The description 'the southernmost town of its size in Australia' might just lead to a few delusions of grandeur amongst the Doverites. With a population of about 1,000 give or take, it is not a large town by any standards, but it is one of the prettiest we have ever visited, combining lovely beaches and rolling green hills, many lined with apple trees, all surrounding a spectacular bay and overlooked by a towering distant mountain, Adamsons Peak.
Apart from its extensive apple industry, Dover is also home to one of the largest Atlantic salmon hatchery and feeding farms in the Southern Hemisphere, operated by Tassal (one of the Tasmanian 'big three') on the western side of the bay. Abalone and cray fisheries and the production of locally grown oysters are all supported by a substantial working wharf and two local processing factories, from which, if one is lucky, good seafood may be purchased direct. Recreational fishing from the town wharf is encouraged, and like Southport, the waters of Esperance Bay are teeming with squid at the right time of the year.
If this were not enough, many of the homes in Dover are surrounded by stunning gardens, where spring roses, rhododendrons and other flowering shrubs present an absolute picture at this time of the year.
Throw in a vibrant RSL club which presents outstanding food in a dining room with one of the best views in the country, and you may just understand why Dover quickly became, and remains, one of our favourite Tasmanian seaside towns.
Apart from our wanderings around the town itself we also used Dover as a base from which to explore the pretty holiday hamlets which are to be found just north of the town, on the western shore of the D'Entrecasteaux Channel.
But enough of this chat, let's get out and about. For the sake of simplicity (and offerings which are less than epic length!) I've divided our Dover roaming into several sections. In this missive I shall take you from our park, up the hill past the RSL, down again to sea level and around Bayview Road as far as the town wharf.
And because the roads here in Dover run in odd directions, including the Huon Highway which dog legs through it, I've included another satellite view (or could that read an 'oogle' without the 'G'!) from my old overhead friend for what it may be worth.
Today we headed off from our park (on the right near the little symbol) along Kent Beach Road, turned right into Station Road, left up Chapman Avenue (and I do mean 'up') and thence down the A6 to the junction of Bayview Road and around the foreshore to the wharf.
Out we trotted onto Kent Beach Road (and there's your first glimpse of Adamsons Peak ....centre shot)
which soon had us walking across the road bridge (the structure in the distance is the foot bridge near the beach front)
over the pretty little creek which empties into Esperance Bay at this end of town.
As we began the gentle climb up to Station Road, we passed the first of many of the beautiful home gardens which were to be a feature of this stroll.
Here the temptation to sample the scents of these delightful roses carried a hidden danger.
A very active and (to us) unbelievably large bee, a Tasmanian bumble bee, introduced here in 1992 and fast becoming a pest species, was as busy as.......well, a bee. I have no idea how willing they are to defend themselves, but had absolutely no plan to find out......we left it well alone.
The flaming red flowers of this small shrub greeted us as we turned into Station Road for the short walk up to the corner of Chapman Avenue.
Here we passed one of the many well restored and maintained Dover cottages. As we walked around the town, a clear sense of home pride was evident throughout. This is just one example.
And now it was time for a bit of hard work. We were on our way to check out the Dover RSL, which as I mentioned before, provides some spectacular views over Esperance Bay. But of course most views can come with a cost, and in this case it was the need to climb the hill.
I must confess that this slope, from which we could look back across the far end of the bay. does not look quite as challenging in the photo as it is in real life.
We were more than pleased to reach the top and sight the RSL building in the distance. Thank goodness we were on the right road!
As we pressed on we passed yet another reminder of the fact that notwithstanding all that towns like Dover offer to both residents and visitors, weeks of warm weather is not one of them. Winterty woes are never far away, no matter the season. It is good to be prepared!
Opposite this domestic wood yard, the old St Marys Church building, circa 1866, demonstrated yet again something we have come to note as common in many old country towns.....the early Catholics always seem to have snaffled the high ground!
A short distance on brought us past the well maintained greens of the Dover bowls club which shares premises with the RSL.
And here we were,
and in case we were unsure, the notice on the front door served to remind us we about to enter the southern most RSL in Australia....another bucket list item to be ticked off.
We had planned to dine here later, but if possible, I always prefer to take a few snaps when things are quiet. A quick detour to check out the interior was in order.
It did not disappoint. The bar area was large and well furnished.
A side room off the bar housed two pool tables,
whilst for any wishing to watch the activity on the bowling green, the leather lounges and arm chairs behind the glass windows on this side of the bar provided a superior level of comfort.
An outside deck area, with its elevated views over the bay, would have been a wonderful place to sip on a quiet libation or two on a fine, warm sunny day,
but the real focus of our attention was a quick preliminary peek at the dining room. Like the rest of the club, this did nothing to deter our plans to grace a table here later today.....lovely leather chairs and views from every side.
As expected in a dining room such as this, the walls displayed a deal of various items of memorabilia, including this acknowledgement of the extraordinary battle field feats of one local lad, Sgt Stanley R McDougall,
a very handy lad indeed to have on one's side. This was his Victoria Cross citation, and as you can see, he also had the Military Medal to his credit....and he survived the war to return home and become one of Dover's prominent citizens.
As we had been led to believe, the views from the Dover RSL were spectacular, both directly out over Esperance Bay and to the west where we could look down Chapman Avenue towards the junction of Bayview Road.
We did return as planned that evening for dinner where the stunning view from our window table was more than matched by the excellence of the food.
I can happily report that apart from first class crumbed scallops (what else whilst in Tassie?) the chef at the Dover RSL presented me with the best seafood chowder I had ever tasted this side of Pier 52 in Seattle (where the chowder enjoyed a world wide reputation......in 1981 at least!) We could not have been more pleased.
But that was later. For now it was time to wander on, with one last look back at the club building as we made our way down towards the seafront.
But before we had gone too far a tell tale screeching alerted us to the possible presence of one of Australia's most impressive looking birds, the yellow-tailed black cockatoo.
And there they were, quite a flock of them, wheeling and squawking their way from tree to tree, firstly settling in a large gum,
where a quick canoodle
was shortly followed by a move to a nearby conifer
where it was clearly time for lunch. Now that's a serious beak and a serious bite! No wonder the cones do not stand a chance and any passing below would be showered with bits and pieces when the cockatoos have donned their dinner bibs.
What a wonderful sighting this had been, just across the way from yet another charming Dover garden.
As we were about to turn into Bayview Road, this sign advised of the prospect of yet another ornithological sighting. How often does a swan feature on a roadside warning sign I ask?
Not unsurprisingly, Bayview Road followed the several curves of the shoreline of the bay in this part of Dover,
where we were able to take advantage of a good walking track along the seafront, initially through the grassy verge
before it became the actual roadside footpath along the low cliff above the water.
It was at this point we could look down at one of Dover's small private piers with its accompanying boat shed. These are not uncommon in many parts of southern Tasmania and Dove was no exception.
And on the slope opposite....of course, another Dover garden to delight, not the last to be found on Bayview Road!
This very handily placed viewing platform afforded all sorts of bay views.
In front of us was the town boat ramp and the fishing wharf with one of the bay's three islands, oddly named Faith, Hope and Charity, in the background (nope, no idea which one this is or why they were so named!)
Further to the right we could see out across the Esperance Bay yacht moorings
to the cluster of large buildings on the far shore
and a few of the fish farms of the Tassal salmon group, a company which has not been the most popular of corporate citizens in Tasmania over recent years.....but I'll have more to say about that later.
Beyond the viewing platform, the homes on the roadside overlooking the bay were set off by more charming gardens
whilst others, obviously more recent and modern additions to the Dover home scene, took advantage of the views from much higher up the hill.
Each successive bend in the road brought scenes of more visual charm, both botanical
and nautical.....yachts riding calmly at anchor in the bay
and colourful dinghies upturned on the shore.
And did you spot the two black dots in both the last two shots? The roadside sign did not bare false witness......black swans do indeed make Esperance Bay their home,
even if they have to share with the odd interloper in the form of a far less elegant Pacific gull.
This section of the foreshore walk also provided views over the bay to the hills beyond,
where the serried rows of apple trees on the lower slopes, the heavily timbered forest of the upper slopes and the charm of the cottage and English shade trees along the foreshore created such a picture. Dover on a stick!
But back to the foreshore, where the well constructed small boat ramp
is not well supported with trailer parking space. Late comers to this facility may well find themselves having to park on the other side of the point, near the end of the main wharf.
Speaking of the wharf, by now we had almost reached it and with it the end of this offering of the sights of Dover, well almost.
Before we go, I have two more beautiful gardens to share with you.
The pride the home owners take, and the care they obviously lavish on their gardens is palpably evident in nearly all the homes along Bayview Road.
Well done to all of you. You have done much to make our walk the pleasure it was.
In my next offering we shall continue along the Dover foreshore, this time including the wharf, the short Esplanade and the beaches beyond...including a surprise purchase!
No comments:
Post a Comment