Smithton, Tasmania

 For some unknown reason we both woke up quite early this morning and were hooked up and ready to roll by 8.30.....way too early for our check in at Smithton Caravan Park that is just over 100km away, but we set sail anyway.

The drive is lovely.  Rolling hills and lush paddocks that are home to many dairy cows.  We are told later that there is around 70,000 head of dairy cows in this area for a population of just over 7,000!  As we drive into Burnie we are passed by a truck carrying logs that will undoubtably be chipped and sent by ship to Japan.  We drive over another hill and we can see Stanley and "The Nut" in the distance.  If the weather holds, like today, we will be walking to the top of The Nut tomorrow.

The caravan park at Smithton is another beauty.  We have been allocated a site on the banks of the Duck River and Philip is in heaven because the water is home to many ducks.  His favourite bird.  

Because we arrive quite early, once we have unhitched the van we drive to the brand new information centre for a coffee.  I pick up a few brochures but we are most interested in Duck River Meadows Dairy guided tour.  We immediately book on the next tour that is 3.30.

After lunch and a rest we make our way back to the tourist information centre and are shown to the waiting mini-bus.  We are the only ones on this tour so we have our tour guides undivided attention.  This dairy and artisan cheese factory is complete robotic and we are enthralled as we watch the whole process.

The cows come up to the shed to be milked, at their leisure 24/7, around three times a day.  They wander into the milking pen where the automation commences first with a wash down of their udder and then one by one each teat is attached to the machine.  They are milked until the cow runs out of milk on each teat.  As the teat empties the milking cup becomes detached.  The cow stands there eating grain from a bin that automatically fills.  Once milked, the cow then makes her way back out of the shed and into the paddock.  We asked how long it takes to train a cow and the guide said three milkings.

There is usually a cheese making demonstration but unfortunately we were too late to watch, however the guide has offered us free tickets to go back tomorrow to watch and also to partake of a cheese tasting.  All the milk produced at this dairy goes into cheese production and their most popular product is the camembert.

After we left the tour we went for a short drive around Smithton (population 3142).  It's a lovely coastal town with McCains being one of the biggest employers.  We are here for four nights and tomorrow is Stanley and the following day Tarkine Drive that will take us through "breathtaking wilderness" (according to the brochure).