Tasmania :: Day 07 Huon Bush Retreat :: Mt Field to Huonville

In the morning, I saw a meat box just outside the hut. We could have hung our meat out here!

We packed our car and drove to the start of Pandani walk.

We all forgot to display the pass in the car and Kim had to back track. The track lived up to its name.  I love dead leaves that form a swirl pattern on the trunk. They reminded me of grass skirts. The path was unsuitable for wheelchairs though.

I could imagine how beautiful this place would be in the autumn as there were lots of tangle-foot beech/fagus. There were lots woolly teatree as well. We could have seen platypus frolicking in the water if we spend the whole day here picnicking and making tea out of woolly teatree leaves.

After returning the keys at the National Park Centre, we visited the temporary kiosk showcasing the Tasmania Devil. We were shown its preserved scat. There was a full body mount that one could cuddle.

It took us a long time to walk to Lady Barron Falls from the National Park Centre. It wasn’t far but the children were struggling. The charred young trees reminded us of the fragility of Australian vegetation. The smokiness was still present in the air to remind us to be responsible and look after our climate.

There was a strange flip flop wearing man who kept on passing us and asking us for the time. He was practicing the Asian shuffle. We spotted dog vomit fungus which the children thought the name was funny. Poor Ella Mae tripped and fell onto her bottom. Tears were shed but all was well with big cuddles.

On the way to Huonville, we stopped at the raspberry farm and bought berries and cherries. It was a warm sunny day.

The edge of Hobart wasn’t pretty. The one way street made the city feel quite unattractive and not pedestrian friendly. The architecture was a miss matched bunch. I think to do it justice, further exploration is required in a different trip. The Sydney to Hobart yacht race made the streets quite busy as well.

The drive up to Huon Bush Retreat was challenging. The unsealed road fitted only one car. One side of the road fell away to a steep cliff without any barriers.  At the entrance to the property, a signage beckoned us to retrieve and read an information booklet left there. The large sign promoting the name Mount Misery added further to the mental challenge.

The road was terrible. The kids thought it was hilarious to be rattled about like coins in the jar, until one of them bashed their heads on the window as the car jolted from side to side.

There was a kiosk outside the reception where we did our own check-in. It was pleasantly very well organised. The owner, Peter, came out for a chat.

We found our campsite which was not too far from the shower and toilet blocks as well as the communal kitchen. We liked the hot showers, outdoor bath, the clean and not too smelly drop toilet, laundry trough and the undercover kitchen area with a bbq. The only thing that they could have improved on was to provide a refrigerator as we were staying quite a few nights there.

The site fitted our two tents quite comfortably. The grassed site was relatively flat surrounded by a channel to drain away water. The site was surrounded by ferns. The trees were far away but we had shade from medium height shrubs. There were many superb fairy wrens, pademelon, wallabies, and possums. Yellow tailed black cockatoos screeched on the trees nearby. We didn’t end up setting up the sun shelter. It would have been too tight. Plus it was not necessary as benches were at the communal kitchen. We didn’t really need our stools or folding table. The car became our cupboard and pantry.

The children made friends straight away with the children who were also camping there. One of those children was celebrating his birthday. The children were running amok with their new friends in the bush. They were all friendly. We met two other sets of people. One was father and daughter who were both undertaking their PhDs. Another set was a singer and an interior decorator. We caught up on news about the fire in Bruny Island.

We were very relaxed. A pademelon and its baby visited us every mealtime. We were told that they were hand reared and we could feed them. This fact delighted the children. We had a fire pit at the communal kitchen.  The children contributed to firewood and kindling. We toasted marshmallows.  Thomas had extra servings. 

When it got dark, a brush tailed possum jumped onto our table to help itself to our food. Apparently, the possums around here have worked out how to open lids. Now we knew why the bin lids were weighed down.

Ella Mae shared a tent with me while Thomas shared his with Kim. 

We loved being here.