Leaving Hobart (see part I), you go south on the Southern Outlet to near Kingston, then turn for west for about 30 km. So that part is inland. I took some photos but mostly it’s the same as the north of the island.
With added cows. (Some of which are red.)
And more trees.
Then you get to Huonville and from thereon the highway follows the Huon River. The river is named after Jean-Michel Huon de Kermadec, who had command of the Esperance, as part of Bruni d’Entrecasteaux’s expedition to search for La Perouse and check out the great southern land.
For most of its lengih, the Huon is very wide. You can see it when you look at a map of the whole state. It seems more like a long bay than a river.
Lots of boats in the water at Franklin. I’d have liked to stop to take photos of them.
Egg Islands run along the length of the river in the north, before it widens.
Castle Forbes Bay, and then Port Huon where the road turns west following this bay and then inland to Geeveston.
Lots of trees here. Not good for photo from cars 🙁
This is Geeveston.
We had time to go into the Forest and Heritage Centre.
The downstairs part is all about timber. There’s a truck in the corner
Sort of a truck.
And a display where you can get up close with gum tree seeds.
From these tiny seeds grow the world’s tallest flowering plants, Eucalyptus regnans. That saying about oaks growing from tiny acorns? That’s nothing on these 🙂
Upstairs is a lot of workworking equipment
and stuff about the history of the area. What I didn’t get a photos of were some large paintings along the side walls, talking about the timber-cutting township of Wielangta from the perspective of the young mail carrier, until the day it was destroyed by a bushfire and now only ruins remain. (Although I thought Wielangta was on the east coast, near Orford, so I don’t know why this is here.) On the table on the right is a diorama with a mill and some cottages.
Is late now, but the lolly shop is still open. It has a big range.
We walked down to the edge of town, and found a sign for “Platypus Walk” alongside a creek. Didn’t see any platypuses! Did see some ducks and a heron.
The creek is actually Kermandie River. That’s the platypus viewing area, with no platypuses.
This is the Big Log which is… a big log! It was cut down in 1971. The timber guys are more recent. There’s a number of them about the town.
On the left is John Geeves. “In 1842, with wife, child and other family members, who settle in Lightwood Bottom as a farmer. He soon became involved in saw milling, shop keeping and growing apples. In 1875 he established the ‘Speedwell Mill’ which was at the time one of the first mills in the district, cutting about 40,000 super-feet a week. At about this time he built ‘Cambridge House’ [on the opposite corner], which was to become the social centre of the growing township” of Geeves Town.”
Other family members includes mum and dad, Mary & William Geeves. I take it William is the guy on the right, which has a plaque that says “”To mark the planting of the first fruit Orchard/Geeveston/By William Geeves 1851”.
Kermandie River again. Probably a distortion of “Kermandec”.
Any reason why the log got overlooked long enough to become a landmark?
I think it was a deliberate. There was a bunch of sign things I didn’t read.One says, in part, “The original selected section of the tree, wasn’t able to be loaded, so another section was cut with the use of th- specialized blade. Originally sited to depict a log being hauled on a wooden tramway.”