Up and down the Tamar Valley

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We’ve had a couple of days driving and touring.

When we left St. Helens, we headed north west. The country was green and lush with fat dairy cows. We saw a turnoff to Pyengana and turned towards it. It was the Pyengana cheddar we’d bought at Hobart and it was delicious. We saw their cheese factory, tasted their cheddars, and bought some more.

The road became quite mountainous but very pretty with tall gums and tree ferns. We came to the north east coast and from there we headed west to the Tamar River. We drove up then down the Tamar Valley and then across the Batman Bridge to the other side of the river. Everywhere in Tasmania there are flowering gums – red, orange and pink – and rose bushes are full of flowers – I wish I could grow them like that.

After a night at Kelso, at the top of the western side, this morning we continued down the Valley, calling in to the little beaches and towns along the way. We shopped for food at Beaconsfield, known for the mine collapse and rescue of two trapped miners in 2006 (now that’s a surprise, I would have thought two years ago). We drove around the buildings, there’s a heritage mine display, but it didn’t appeal.

Instead we drove out to yet another town on the river, Beauty Point. There were two big sheds at the water edge – one was Seahorse World, the other Platypus World. We’d visited a seahorse farm in Western Australia and seen a few platypusses over the years so drove on by. The Tamar Valley is nice but we seemed to see the river constantly in low tide, this trip, not the best view.

The countryside up north however is green and cattle and sheep fat and healthy-looking. Small country towns often have a theme - we went through the town of Railton where there are topiaried animals along the main street, and to Sheffield, another town with murals painted on walls, showing as the town was in the early days.

Now we are back at Latrobe for the night. It’s been a hot day and another expected tomorrow – great weather for our last weekend here.

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Photos

A sign on a path to the beach
Sure, I'll tiptoe by, there'll be no racing along the path screaming blue murder - much!

Slipway, Gravelly Beach
I realised I'd drawn this in my travel diary 10 years ago