Huon Trail, Tasmania, Australia

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Having risen early we left the pit of a hostel and headed for a cafe that was recommended in the Rough Guide called the Foodstore (which according to the book had the best and biggest breakfasts in town). We went via Battery Point the cultural and historical centre of Hobart. The breakfast took time coming - but the fluffy pancake with stewed fruit and ice cream was so enormous D could not finish it! M had a cuppa and pikelettes (small pancakes which she did not finish either!).

We left Hobart and headed south-west, passing the original Cascade Brewery. This is a brewery established in 1824 in South Hobart, and is the oldest continually operating brewery in Australia. Leaving Hobart behind we started on the Huon Trail. After passing through Huonville which is located in the heart of the Huon Valley, we headed south to Dover. Dover is the southernmost town of its size in Australia, located on the western shores towards the southern end of the D'Entrecasteaux Channel, just south of the Huon Valley. At this point we took a deviation from the trail and headed to the coast and Roaring Beach. This is the only surfing beach on the western side of the Tasman Peninsula. The 900 metre long southwest-facing beach is located on the more exposed western coast 5 kilometres west of Nubeena.

South from Dover we then headed inland towards Adamson Peak and the Thermal Springs State Reserve where we stopped to pick up tickets for Hastings Caves. Whilst there we took a walk around the Thermal Springs, taking the shorter Platypus Walk (still not seeing any of the elusive beasts) confirming that the water was about 30 degrees centigrade. After this interlude we headed to the caves where it is possible to visit Newdegate Cave where we did the hourly tour. This cave is the jewel in the crown as apart from being richly decorated, it is one of the few dolomite caves in Oz. Inside are spectacular subterranean formations including flowstone, stalactites, columns, shawls, straws, stalagmites and unusual helictites. Strange and fascinating animals also live here with many never seeing the light of day. In fact, they are so adapted to life underground that they no longer need sight, and many have developed extra-long antennae for getting around.

Next we continued south on the main road to Cockle Creek - population 3 - which is as far south as it is possible to drive in Australia. From the nearby South Cape, if you were to somehow travel due west, the next landfall you’d make would be South America, and to the east it would be a narrow sliver of New Zealand with nothing beyond that until South America came around again. It was very windy and subsequently very cold too. This part of Tasmania is very exposed to the effects of the Roaring Forties winds that sweep around the world in these forties latitudes, bringing with them very changeable and often extreme weather. We finished up at the Right Whale Sculpture at Cockle Creek where we took some photos. We then travelled north (couldn't go any further south) past Southport and Dover to Geeveston where we found an excellent boutique B & B with an attached restaurant. All the rooms were named after bears. This small town is located on the Huon River and takes its name from William Geeves, an English settler. Geeveston is on the Huon Highway and is the gateway to the Hartz Mountains National Park (which is our planned destination for tomorrow).

We arrived sufficiently early to go for a drive to the Huon Peninsula which provided excellent views of Bruny Island and the D'Entrecasteaux Channel. We returned to the B & B for a 7 pm dinner which was excellent and, along with breakfast, more than made up for the previous evening.

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