Hellyers Whiskey Distillery, Sisters Beach, & Dip Falls/ Big Tree

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Their International Label

Barrels of Whiskey

We went to the Hellyers Distillery for a whiskey tour. They make single malt whiskey. It was an interesting tour.  Sydney didn't like the smell. They use American oak barrels from the Jack Daniels distillery. We got to taste the original and the peated. The peated was a little too smokey for me, but Adam and Rudd liked it. Adam filled his own bottle and Sydney dipped the top in wax, so we have a special bottle. I tried the cream liquor that they are also making which was really good. We got a bottle of that, too.

View of Sisters Beach

Tidal pools in the rocks

Rocks coming out of the sand

We got some lunch after our tour and then went exploring. We stopped at Sisters Beach and walked along the beach. There were these cool rocks sticking out of the sand. It reminded me of Superman's ice fortress minus the ice. We could find tidal pools in the holes in these rocks. It is always fun to see the creatures in them.  Adam and I were more amazed at the lack of waves.  The water was very calm.

We used Sydney as a reference point to show how tall the tree was.

We were measuring the diameter.

Rudd and Adam

Next we went to Dip Falls and the Big Tree. Someone from Adam's work recommended seeing these. The tree was huge.  It is a browntop Stringybark tree.  It had a 16 meter diameter and was 62 meters high. The sign said it was probably 400 years old. It was really neat to see. The four of us held hands and couldn't reach even half way around it.  Another big tree had fallen, so Dagan went to the end of it, so we could see how tall it might have been.

The orange in the background is Dagan.

View of Dip Falls from the top.  The rocks look like blocks.

Rudd, Dagan, Sydney, and I went to the bottom.

Rudd decided to try to climb the rocks. 

Dip Falls were right by the tree. They were pretty, but the rock formations surrounding the falls was awesome. The volcanic rocks looked like blocks stacked on top of each other.  It is amazing how nature is formed.

Sydney, Adam, and Dagan at the top.  My boy just won't smile. 

We stopped at a fish market/restaurant on the way back to the hotel. Adam wanted to try the crays or rock lobster. We ended up with a seafood platter. We had prawns, scallops, rock lobster, octopus, oysters, flake, flathead, calamari, and smoked salmon.  It was good. Sydney was adventuresome and tried some of it.  We were surprised now good the octopus was.  Rudd tried one oyster, and then he and I left the rest for Adam.  I don't think Rudd will be ordering oysters again soon.

We have be more day in Tasmania. We will be up early tomorrow to make the most of our last day here.