Our Trip to Australia, Part Six - Freycinet National Park and the Agrarian Kitchen
Whenever I travel I always try to do as much as possible, so the trips are productive, informational and fun.
During another outing in Tasmania, we learned all about The Agrarian Kitchen Cooking School & Farm, Tasmania’s first hands-on farm-based establishment of its kind. We visited a Tasmanian Devil sanctuary and participated in a land-based marine farm oyster experience with Saffire Freycinet resort, and we drove to Freycinet National Park for a trail hike filled with stunning panoramic views over Wineglass Bay and the surrounding areas.
Enjoy more of my photos from our glorious trip to Australia.
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- Located along the eastern side of the Freycinet Peninsula and in Freycinet National Park is Wineglass Bay. Its sandy beach is considered one of the top-10 beaches in the world.
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- Truman, Alexis and I went on the hike up to the Wineglass Bay lookout to see some of the beautiful views.
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- The trail is a fairly steep climb to the saddle between Mt. Amos and Mt. Mayson, but we all love to hike, so we were ready for the adventure.
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- Freycinet is effectively two eroded blocks of granite joined by a sand isthmus, or narrow strip of land with sea on either side.
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- These granite formations have curved, domal surfaces – a geological characteristic feature of granites called “onion skin” weathering.
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- Wineglass Bay is one of Australia’s most beautiful natural environments. It is called ‘wineglass’ due to the circular glass shape of beach and its calm, clear water. Different shades of green from the vegetation, white from the sand and blue from the sea can all be seen from our vantage point at the top.
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- Alexis and Truman made the hike to the peak in about 60-minutes. Perhaps I lived up to the meaning of “pokey” – walking slow and taking my time, but I finished in the appointed amount of time – about 90-minutes. And I took some beautiful photos along the way.
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- The trail down was similar to our hikes through Acadia National Park in Maine. All the trails were very clean and well-marked.
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- Though similar to Acadia, the rocks here are more sandstone in color than the pink granite in Maine. The shapes of these rocks were so alluring.
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- The Freycinet area was reserved as a national park in 1916, making it the oldest national park in Tasmania.
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- Some of the minerals in the granite consist of feldspar, micas and quartz. These can be easily seen in the boulders and outcrops throughout the park.
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- Here is a quaint little bench seat made out of rocks.
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- We also visited the Saffire Tasmanian Devil Sanctuary, where we met some recuperating Tasmanian devils and observed them as they ate and interacted with one other. This is Molly.
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- The Tasmanian devil is characterized by its stocky and muscular build, black fur, pungent odor, loud screech, sense of smell, and ferocity when feeding.
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- The Tasmanian devil has the most powerful bite relative to body size of any living mammalian carnivore. Its jaw can open very wide, allowing the devil to generate enough power to tear meat and crush bones.
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- Afterwards, we went to Freycinet Marine Farm located on the Freycinet Peninsula. It is a working oyster farm within an internationally significant wetland and ornithological site.
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- Here is Truman – exploring once again.
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- We were guided by a trained worker in wetland and marine ecology, who taught us how to pick oysters.
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- The oysters we picked were laid out onto a tablecloth covered table right on the water. They were rinsed and then shucked for us to enjoy. They were so delicious.
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- And here is Truman holding one of the fresh-out-of-the-water oysters.
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- Here I am with Rodney Dunn and his wife, Severine Demanet who moved from Sydney to Tasmania in July 2007 to transform an old schoolhouse into The Agrarian Kitchen Cooking School & Farm. Set on five-acres, The Agrarian Kitchen is a working farm and incorporates an extensive vegetable garden, orchard, berry patch and herb garden, all grown using organic practices.
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- Rodney leads the Cooking School classes. The teaching kitchen is currently at the couple’s home, but will soon be relocated at the Agrarian Kitchen Eatery, a few miles away.
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- Everything that was cooked was picked fresh from the gardens that day – here is a bowl of colorful squash blossoms.
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- Rodney made a delicious salad including cucumber, fennel leaves, red shiso leaves, basil, and locally made feta cheese.
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- Rodney also added sweet sungold cherry tomatoes.
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- It was such a pleasure to watch Rodney cook and to learn about his Cooking School.
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- While waiting for our meal, Truman loved playing soccer with Rodney and Severine’s son – soccer is Truman’s favorite thing to do!
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- Here he is before kicking the ball. Visit my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48 to see a fun video of the boys playing.
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- Here is our wonderful table setting.
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- Rodney and Severine had the most prolific berry bushes – I had never seen such wonderful berry bushes – blackberries, blueberries, huckleberries, raspberries, loganberries – everything was so amazing.
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- This is sourdough starter batter that Rodney made to coat the squash blossoms.
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- Rodney dipped the squash blossoms in the batter and then fried them in canola oil.
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- Afterwards, he seasoned them with a little salt – so good.
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- We also enjoyed grilled slices of small zucchini – picked fresh from the garden.
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- They were perfectly cooked. Everything smelled wonderful. We were brought into their home kitchen like we were some of Rodney’s students – and learned some of his cooking tips. It was very informative.
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- Rodney also cooked new potatoes in butter and then fried them with pieces of asparagus.
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- And for the meat eaters – grilled skirt steaks with pesto.
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- For desert, we had a blackberry and raspberry pavlova. I am not a huge fan of blackberries becuse of their hard cores, but these were the best – no hard core, just solid blackberries. Our visit to the Agrarian Kitchen was a perfect way to end our full day. Please visit their web site to learn more about this excellent school and eatery. https://www.theagrariankitchen.com/
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