Tasmania Blog: Week 5 North Motton

Week 5 North Motton

This week I was staying with the North Motton club at Caitlin and Owens farm. They farm 250 acres and have 120 sheep. They are currently lambing and harvesting brussel sprouts, so there was plenty going on! On Monday, Andy and I had a ‘slow day’ after the big weekend. I went into the local town of Latrobe with Caitlin; it is a small town with just a few shops, restaurant, pub, bottle shop and a ‘servo’ (petrol station). When we got back, we had some lunch then went out to tail and vaccinate the lambs, this was a lot of fun, and the sun was shining!

In the afternoon we helped feed the pet lambs, there are currently 11 of them and they are very cute. The sheep here are a mix of breeds. We then went over to Caitlin’s grandparents farm nearby to move some fat lambs. One of the farm differences here is the trailers and lorries for livestock don’t have ramps, instead farms each have a permanent ramp attached to the handling systems. We did a few loads of the fat lambs, we were moving them to a different farm where they would be picked up and taken away. We had a nice, chilled evening in ready for the big adventure tomorrow.

It was an early start on Tuesday for our big road trip over the Northwest coast. We were picked up by Hayden, a member of North Motton RY and drove to meet James and Daniel. We then went to our first stop of the day, the Table Cape Reserve. The Table Cape is an extinct volcano in the Northwest, we also managed to persuade the boys to walk to the lighthouse! The lighthouse is no longer in use but is still open for visitors, we also had a look at the large Tulip farm. On our way to the next stop, we went into a small café called Muddy Boots. I tried the bacon, cheese and beef pie, it was very good! Think I will be trying to re-create it when I’m home.

We then travelled further North to ‘The Nut’, it is a very large rock and all that remains of a Volcano plug. We opted to take the chairlift up to the top as it was quite a steep climb, the views at the top were spectacular. There was a walking track around the top which we did that had several stopping points with different information on what we were looking at. After our tour around the top, we then took the steep path down, the boys decided to run down, shockingly no one fell over but there were a few complaints of sore feet. For lunch we went to possibly the best fish and chip restaurant ever called Hursey Seafood. I tried Kilpatrick Oysters and Scallops; both were very tasty.

Following lunch, we jumped back in the car and drove out to the old Woolnorth Gates, this is the site of the largest dairy farm in Tasmania at a staggering 700 hectares. We then went to a popular surfing site in Marrawah which is famous for its year-round large waves, multiple surfing competitions are held here yearly. Our final stop of the day was to the ‘Edge of the World’ on Arthur River. Although technically not the edge of the world it is named as it has a complete uninterrupted view on the horizon. We picked the perfect day for the road trip as the sun was shining all day and we travelled over 600k! The group then travelled back to Daniels farm for tea. We met the resident pet sheep, Henry, and fed some of the fat cows. For tea we had a BBQ and I tried Wallaby for the first time, it was actually quite good and didn’t taste much different to beef. Hayden then took us all back to our hosts; it was a really great day and definitely a standout highlight from the entire exchange.

On Wednesday, Dylan (Agfest Chair) took us out for the day to Cradle Mountain. On route we stopped at the Cethana Dam and Power Station, one of the many hydro power stations in Tasmania, the state is predominately run of Hydro Electric (roughly 80%). We then made the drive up to Cradle Mountain, the site has been newly renovated with a full visitor centre, restaurant and gift shop. We hoped on the bus as we were going to be walking the Dove Lake Walk, a scenic 6km route around a lake at the base of the mountain. The walk was great fun, we stopped at the Glacier Rock viewpoint and the Old Boathouse. The Cradle Mountain itself was incredible to look at, definitely something I would like to challenge myself to attempt one day. Following our walk, we went to a local pub for lunch, before starting the drive back. On route back we stopped at the Leven Canyon Reserve, this is possibly my favourite viewpoint I have seen this entire trip. I was completely in awe of the canyon; the pictures do not do the view justice. We then had one last pit stop at the Preston Falls before heading back for dinner.

On Thursday North Motton member, Cheyenne, took us on a shopping trip to Simon Martin Whips and Leathercraft. I could have spent the whole day here, it was amazing. Rural Youth very kindly gave us each a voucher for the shop, so we all bought something to take back as a souvenir. I bought a leather coin purse and dog collar. I was very tempted by some cowboy boots, but I am pretty sure my bag is already overweight… We then went over to Sheffield to have a look at the murals from Mural Fest, a mural art competition held annually in the town in the outdoor gallery. We then had a look around some of the shops, I caved and bought myself a Yeti mug. After some lunch we were back on the road to Tasmazia, one of the world’s largest maze complexes with 8 different mazes, each with a different theme. We had a race through a few of them, Andy and I triumphed the first couple then got very lost in the confusion maze. They also had a world embassy section, the three of us were delighted to find each of our own country’s embassy. The rain then started to really pour so we jumped back in the car. On route home we stopped at Melita Honey Farm, they had the largest collection of different flavour honeys I had ever seen. We tried apple, raspberry, lime, caramel, chocolate and cinnamon honey. We then went for an ice cream at Van Diemen’s Land Creamery, delicious ice cream, this time I tried the Tiramisu and Café Latte. Before heading back, we manged to squeeze in a visit to Ashgrove Cheese and Dairy. We then headed home after a very jam packed but great day!

The weather on Friday was atrocious, I’m calling it ‘Storm Tassie’ with wind speeds of 78km and lashing rain. After a few great, busy days the three of us opted for another ‘slow day’ to catch up on everything. Caitlin took me out to see the Brussel sprout harvester, it was a very impressive operation, and the most Brussel sprouts I had ever seen. Caitlin insisted they tasted the best straight from the plant, I was not convinced. In the evening, I went for dinner at Caitlin’s grandparents farm, I tried silverside for the first time, and it was delicious.

On Saturday we were all participating in the Rural Rally, Tasmania’s version of a car treasure hunt. The team was Dylan, Sam, Siril, Andy and me. Before the race we decided to fuel ourselves adequately on waffles and croissants at the House of Anvers, best waffles ever. We then went to K – Mart to get some costumes as we were told every team dresses up for extra points. We choose some rather stylish red flannels, boxers, bandanas and swim goggles. Dressed and ready to race we went to the start line. On arrival, we were told about the rules and named the team ‘The Red Bananas’. The Rally was great fun, with a range of tricky clues, things to find on route and take various different pictures. We were the 2^nd team back but between the ‘cool’ costumes, Dylan’s speedy driving and Sam being able to solve all the clues, our team came out the winners! The race ended back at Quercus Park we all had some dinner and drinks to end a very fun day.

Another phenomenal week on exchange. It has been great to travel North and see the differences in landscapes and farms up here. It was a bit of an emotional week as I said goodbye to many of the people I have met over the past 5 weeks, I will hopefully see you all again soon! Thank you once again to my brilliant hosts, Caitlin and Owen, and to the North Motton members.