Today is Saturday 28 Jan 2006
 
      Before I begin I want to say today marks the halfway stage of our trip and to us it seems like we arrived in Devonport only yesterday. We have travelled many kilometers and seen so much during this first week and already the mind is full of lasting memories and hope that the next week, starting today will rival or beat what we have done so far.
    Now, today is the second full day for us here in Hobart and we drove down
along the Derwent River and into Huon Valley to look around and take in
the sights that may come, we had no
particular place in mind but found from brochures that is plenty to see.
    Early this morning we set out down the Huon Valley highway through Kingston where the Antarctica Research Base is passing that we came into Huonville, the area is the center of the Tasmanian apple industry. A little south of the small town of Grove we stopped of to see an actual working apple farm that also had a museum dedicated to the industry. Continuing on we drove down to Geeveston , a town built upon the timber logging industry which also has a Forest & Heritage Center which is very much worth a visit to see the furniture that has been crafted from the local Huon Pine, King Billy Pine, Tasmanian Oak timbers which are native to the area and found nowhere else in the world. I know the area depended on the industry for survival but what we saw in some areas was they were devoid of these timbers and have become a eyesore of barren lands where once these mighty tree had stood for thousands of years.
  After a nice little lunch at the center we drove out to an area called Tahune Forest where we did a air walk which is a walk along a raised platform at tree top level about 45 meters above ground level which we found very good, following that short stop it was back to Geeveston and a little drive down to a place Dover which is a seaside town. We didnt stop long there, just to get a few photos then back uo to Huonville to turn of the highway to take the coastal route back to Hobart through towns like Cygnet, Kettering and Margate.
  Cygnet is a small seaside town noted for its art& craft shops along with several nice clean white sandy beaches at Randall's Bay and Verona Sands. Also in season the apple ,pear and wattle blossoms are spectacular, not far out of town you can see the free falling Pelverata Falls.
At Kettering, also on the coast is the place where you can board the ferry across to the spectacular Bruny Island. We did not visit there today but I have been there on previous holidays, leaving here it was back to Hobart about mid afternoon and go to the Salamanca Markets to do some shopping and boy did we enjoy that. The place was packed with all types of stalls and a sea of people plus added to that there was a cruise boat in port to swell the crowd.
  Following a couple of hours at the markets we drove back to the motel to put our feet up, relax and recall where we had been and what we had seen, another unforgettable day for us that ended with a lovely 3 course meal at the casino.Then off to bed reasonably early as we want an early start in the morning because tomorrow will take us on the longest leg of our journey over to the west coast to Strahan, which is the part of the holiday I have been really looking forward too.