Much anticipated trip to Tasmania
28 Aug 2015
In April,19 members and friends left Melbourne on a much anticipated trip to Tasmania. Based in Hobart for 4 days, highlights included a visit to Mona, David Walsh’s 75 million dollar museum of ancient and modern art. The famous bridge in Richmond was a stopping off before arriving at Zoodoo a wildlife park where riding on an open safari bus, we experienced ostriches and camels up close (too close) during feeding time.
One of the highlights of the tour was the cruise, which took us along the Derwent River into the D’entrecasteaux Channel to the charming little coastal village of Peppermint Bay.
Features of the Huon valley tour includes the Forest Heritage Centre in Greevestown, and the Tahune Air Walk on the edge of the Southern National Park, a spectacular walkway above the forest canopy with a cantilever suspended 48 m above ground.
Heading westward on day 5 en route to Queenstown we stopped for lunch at Carringa Farm where our hosts Tim and Jane Parsons are 6th generation farmers in the picturesque Derwent Valley at Hamilton. There are 3000 sheep for wool and meat production, crops for seed and tourist cottages, a great example of diversification.
On the edge of the Tasmanian World heritage Area we were privileged to be able to view he Wall In The Wilderness, a work in progress by Greg Duncan, depicting the history of the central highlands area The Wall is being carved from 3m high huon pine panels and will tell the history of the of the harsh central highlands region beginning with the indigenous people then to the pioneering timber harvesters, pastoralists, miners and hydro workers.
Driving along the edge of the Lake St Clare National Park one could see in the distance, areas where one has ever set foot it was awe inspiring indeed.
From Strahan on the west coast we cruised down the Gordon River through Macquarie Harbour to Sarah island, the first penal settlement and the largest shipbuilding yard in the British colonies at the time.
Our visit to Cradle Mountain with Dove Lake in the foreground was one of the most beautiful sights one could imagine.
En route to Launceston there were several stops to enjoy, the murals on the buildings in Sheffield and the Steam Museum in Westbury being just a few.
Yet another cruise was along the Cataract Gorge and through Launceston’s riverfront precinct.
Our journey westward to the east coast was via Derby where there was an interesting and well presented visual history of the tin mining venture in the 1820s.
Our first view of the Tasman Sea was at St Helens then on down the spectacular East Coast via Scamander to the rugged and beautiful Freycinet National Park .
Our final stopover was in Buckland to see the historic church of St John the Baptist. Convict built in 1846 the church was constructed as a replica of the church at Cookham Dean in Sussex and is famous for it’s stained glass window.
Suffice to say it was a trip of superlatives with a driver/guide who bought so much insight and information about this jewel of a state.
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