Today (Friday), our wanderings took us southwest of Hobart along the winding, narrow Channel Highway. We visited Margate, Oyster Cove, Peppermint Bay, Grandvewe Sheep Cheeses in Birch’s Bay, Cygnet, and Huon.
There were two discoveries in particular:
One: Margate is the home of “The Margate Train”. It features the preserved engine and coaches of the Tasmanian Government Railway’s “Tasman Limited”, a narrow-gauge passenger train that ran between Hobart, Launceston, and Wynyard, 1954-1978. When it stopped running, a farsighted entrepreneur in Margate bought up the engine and coaches, thus saving them from demolition. He placed them beside the Channel Highway and transformed each of the coaches into a boutique. The train now serves as a micro-brewery, a vintage clothing store, a knickknack store, a pancake house, a barber, and a juice bar. What a great idea! It also sits next door to a wonderfully eclectic second-hand store that is a photographer's nirvana.
Two: Grandvewe Cheeses in Birch’s Bay features craft cheese products made from the milk of their own sheep. (They also make wine and vodka, but that’s another story.) After almost a month in Australia, Bill finally got to see real sheep and talk to real sheep people!
The beauty of Tasmania is breathtaking. I hope the people who live here realize what a slice of heaven they inhabit. Bill and I are now more determined than ever to win the lottery so we can buy two dream properties: our spring/summer/autumn home on Lake Ontario in South Marysburgh; and our winter home in Tasmania (except it will be our summer home here). There, nice to have that settled!
I hope you enjoy these photos of today’s wanderings.
My breakfast companion
Tasman Bridge over the Derwent Estuary
The Margate Train
Second hand store next to The Margate Train
Marina at Oyster Cove
Grandvewe Cheese Sheep
Vintage Morgan at Grandvewe Cheeses
Coastal view near Ninepin Point
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