THE RaTTAToT TOUR
(Ramsay's Terrific Tag-a-long Adventure Tour of Tasmania)
For 18 November 2001
Report by Paul and Diann
We left the motel car-park at 9:00am with the Geoff and Debbie
Duggan leading us out. We drove
along the South West coast of the Derwent River past Battery
Point to a Shot Tower, built to make shot to defend the colony
in 1870, Megan and Syd counted 259 steps to the top where
(despite light rain) we had a clear view of the heads. It
was then all the way back down again, in the cars and off
to Huonville for morning tea.
Hastings Caves was the next stop after an hours drive along
and around the Huon River and d'entre castreaux channel. The
weather was awful with most cars experiencing a water leak.
Once we arrived at the caves most of us went on a tour and
saw the caves their different chambers and formations. We
also saw cave dwelling crickets and spiders. The caves were
discovered by loggers when they were logging someone else's
land.
While we were exploring the caves, the Honers and Duggans,
Jan and Angelique prepared a fantastic BBQ lunch. We all stuffed
ourselves silly and Megan and Rachel had a quick swim in the
thermal pool.
We packed up lunch and set off for Kettering for dinner.
There were two ways to go, relaxed and easy over the hill
or winding around the coast road. Both were very scenic. A
quick stop in Cygnet for some souvenirs and bits.
Dinner was great, at a really nice pub with the most fantastic
wooden sculptures in the garden carved from the trees. Also
there were log fires inside and a lovely view over the Bay
and Marina.
Brun-Hilda the waitress was a bit rude, but I think the idea
of having 27 people for dinner stuck the fear of god into
her. Someone literally severed Steve the 'raw prawn'. Unfortunately
Liz, our expert on food hygiene, had chosen to stay in Hobart
that day, otherwise we could have used her in our battle over
paying for that particular meal. Thankfully everyone else
enjoyed their meals.
A quick drive back to the hotel to wash the cars (which had
become extremely muddy again) and to sleep up for the next
day - Port Arthur.
A special thanks to Geoff and Debbie for making sure we saw
the best roads of the Huon Valley.
|
