24th February, Huon Trail, Tasmania, Australia
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 on the Huon Trail. After passing through Huonville we headed south to Dover taking the deviation to the coast and Roaring Beach. 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 critters) confirming that the water was about 30 degrees centigrade. After this interlude we headed to the caves where it is possible to visit Nudegate Cave where we did the hourly tour.
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. We finished up at the Whale Sculpture where we took some pics. It was very windy and subsequently very cold too. 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. 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.
