Franklin, TAS.
We were excited to get a glimpse of Hobart - this time we drove straight through but we still admired it's beauty with all the hills and rivers. We headed to the East of the Huon River but it was too windy and the campground had seen better days, so we did a quick Wikicamps search and found a little camp up on the other West side of the river and were pleasantly surprised. We arrived at Franklin and enjoyed a beautiful 4 days at the foreshore campground, home of many beautiful old boats and lots of ducks. We had a duck family with newly hatched ducklings living in a tree near our camp. One night we saw a Eastern Barred Bandicoot jumping just beside out caravan - these are threatened species on the main land due to foxes but there are obviously some living in this little corner of Tassie.
The campground was just behind the main street of town as well at the playground. We enjoyed a nice walk through town, learning about the history, and making our way down to the marina. The kids loved seeing all the yatchs up close , especially the really old ones made from Huon Pine, which we had learnt about the week before in Strahan.
The weather was a bit wet and cold, so one afternoon we went to visit the Olde Franklin Tavern. Kon the German publican had been running the pub for over 30 years was very hospitable with a roaring fire and even letting the kids have a go at pouring a beer! Saul was in his element with deer antlers hung over the fireplace.
Kylie and the kids went to Hobart one day to spend a morning with Kylie's high school best friend Kaila who has lived in Hobart for almost 10 years now. They finally got to meet each others kids and the kids got to meet each other have a great time playing. We also got to appreciate the hills and view of the Hobart suburbs - amazing!! We can see why Kaila and her family love it!
One rainy day we visited the local honey shop just a little bit North of Huonville. Unfortunately we just missed seeing the bee hive in action, but we got to taste lots of different types of local honey, and Kylie finally got to try some Honey Meade, after first seeing it in Margaret River in WA. It was deliciously sweet. It was a gorgeous little shop, with colouring and puzzles for the kids as well.
We bought some Lip balm kits from the Honey Shop and then had fun making them the next day when the sun came out.
Our caretaker gave us the tip to go and visit Mystery Cave which was an hour or so south right at the bottom of Tassie. We were keen to see that area anyway so made a day trip of it, and it was one of the most memorable days of our trip. The walk in is infamous for muddy tracks - Kylie learnt that the hard way, but was glad the kids had gum boots on.
Lucky there was a creek crossing to clean the shoes.
After walking through the rainforest the track opened up to the old quarry and then we climbed down towards the creek to find the Mystery Cave.
The entrance has a sign advising on how far to go in depending on how much of an "experienced caver" you are. Kylie was positive we had gone to far at some points but we stayed in the novice cave. Kylie and Bridie took it slow so as not to bump our heads or fall in the creek.
Once we got to the end of the novice section, Zara spotted the main reason we made the trek...the glow worms. We turned our head torches off and let our eyes adjust and they were EVERYWHERE!! It felt like we were a different world - and when you think about we truly were!!
Once we knew where to look we found the glow worm's silk thread on the rocks. Magical.
That night we thanked the caretaker for the tip. But he forgot to tell us that the best showing of the Southern Lights in years was expected the night before. So we missed that because we were asleep. But oh well, it gives us an excuse to go back to this beautiful place.
Comments
Post a Comment