A pick-your-own adventure in the Huon Valley
WENDING through the HAMLETS of Tasmania’s Huon Valley, Christine Aldred finds it’s not just GOOD things that come in SMALL packages, but ROAD trips too.
IN A LAND AS VAST AS Australia, road trips often mean long hauls and great distances, but in the Huon Valley, they’re a different beast altogether. Stretching from just below Hobart to the southernmost tip of Australia, the Huon Valley – or simply the Huon – incorporates a multitude of enchanting landscapes: waterways and wilderness, farms and forests, misty mountains and a charming river that runs through the middle.
Within minutes of leaving the state’s capital, we’re in the countryside, as the cow-dotted hills and scattering of honesty boxes for fresh produce attest. The stretches of orchards that line the road remind us how this apple isle earned its name, a precursor to what will become a constant theme on this trip: good food and its connections to the land on which it grows, with a serving of history, adventure and the great outdoors thrown in for good measure.
The journey starts at organic Glen Huon Dairy Co., the latest venture for Bruny Island Cheese Co. and the fulfilment of a dream for artisanal cheesemaker Nick Haddow to secure his own supply of sustainable, quality milk. We meet the stars of the show, all 55 of them, in a combination of specially chosen dairy breeds including the adorably speckled Normandes, also renowned for beef. They’re surprisingly friendly and some hanker for a scratch.
With fresh milk in our tummies and a pinot-washed vinewrapped cheese in hand, it’s not long before we’re getting acquainted with some of the apples we keep driving by, in the form of cider at Frank’s Ciderhouse & Cafe in Franklin. As the on-site museum records, apple history here runs deep, with the oldest heritage orchards in Australia and the business now in the hands of fifth and sixth generation orchardists. It’s not all apples: local pears, cherries and raspberries are added into the mix for a variety of sparkling cider options, sampled on a paddle, but for all the choice, I favour the traditional apple all on its own.
The village of Franklin has a long maritime history too, the river once the vehicle for apple cargo. Some of that boating history is being revitalised, thanks to the Wooden Boat Centre, dedicated to maintaining the art of traditional boat building through training and courses, and other locals. Using their respective skills as rigger and shipwright, Anastasia Konstantinidis and David Golding have for the last seven years been restoring a retired timber fishing ketch, Kerrawyn, to bring her back into service, or ‘into survey’ if we want to get nautical. Now this locally built 70-year-old workhorse has a more stately purpose: to give an authentic taste of sailing with a leisurely few hours on the scenic Huon while sipping ciders on the celery top pine deck, or longer charters as well.
We get even closer to the water on kayaks with a guided tour with Esperance Adventures, gliding through the placid waterways of Port Esperance Bay and French navigational and colonial history. The vibrant yellow of our crafts dissects the blues of waterways and the distant Hartz Mountains as we pass the islands of Faith, Hope and Charity, the middle one once acting as a probation island for convicts trialling freedom and producing food for the area. We gather shells that speak of the abundant supply of sea treasures – oysters, abalone, scallops and more – favoured by the local palawa peoples long before colonials arrived.
Digs for the evening is the delightful Beaupre Cottage in rural Lymington on a working goat farm, but for guests it’s total relaxation. Here choices must be made: a private beach to wander, goats to meet, kayaking or cycling to be done, and walks to take with resident Border Collie, Beau. It’s a real treat.
As far south as the road will take us lies Recherche Bay, a place of tranquillity with a scattering of ‘shacks’ at Cockle Creek and an abundance of secluded white beaches, shore birds and wildlife. We opt for the stunning two-hour coast-hugging, rock-clambering walk to Fishers Point (best taken at low tide) with views for days, and breathe in the calm.
The reputation of Tasmania’s south-west as a region of remarkable beauty notwithstanding, I’m unlikely to venture too deeply into its spectacular wilds, but Tahune Adventures right at its edge near Geeveston provides a perfect alternative. It’s there we take the 600-metre airwalk through the forest canopy, 50 metres above the Huon River with glimpses into the mountains of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage area beyond, walk along the suspension bridges and wander the fern-filled walk at ground level. Fully accessible to wheelchairs, prams and even dogs on leads, it’s a forest experience anyone can take part in and witness some of the region’s recovery after devastating bushfires in 2019. For those yearning for an adrenaline kick, the ‘eagle’ zipline provides another view.
We’ve put down an impressive daily step count so it’s fortunate a special treat awaits at Fair Winds, our luxury home for the evening at Brooks Bay with stunning vistas and an outdoor tub from which to soak it in. As if that’s not enough, we up the ante with our own private chef: ex-MasterChef contestant Sarah Clare is now sharing her skilful delight in food through Essentially Tas, which provides accommodation options with home dining add-ons. The evening’s fare is local, seasonal produce, driven by Sarah’s belief we should know where our food comes from: ‘I don’t want my food to have travelled further than I have.’
Her love of foraging is evident: there are three types of fish she caught the day before, leeks from her garden, lemons from her dad’s and samphire from the sea, and that’s just for starters, with local wines of course. It’s an exceptional evening all round.
Wherever we go, the themes of local produce and food communities abound. At nearby Geeveston, a quaint timber town, we lunch at Harvest and Light, a small-batch picklery with a photographic gallery on the side, where Sarah also works. There, pickler and photographer Cassy Faux preserves myriad fruit and veg and offers pretty-as-apicture tasting plates with a selection of cheeses, along with local beverages. The ‘honour wall’ next to the kitchen is a shout-out to the host of locals who’ve donated produce to be converted into pickles, preserves and even fruit syrups. This week it’s grapefruits, sometimes zucchinis or lemons, but whatever it is, Cassy is always grateful as it echoes her overriding business ethos of minimising waste and connects her to the local community.
In the Italian way, Martino Crippa and Sofia Panfili, of Osteria at Petty Sessions, in Franklin’s old courthouse, make most of the food they serve from scratch: prosciutto and coppa, preserved fish, ricotta, their ‘kick-ass tiramisu’ and, of course, pasta. While their Umbrian heritage features strongly at their restaurant, they also incorporate a lot of local produce, grown by neighbours and friends, like the apples and blueberries in the dessert terrine with ice-cream. Don’t miss the lightas-a-feather gnocchi.
At Port Cygnet Cannery, once the hub of the town’s economy as an apple cannery factory, it’s no longer just about the pizzas created in ‘Dante’, the Italian pizza oven that takes pride of place in the middle of the restaurant. After its recent ritzy makeover, the weekend feasts of garden goodness – fresh from nearby Gardners Bay Farm, its sister enterprise – are now pulling the crowds, too. We’ve toured the farm with the gardener, learnt about soil biology, felt the compost and plucked purple beans from the vines, so we feel connected to our meal and the people who grew it.
In fact, it’s all very connected. The Huon Valley offers a dozen road trips in one compact space and it’s up to you to choose your own flavour. Whichever road you travel, another adventure awaits: coolclimate wineries, cideries on tap, thermal springs and ancient crystal caves for starters. And with scenery like this, who cares if there’s a little backtracking here or there?