FRIDAY 3RD MARCH - HUON VALLEY

We abandoned John to his chores which included collecting Virginia from the airport and headed out to explore some parts of the Huon Valley we had not explored before.

We started by heading up to the Hartz Mountains National Park not far from Geeveston – an absolute gem. We didn't walk to the top of Hartz Peak but we did do the two walks to Lake Esperance and Lake Osborne and the Arve River waterfall walk. The latter was a complete surprise in that we walked through the forest to emerge at a lookout which looked over the falls but, more impressively, over an enormous and inaccessible looking ravine stretching away into the distance.

The reflections in the lakes were excellent.

After having lunch at a delightful cafe in Geeveston, we headed south of Dover to Duckhole Lake. It is at the end of a half hour walk that follows a creek and is tucked away deep in the forest and not that easy to find and consequentially not that well patronised but that was its charm. The lake is a flooded sink hole in karst country near the Hastings Caves.

A feature of this area, being a forestry reserve, as distinct from a national park, is that it has been actively logged in the distant past but there are some pretty sizable trees maintaining the character of the forest.

We had a delightful evening with John and Virginia, enjoying their hospitality and drinking too much of their wine, with our contribution from the Tamar Valley of course. Therefore I am doing this blog on Saturday morning in Hobart where we will be staying for two nights to catch up with the washing, the shopping and the Carters. When we emerged from the van this morning, this is the view that greeted us.

The photo at the top of the blog shows some of John and Virginia's very well developed garden – an absolute credit to them.

Thank you John and Virginia for a most pleasant couple of days.