Rural Bothwell (11-12 June 2015)

Johns birthday was coming up and we wanted to spend it in Miena at the Great Lakes as he had mentioned a couple of times that he wanted to be there for it.  However,  the weather was not conducive  to driving the caravans up there with snow and icy roads.    So plan B …..we went to Bothwell, stayed overnight and drove up to Miena for lunch on his birthday.

Bothwell is a small rural village on the Clyde River (originally called Fat Doe River….Clyde sounds so much better) about an hour out of Hobart.  Nearby towns include Ouse and Hamilton and we drove  on a back road, in between properties and visited them.

The dirt roads are good in Tassie

Back to Bothwell….so pretty, although, being a hunting place, one view was not pretty….it was of about 12 Kangaroos which had been shot and gutted and were hanging up on a square wire fence thing.  Did take a photo but decided not to share it with you.

The nearby lakes are apparently excellent for trout fishing...didn't try that. And, Bothwell is also well known for Nant, the Whiskey Distillery.....didn't try that either...oh well, will have to go back. There is only so much you can do in two days, and one of them we drove to Miena for the day.

Bothwell from the lookout

St Michaels

The beautiful and historic buildings in Bothwell are a good example of Tasmania's colonial heritage.  It has more than 50 classified buildings..... it is like stepping back in time.


We camped at the back of the Information Centre, power and water for $20 per night.  Small but adequate.

My artistic photo of one of the stained glass windows. 

We were right next to the St Michael's Anglican Church which was consecrated in 1891.

It is built from local sandstone and has beautiful stained glass windows.

I didn't get to go inside but took a photo from the outside, capturing the light from the setting sun through the stained glass windows on the other side of the church from where I was standing.    It is a bit grainy as it was taken on my iPhone but you get the picture.




It was very cold overnight in Bothwell and the water pipe going from the tap outside to the van froze.  The Landcruiser was covered in frost, the ground was very frosty and we couldn't stand on the rubber mat outside of our door because it was frozen and would break.

Can you see the frost on the ground and on top of the hedge?  It looks pink, not sure why, may be the morning sun.

And here is our van in the parking lot of the information centre which is the building on the right with the two chimneys. Another old sandstone heritage listed building.

Castle Hotel

The Castle hotel is the only one left out of the four Georgian style hotels that were originally in Bothwell.

We enjoyed a lovely lunch there by the fire....enormous hamburgers for the three of us and Deb had soup. Someone that we met at Snug told us about the hamburgers so we had to see what the fuss was about.  They were delicious.

Bothwell had many bootmakers and one of the original shops still exists although it has been moved from its original position and is now in High Street.
















Couldn't resist this one....one of the many stone cottages in the streets of Bothwell

And lastly,  in the park opposite where we were stayed behind the information centre (which is also the golfing museum) is an unusual four faced sundial and one of twelve functional and accurate sundials in Tasmania.  The residents build it as a war memorial to locals that lost their lives in the first world war and features a sundial on all four of its faces.


Next....the birthday in Miena.