Huonville is the largest town in the Huon Valley, just 38 kilometres south of Hobart. It is a bustling country town, with a population of 1530, straddling the Huon River, and is the commercial and service centre for the Huon Valley. The Valley is the ‘Fruit Bowl’ of Tasmania, producing over half of the famous Apple Isles’ Tasmanian apples, as well as plums, cherries, apricots, peaches, pears and hops. The Huon Valley Council operates from Huonville, and covers the southern most part of Tasmania, including Macquarie Island. The island lies approximately 1300 kilometres south of South Cape, Tasmania’s most southerly point.
Huonville and the Huon Valley, are also famous for producing Huon pine, the most prized Tasmanian timber. The valley was once covered in Huon pine, but now, only supports small pockets of the trees. The timber was so sought after due to its special qualities, it has been almost cleared, with only an estimated 10,000 hectares remaining, most of which is within the World Heritage Areas, and is now heavily protected.
The Huon River was named by Admiral Antoine D’Entrecasteaux, after his Captain Huon de Kermandec, who commanded the support vessel, during a French expedition to Australia in 1792. Settlement in the Huon Valley occurred many years later, and can be traced from a notice in the Hobart Gazette in the early 1830’s. In 1847, a land grant on the Huon River, at the present site of Huonville, to the Wharton family occurred. This location saw a settlement start to develop, which became known as Victoria, presumably after Queen Victoria. The village had a name change to Huonville in 1889, by which time the bridge had been built (1876) and the growth in the town was secured.
Today, Huonville attracts people for the natural beauty of the area, its country life style, its fruit, wine, seafood, and its numerous waterways for the kayaking, sailing or cruising enthusiast. Huonville is also the gateway to the Hartz Mountain National Park, and of course provides access to the most southern parts of Australia!!
For your interest.
Huon Pine is the most prized Tasmanian timber due to its weight, fine grain, workability, strength, durability and resistance to rot and decay. It is the ultimate timber for boat builders, and as such was highly sought after by the early European’s, who of course came in sailing boats!! The Huon Pine is only found in western and southern Tasmania, in riverine habitats, and is highly protected, no logging of live trees allowed. The trees grow to be one of the oldest living plants in the world, with living specimens estimated at being 5000 years old.
The Hartz Mountains National Park is part of Tasmania’s Wilderness World Heritage Area. It contains Mount Hartz at 1255 metres, and provides spectacular, panoramic views into the heart of the south-west. The park has a dolerite ridge that runs through the centre, with a glacial formed plateau which holds glacial lakes feeding waterfalls that tumble off the plateau. The park is covered with a variety of flora from wet eucalypt and rainforests, through to alpine heath on mountain tops.
The Huon River is fed from Lake Pedder, and flows for 170 kilometres to the D’Entrecasteaux Channel.
There are a few things in the Huon Valley that are worth taking a look at.
At Grove there is the Huon Apple and Heritage Museum, which contains some information about the history of the apple industry and some heritage machinery.
At Ranelagh, which became the centre of the hop growing industry, retains an old Oust House, used for drying hops!! The village also has the Tasmanian Antique Motor Museum, which contains over 40 restored vehicles.
At Hastings there are the Hastings Caves and Thermal Springs. Newdegate Cave is the largest tourist cave in Australia. The thermal pool is fed by thermal springs that maintain a constant temperature of 28 degrees celsius. Don’t forget your swimmers, there are changing rooms provided, so have fun!!
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