25 October 2013 - Snug Beach Cabins & Caravan Park, Snug, Tasmania

The gales blew all night and rain fell intermittantly. Our neighbour remarked this morning that their caravan had rocked and rolled all night, however Chris and I could see why; they do not have their stabilising legs down, and when asked why not, the master of the van said he couldn’t be bothered. Let them rock and roll!

We headed off on our day’s exploration soon after 9 am and headed back to Margate and then north east up into the hills to Sandfly at about 178 metres ASL where this minor through road meets the Huon Highway. From here it was just nineteen kilometres of excellent road down into the Huon Valley and its commercial centre, Huonville.

Despite its status, the population is a mere 1,700 or so. This is the centre of a traditional apple growing area, although most of the orchards seem to be fairly modest. This would account for the fact that the Tasmanian apple growers have used their few but very loud voices for many years, keeping foreign imports out, most particularly New Zealand’s own excellent produce. Alas, those restrictions were lifted in very recent years however I have still not seen familiar apples in the stores. Today, here and further affield, we saw apples for sale all along the roadside, and being out of season, all sitting in refrigerated cabinets.

Apple growing has been in decline since the 1950s and today cherries and aquaculture are the main providers of income to the region, particularly the latter. We saw dozens upon dozens of circular structures in the river, particularly downstream from Port Huon, advertising the importance of fish farming, and it would seem from the signwriting seen that it is salmon which populate these strange dwellings.

We travelled down the western bank of the river, significant at Huonville where it is bridged, but soon becoming wide and very impressive. It is the fourth largest river in Tasmania, at a length of 170 kilometres, starting from the Scotts Peak Dam at Lake Pedder, part of the lake system in the Franklin-Gordon Hydro project, visited last week from Hobart. It is tidal all the way upstream to Glen Huon, where it flows down rapids, and then on past Huonville and toward the sea. In the lower reaches, the average depth of the river is three metres and and at its maximum, twelve metres. When it meets the Tasman Sea near Surveyors Bay, it is more than five kilometres wide.

Boats at Franklin

At Franklin, we parked near the Wooden Boat Centre but rather than explore this tourist attraction, wandered along the jetty where we found an amazing assortment of boats tied up.

The town, with a population of just over three hundred people, now survives on the tourist trade, with a  special emphasis on wooden boat building. A shop, workshop and small museum opens to the public, however this would have appealed more to my older son who is in that trade, rather than us. We remained satisfied with the completed craft at the jetty.

Franklin was established back in 1848, first named Huon, renamed in 1853 as Franklin-Huon and finally just Franklin in 1878. Potatoes and other vegetables were first grown in the area, but by the late 19^th century, it had become part of the apple orcharding area. Nowadays there are a variety of agriculatural pursuits, most likely none terribly lucrative, however it was here we purchased potatoes and onions from a road stall. Chris said I paid too much; I am satisfied I have contributed to the State’s black market.

Geeveston's timber sculptures

We stopped briefly at Geeveston, the gateway to the famous tourist attractions, the Tahune Airwalk and the Hartz Mountains National Park, which lie nearly thirty kilometres to the west. The town promotes itself as Tasmania’s Forest Town and has a number of wooden scupltures decorating the town. We were particularly taken with the façade of the Bakery, in fact drawn in, in search of a yummy pastry to supplement our cut lunch. Alas there was nothing that leapt out at us screaming “Buy me!” so we left empty handed.

Reaching Suveyors Bay, we left the main road and took a lesser road on around the river bank, past clusters of holiday baches, and then re-joined the main road at Dover. With a population of just less than 1,000, Dover is the southernmost town of its size in Australia. Originally named Port Esperance when the post office opened in 1856, it was renamed Dover in 1895; however the bay retains that name.

Views across the river

Today it is a fishing and holiday village, with a few more significant sized apple orchards in the surrounding hills. The populated or cultivated area on this western bank of the river is a narrow strip with a backdrop of forest. Milling has been the main source of income for the greater part of the European settlement, although today it is only from the plantations rather than the tall stands of old forest in the more rugged reaches.

The last leg of our downriver drive took us to Southport, which like Dover, was firstly established as a convict probation station. For many years it was an important supply centre south of Hobart. Today it seems little but a holiday spot as well as a base of the barges which service the fish farms. It was here near the beach we sat and ate our lunch, lamenting the incessant showers and the lack of a sugar bun. From time to time there would be a break in the weather, the sun would come out, the occasional rainbow would promise an improvement, and then a squall would come over to destroy the moment.

Near the Arve River

Fed and watered, we headed back upriver, this time keeping to the main road as far as Geeveston, where we turned toward the Hartz Mountains and travelled up over the Arve Spurand down to the Arve River Picnic Area where we set off on the very  short riverside walk, through mud and pungas, or tree ferns, under glorious red beech trees, all dripping rain and all very beautiful. The Arve River was already up high under the bridge and by now, as I write this evening will be even more so.

Now exercised, we returned to the Huon Highway and Huonville, and here turned downstream on the northern bank. A few kilometres on we turned north and headed up into the mountain heights, through the tiny settlements of Pelverata and Kooata, the latter at an altitude of 431 metres ASL and back down to Sandfly before retracing our route back to Margate and Snug.

We passed a road marked “Tramway” and another “Coal Mine Road”, but there was no evidence of where these references came from. Later I learned that the Sandfly Colliery Tramway, also known as the Kaoota Tramway, was a twenty kilometre tramway linking the Kaoota coal mine to Margate. It was constructed between 1905 and 1906, climbed 457 metres ASL and crossed ten bridges. After coal mining ceased, the tramway was used to transport logs, fruit and passengers. The line was lifted and abandoned in 1922 after bushfires destroyed several bridges along the line. Apparently about six kilometres of the old track still used as cycling and walking tracks; perhaps we will have time to walk some of it? We are extending a further day.

Chris did ask me today as I navigated him up and down some wondrous roads whether I intended that we should “do” every road in Tasmania? Alas, not possible in seven and a bit weeks, but I am doing my best! Today we travelled about 245 kilometres.

The weather forecast promises temperatures of 7 degrees tomorrow morning rising to 15 degrees during the day, on-going showers, complete with gale warnings. It would seem there is little change expected for the next week.