Huon Valley - The smell of Huon Pine

From Bruny Island, we continue on to the Huon Valley. The place which is famous for its Huon Pine tree, Huon River and the local produce like wine and cheese. 

There are many small towns around the Huon Valley. Many things to do here, kayaking, taking a boat cruise, jet cruise, horse riding, thermal hotsprings and so on! But we just went to the small town of Geeveston. Took a walk around the tidy little town where everything is emphasized on wood carvings. So we visited the Southern Design Centre which is quite a big shop, selling artisan furniture and crafts. 

The river in the town is also home to the platypus. But they are such shy animals, just show up for a second for a breath out of the water then gone! Oh no…. We haven’t seen any platypus in Australia yet! 
 

We bought a couple of T-bone steak from Geeveston butcher shop after being recommended by an uncle staying in the same caravan park in Bruny Island. It is the best T-Bone ever!!! Now, we’ll learn to buy meat from this small butcher shop, which is fresher and sometimes even cheaper!

In one of café, we also tried the Scallop Pie! We missed Hobart’s scallop pie so much that we must have a second try. It is curried scallop pie, which taste as good~ Ahhh. . .

 

 Arve River free camp

It is another good free camp spot here. With the sound of river flowing at night and the smell of huon pine campfire! The picnic area is provided with logs for campfire and has two toilets and some picnic tables. It is just located on the road to the famous Tahune Airwalk. There is a walking trail around the picnic area, into the deep forest!

 

Drawing in the air!

Hobart ~ Capital of Tasmania

 A beautiful beach in low tide, near Dunalley when on our way to Hobart.

It’s an hour drive from Tasman Peninsular to Hobart. Hobart is the largest and oldest city in Tasmania. 

Lobster cage! Lobster season starts from NOV - May....

Autumn in Tasmania

We bought fresh salmon from the Tassal Shop at Salamanca. Tassal specialize in farming atlantic salmon. It is cheaper to buy here than at the supermarket. So tonight we had a big feast sashimi, pan fried salmon, crispy salmon salad =) really fresh! YUMS.

We stayed at Treasure Island Caravan Park at $27 for unpowered site. Located about 15min drive from the city, it’s the closest caravan park we could find. They also offer shuttle bus to the Salamanca Market every Saturday for $15 return. But it is better to drive to the city and park your car in one of the council car parks (the first one and half hour is free of charge). From the car parks, you can take the free shuttle bus to the market. The free shuttle only operates on Saturday.

Salamanca Market***** held every Saturday at Salamanca is the best market in Tasmania. It has all the Tasmanian produce like wine, cheese, huon pine crafts, chocolate and many more. It’s interesting market. But the vege vendor sells at a more expensive price.

One of the many performances in the market. The young boy playing the didgeridoo (aboriginal musical instrument made from tree trunks which had been eaten by termites), guitar, and singing at the same time.

 Everyone knows this! Watch out under the skirt!

Creative metalworks... Iron Chef at work!

 Yummylicious Scallop Pie for $6. Two BIG scallops inside. . . MUST TRY! There's only one stall selling pies on the centre of the market.

Raspberry slice, really good!

We really enjoy walking this market, the best market we've been to. Because it has all the Tasmanian produce and handicrafts. The beautiful Huon Pine wood crafts is just fabulous, but to expensive to buy! But it is cheaper to buy here, than at Huon Valley.

Cascade Female Factory*, world heritage listed. It’s located near the Cascade brewery. There’s nothing much to see; only some of the building walls remain. There is a metal plate in the center, telling stories of the female convicts that were housed here from 1828.

Cascade Brewery***, since 1824. We tried their Mercury sweet cider, ginger beer and apple sparkling juice. The juice and ginger beer can be purchased from IGA supermarket. They provide tour of the brewery, museum gallery and tastings starting from $15.

Mount Wellington***** is a must go in Hobart. About 30 minutes drive from the city. The road up to the mountain will be closed during snowfalls. It’s a beautiful day to take in the view from the lookout. There are several walks from here, but we just decided to relax and look at all the beautiful islands.

That night, we dine at Mures lower deck which sells fish & chips, and seafood. We actually planned to dine at Mures Upper Deck (after a month++ of hard work, we ought to reward ourselves!!), looking at the menu, we decided to have a great feast of Seafood Platter ($79.90)! But there were no available seating for us. =( So we had to settle for the lower deck’s grill sword fish ($20.90) and scallop & fries ($14.90). The scallop tasted just average, really small =.= BTW the lobster at the Mures Upper Deck sells for $150 for whole lobster! OMG. . . so expensive. . .

Dessert of ice cream, $4.50 for two scoop at Lower Deck.

We only spent two days in Hobart. We thought there wasn’t much to see. The main highlights would be Salamanca Market (on Saturday only), Mt Wellington, and the small city. Other places of interest which we did not go is Cadbury Chocolate Factory ($7 entry fee which doesn’t show you around the factory, but you do get to learn about chocs from videos and staff, and you get a free choc block), MONA (Museum of Old and New Art, entrance fee $20).