Tasmania cont.

Feb 17^th to Feb 20^th

We had a wonderful day, as you would imagine, with Barry and his partner Carol. Greg and Barry had not seen each other for about 30 years, so there was a lot of catching up to do and over many drinks and 2 meals. Yep, from 12 pm until 10 pm we drank, ate, laughed, talked, drank, and ate, laughed and talked some more. It was a great day and it was good to see two old mates catch up with each other and hear their stories from the past.

Snug is situated on the D’Entrecasteaux Channel, waterside hamlets along the Channel include, Margate, Woodbridge and Kettering, where the vehicular Ferry takes visitors across to Bruny Island. The beautiful Oyster Cove Marina is also situated at Kettering. Along the Channel it is easy to spot the white sails of yachts and fishing boats. Kayaking is also very popular in this area. The Channel Hwy, which we have taken the opportunity to explore, takes you all the way to Cygnet, which is a creative community town on the west side in the Huon Valley. It is a lovely drive and you can take in the sights of orchards, pastures and deep green forests. Along the way there are many wineries, and a beautiful world class restaurant, Peppermint Bay. This restaurant is very popular with visitors and locals alike and can be reached by road or by sea, with a special cruise bringing people from Hobart on a fully guided journey. We would have loved to stop there for a meal but our budget unfortunately doesn’t allow that type of luxury.

There is also many photo opportunities on this drive, with Charlotte Cove, a gorgeous fishing inlet, and Verona Sands, a little seaside holiday destination, with its view out to Huon island being my favourite. We also stopped and picked some blackberries along the way which were very delicious.

Snug is a small town, but it does have a spectacular waterfall and the delightful Snug beach to entice tourists. Some people say once you have seen one waterfall you have seen them all; I totally disagree; each one is unique and they are all beautiful. Snug Falls is no exception; the walk to the falls was beautiful with its steep drops into the forest and some caves and brooks along the way. Coningham Beach is also a beautiful spot about a kilometre away, with its white sand beach and old boat sheds. There are some really beautiful homes there with spectacular views across the water.

Many people stop overnight or for a few nights at the Snug Caravan and Cabin Park. It is a popular stopover for those people in particular who want to take a day trip to Bruny Island or travel to Huonville for a ride on the jet boat. Snug is also not far from Hobart, so it is a good base to explore the whole Huon Valley and Channel region, as well venturing into the city. We met again with some people we met at St Helens, Peter and Cecily, who had just come back from Bruny and did the Huon jet boat ride. Also Llonda and Rosemary, our friends from Mayfield Bay have stopped at Snug for a little while. It was like old home week.

Greg and I have previously been to Hobart and done the whole tourist thing there, including the Salamanca Market as well as a jet boat ride at New Norfolk, so we are avoiding those activities this time around.

We delayed our trip to Bruny until tomorrow the 21st, due to the inclement weather. It was extremely wet on Saturday, the wettest day we have had and we didn’t want to pack up and then set up in the rain. The weather looks like clearing for the remainder of the week, so hopefully our trip to Bruny will be worthwhile. We are really looking forward to camping on the Cloudy Bay Lagoon, as well as taking in the Bruny Island Cruise. We hope to camp there for about 5-6 days, so my next post will be after that trip. Cheers till then.

Charlotte Cove fishing inlet

View at Coningham Beach

Boat sheds on Coningham Beach

Coningham Beach

View over the Huon Valley to the Huon River at Deep Bay

Holiday Shack on the Huon

House at Verona Sands with Tram Balconies

Huon Island from Verona Sands

Oyster Cove Marina at Kettering

View from Snug Beach

Snug Waterfall

Snug Beach looking towards Caravan Park

Snug Waterfall

Fishing Shack at Charlotte Cove

We are currently on Bruny Island and due to poor internet service was unable to post this blog earlier. Bruny Island photos and adventures will follow in next blog.