Hastings Caves

Wednesday, January 03, 2024
Brooks Bay, Tasmania, Australia
We were up and on the road again today, ready to explore more of this beautiful region. Tony and I had come down with a head cold of some sort, so first stop was the Dover pharmacy to drug up. I needed Clare to come with me so I could get the hard cold and flu tablets. I had forgotten to bring my driver’s license. Dover is a pretty little town with all the basic amenities.
Ready for coffee before we left town we stopped at an unassuming lunch bar. We were pleasantly surprised by the great coffee and the waitress was friendly and chatty (a little Twyla from Schitt’s Creek) and made for a nice stop before we were on the road again.
The day was a little overcast as we headed towards Hastings, admiring the landscape as we drove along. There is a lot of farmland although not as green as you would expect, but it is summer. There are also vast areas of trees and winding roads. We passed a couple of little towns and then on through Hastings, a tiny town.
We drove into the Hastings Caves and Thermal Springs site, through large trees with giant ferns growing underneath. It was a tranquil drive, winding along until we reached the information centre. Here we bought tickets and, as we had a little time before the next cave tour, we walked through the Platypus Walk.
We had to walk past the thermal spring where we could swim, except the pool was closed for the day. We had brought our bathers with us, but would not have swum anyway. The thermal spring had been captured into a fibreglass swimming pool in a grassed area and was not at all inviting. 
But a platypus - that I wanted to see. We saw a pademelon as we walked into the trail, very cute and fluffy. Then we circled around the walk loop, staring hard into the water to find one little monotreme. There was nothing, although Ken said he saw some sort of mouse scurrying along. It was very disappointing.
We hopped back into the car for the short drive to the caves and joined our group at the top of the stairs. We waited, while the giant mozzies attacked Clare, as the large group was split into smaller ones. We joined the last one and descended down the steep stairs into the labyrinth of chambers.
It was quite cold down in the cave, 9c all year round and I was happy to have my coat with me. We admired the pretty stalagmites and stalactites, illuminated for us to enjoy. We went up and down stairs, stood in large cathedral-type spaces and enjoyed the magical atmosphere of the spectacle, created over thousands of years. Our guide was informative and fun. The climb back up the final steep ascent was not as bad as the previous group had made it look and it was nice to be a bit warmer in the outside world.
We stopped back at the visitor’s centre to do the 30 minute hot springs walk - maybe we would spy a platypus. It was a lovely walk, through the trees and along the creek. We could see where the hot spring and the creek met, but we never saw a platypus.
Ready for a late lunch, we drove to the Southport hotel and cafe. It was listed as one of the places to eat in the area. But we got there after 2 and the kithcen was closed, but we were directed to the shop next door. It was very lunch bar with nowhere to sit and it was quite cold outside, so we drove back towards Dover.
Ken searched on google maps and found The Little Dover Bar and Bistro. After some misdirection by our navigator, we found ourselves at the Dover Golf Club and the bistro. After a quick question about whether we could eat, we found ourselves with the full attention of the bar manager/cook/waitress as she served us up a delicious meal. There was a group of older ladies finishing up lunch who left and we had the place to ourselves. It was great service and generous of her to serve us at 3pm when she was really ready to lock up and go home. 
We stopped at the IGA to see if we could get some fresh salmon. With all the farms in the area we figured we should have it for dinner. The farm outlet we pass on the way to and from town is closed to the public at the moment. But IGA did not have any, so the boys got meat to BBQ. Clare and I will make do with pasta and the leftover veges.
Back home we chilled in the idyllic space. Ken and I went for a walk on the foreshore, climbing down the steep embankment to find a rocky beach and a changing landscape as we walked along. There were rock pools with lots of snails, bright green algae, pebbles of all sizes, granite rocks and some amazing type of ironstone that looked like metal had been rusted into the rocks. It was a nice walk, taking in the environment and enjoying the fresh river air.
The boys cooked their meat and I cooked some pasta with the leftover roast veges and pesto and we enjoyed our last meal in the house. We looked towards next year and where we should go and before we knew it, we had booked accommodation in Jurien Bay for NYE 2025.
Brooks Bay has been delightful.

Comments

2025-02-15

Comment code: Ask author if the code is blank