we met a couple walking their Scottish Highland Terrier called Fergus. They explained to us that the area was popular with Hobart based people, like them, who had a "shack" in the region. Some of the "shacks" are quite grand. The towns therefore have a lot more houses than people, and the services of the towns seem minimal for the number of homes. They did tell us the good spots to go to eat, and there weren't many!! We met them at The Post Office Restaurant that night. It only opens for dinner, and only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but it is good. We shared some magnificent, local Dover mussels, and a terrific wood fired pizza.

The coast near Southport.

The Whale Sculpture at Cockle Creek.

Driving south, the scenery is just one wow after another. We travelled through the township of Southport, a real holiday centre full of "shacks" set around a beautiful bay. A little further along the way is the tiny village of Ida Bay, home to a small gauge railway that uses an old mining track to run tourists to the waterfront and back. We opted not to wait the 2 hours until the next run, and instead kept going south through the magnificent forests that line the shore, all the way to Cockle Creek, as far south as you can drive your car anywhere in Australia. Entering the National Park, we then walked out to the Whale Sculpture, a magnificent life size bronze sculpture of a Southern Right Whale calf, that represents both a tribute to the whaling industry long ago, and the fact that the species has come back from the brink of extinction. So now we can say we have been to the extremities of our country to the North, South and East!! Only one to go!!!

Giant Swamp Gum.

North of Dover, is the timber town of Geevestown. We took the coastal drive through Police Point, which winds right along the water, past fish farms and processing plants, as well as through some wonderful grazing country, and some little bays full of "shacks", almost on the beach. It is a magnificent drive. We stopped at one of the many roadside honesty stalls, and bought our first bag of apples. Royal Galas, and they are so crisp and fresh, and only cost $2 per bag! 

Cantilever on Tahune Airwalk.

Ready to walk the
suspension bridge.

Geevestown is quaint, and has a Timber Heritage Centre to tell us about the history of the industry in the area, and can sell us our ticket for the famous Tahune Airwalk, which is about 30kms away in the unbelievable forests, which are home to the tallest hardwood trees in the world. Most are Swamp Gums and Grey Gums, and they are huge, the tallest being 100metres tall. The airwalk is amazing, as it winds through the tree tops. It creaks and it sways, and the cantilever, out over the river, is only for the brave. Carol is brave. John took one look at how it was swaying, and chickened out! Having completed the airwalk, we decided to do the long way back, over the two swing bridges. It was a beautiful walk among the forest giants, and across the swinging bridges, back to the car park. A Wonderful afternoon, ended with us stopping off along the way back, at all the marked forestry attractions. The Big Tree was awesome, and the Walk Above the Waters were the picks.

The Wooden Boat Centre.

A little further north is another quaint township called Franklin. It is set on the water, among the apple orchards. Our reason for a stop here, other than coffee at Petty Sessions Cafe, was The Wooden Boat Centre. Here the old crafts of wooden boat building are being kept alive, through students doing TAFE approved courses, building wooden boats. You may have read, or seen on TV, how famous chef Tetsuya, has built a traditional wooden boat, utilising the famous huon pine, and other wonderful local timbers. This boat was built here, and is currently undergoing final fitout just up the river. It was a great tour for two, with a guide, full of passion and salt water in the veins.


We moved from Dover after four nights, and travelled across to the village of Cygnet, and the local caravan park. The park is very basic, but it is the area we want to be in. The manager, Ronnie, is unbelievably helpful, going out of his way to make sure we are happy with our site. It is quite funny, really. We look like the Queen Mary 2 at a row boat regatta! The park is full of some very basic permanents in beaten up old caravans, as well as dozens of small igloo tents, belonging to the backpackers who are in town to pick apples and strawberries. Along the way, and just out of town, we stopped at Pop's Place, a roadside honesty stall, full of fresh fruit and vegies, to stock up the larder. The quality, selection and cheap prices are terrific.

Pop's Place - Roadside produce.

Cygnet is very quaint. It is a bit alternative, with lots of hippies stuck in the '60s, as well as a lot of gays. Around town, you've never seen so much untidy long grey hair, dreadlocks and harem pants. There are some great cafes in town, especially The Red Velvet Lounge and The Lotus Eaters Cafe. Both had been written up in the Sunday papers, and Carol had kept the articles to be sure we didn't miss a trick! Both were excellent.


A short drive across the peninsula, are the trendier towns of Kettering and Woodbridge. Not many "shacks" here! Kettering has a huge marina, and is the departure point for the ferry to Bruny Island. For many months now, we have been carrying the name of the Woodbridge Smokehouse around with us. We had seen it on the telly, with famous chef Maggie Beer, singing its praises, so we said we had to go when in the area. It proved difficult to find, but a chat with Christine, waitress at the Mermaid Cafe on Kettering Marina, set us on the right path. It is hard to find because it doesn't sell to the public, but Christine assured us to "just mention my name", so armed with directions we set off. We pulled up at a large shed, set high on a hill in an apple orchard. We walked up to an open door, where inside was a guy on the phone. He held up his hand and indicated to give him five minutes. After 15 minutes, he stuck his head out the door and yelled "help yourself to an apple, I'll only be a minute". Three apples later, we finally met Roger Scales (great name for a man who works with fish!), owner of www.woodbridgesmokehouse.com.au What a character!! We really hit it off straight away. We got a tour of the smokehouse, a history of his life and business, a tour of the farm, and when we told him we had sold up and were travelling around Australia, we got a tour of his house, much to his wife's surprise, followed by a sales pitch for his house! He is building a new house further up the hill, and thought we would make really nice neighbours! We waved goodbye to Roger, his wife and two dogs, and left, suitably weighed down with packets of the most wonderful smoked ocean trout, oh and a lemon he picked off the tree, with instructions to "just wave it past the fish as you eat it"!! This was just one of those great moments in life!! We giggled all the way back down the hill.

The isthmus that separates North and
South Bruny Island.

Bruny Island was an all day trip. We had been here when we did the fantastic adventure cruise with Lynne and Paul, and knew then, that we would come back. We started the day at the Mermaid Cafe, and coffee with waitress Christine, where we reported back on our successful visit to the smokehouse.Bruny Island is quite large. It has a North and South side separated by a long isthmus, that is also a penguin rookery. We climbed to the top of the long wooden staircase, built over the dunes, and could see the hundreds of burrows built by the tiny penguins. The view from up top was fantastic.

Carol at Bruny Island Lighthouse.

Bruny is sparsely populated, with only about 650 permanent residents. Again there are lots of "shacks" owned by non residents. The island is famous for the adventure cruise, its beaches and protected waterways, its rugged scenery and for its produce. We sampled it all. We drove from one end of the island to the other. We sampled fantastic Get Shucked oysters, magnificent Bruny Island cheeses and wood fired bread, delicious berries from the berry farm, beautiful soft Pinot Noir at Australia's southern most winery, and had a great lunch at the Bruny Hotel, which surprised us with a Ceasar Salad with a difference. It was topped with crumbed local oysters! Yum! 

Lunch at Peppermint Bay

The final Sunday at Cygnet first saw us at the local market, held every second Sunday. It was an amazing array of locally grown, fresh produce, plus some extraordinary locally made breads, cakes, pies, sauces and relishes. We topped up, including a piece of a wonderful English style pork pie, that tasted as good as it looked! From the market we drove back over to Woodbridge, this time to have lunch at Peppermint Bay, a quite famous out of town eatery. You can actually take their fast catamaran from the Hobart waterfront to the jetty at the restaurant, have a great lunch, and get the boat back, and on a beautiful sunny day the boat was pretty full. We picked a table out on the deck of the bistro, overlooking the water, just perfect for a casual lunch. We shared a lamb & pickled zucchini panini, with some great hand cut chips and aioli, washed down with a glass of Tassie Pinot Gris, just delicious!! 

Fresh fish off the trawler.

Following lunch, it was one last visit to the Kettering Marina, and this time we stumbled across a local fisherman, standing on his trawler, filleting fresh fish, and selling it to anyone who wanted to buy. Guess who was at the front of the queue? So now the freezer is full of fresh fish fillets again, this time morwong, stripey trumpeter, which the locals call the best fish in the sea, and some cod.
So our stay in the Huon area has come to a close. We have loved every minute of it. It is very much our lifestyle. Who knows Roger? We just may be neighbours yet!!!! Keep smoking those  trout, as it will be a condition in the contract!!!