Trip 'home' part 2/3

Submitted by gcab80 on Tue, 07/02/2012 - 11:20

As long as I can remember coming down over Bullock Hill & into Grove has always filled me with a sense of nostalgia, of feeling at home, even as a child. It was a childhood dream if you like to return here at some time to live, childhood dreams & reality don't always combine sadly. As it was getting late in the afternoon we thought best to head to our accommodation first in Castle Forbes Bay.

The Huon Valley as seen from partway down Bullock Hill. It's a beautiful area, full of history dating back to the 1830's.

map for visual aid.

Map with bit more detail of district.

Our choice of accommodation was a B&B, Donalea. Beautiful gardens & wonderful hosts.
http://www.donalea.com.au/
Castles Forbes bay was named after a ship, the Castle Forbes, that sailed a little to far west in 1837 missing the D'Entrecasteaux Channel & Derwent river. Having many sick people on board they waited a couple of months to allow them to recover before moving on to Hobart.

The living room provided a magnificent view across Crowther's Bay, Huon River to Glazier's Bay on the other side. The camera doesn't really do it justice.

We had decided to go to the Kermandie Hotel at Port Huon for dinner (beautiful meal by the way). Just across the road is a small marina, you can actually sail or motor from Hobart down to here, roughly a journey of about 70 or so kms.

For many years apples & timber were the main export industries. Across to the far right of picture a pulp mill operated for some time but ceased some years back. Today the bay is home to salmon farms. I'd still like a dollar for every case of apples shipped from here though, even those just in my lifetime!
Just to the left of the wharf a regatta was held for a number of years, steamers would actually bring passengers down from Hobart to attend.

My maternal gr-gr-grandfather Martin Darcy settled here in 1856 after receiving a pardon. He was transported with his brother William in 1851 for having stolen 3 sheep, most likely to feed their family during the Irish Famine.

Today looking back into the 'bay' there are few apples, cherry orchards now cover a significant amount of the area. I can still faintly remember the beautiful view & smell of the apples in full blossom, older generations tell me it was certainly beautiful to see.

This is South Franklin, just a little north of Castle Forbes Bay.

Franklin as it is today. It's 1st settler was believed to be a runaway in 1822 but officially it's believed to be John Price in 1836. In 1838 Lady Jane Franklin purchased land for 'distressed settlers' to have small holdings.

Good use was made of the river to ship potatoes, palings & shingles to Hobart. It served as the main center for many years until the geography made further expansion very difficult. The river rose to a marsh then quickly into hills. In the late 1800's early 1900's they reclaimed some of the marsh area so it was usable. Boat building was also common in the area, today their is a Wooden Boat Center in the town.

The bridge over the Huon River at Huonville, the first bridge was built in 1876. I think the bridge in this picture maybe the 3rd one built sometime in the late 1920'.

This machine is 111 years old. It was used to core & peel apples ready for canning. This was before cool stores & as the gentleman said apples in those times would only last a few days after being picked so canning was the obvious solution. There were 6 factories using these in the district, an operator could do 30 apples per MINUTE! It was estimated in one peak year something like 2 million apples were processed by this method.Injuries were common so a 'safer' model was developed but less accurate with coring. There have been some 346 varieties of apples grown in the district over the years. The Apple Museum at Grove is well worth a visit, walking in it was a little overwhelming, the smells took me back to my childhood & the packing shed floors. Certainly authentic.

The advent of cool store facilities certainly changed the way the apple industry operated. Today it's often hard to know whether it's fresh or not unless you know the season for which fruit. My father laughed a few years ago at seeing 'new season golden delicous' advertised in February, they never used to pick them till April! Makes you wonder.

The Huon Valley has changed a great deal over the years. Today you'll find apples no longer the dominant crop. There are wineries, cherry orchards & stone fruits & fish farms. Well it's getting on so back to Hobart for the end of our trip.......