a trip to the end of the road + asparagus muffins

Home Baked - Spring

Every now and then, I like to drive to the end of the road. It is just over an hour south of home, a spot overlooking the Southern Ocean, where it is impossible to drive any further south. You drive on the Huon Highway as it twists and turns through the forest. You pass through Dover, a sleepy beachside village and on to Southport, an even sleepier place. In the distance, you see the pointed summit of Adamson’s Peak, reminiscient of Mount Fuji in shape. It is possible to walk to the top, although the track isn’t well maintained, and there is no guarantee of fine weather and a view after your 14 kilometre uphill hike.

A little further along, you pass the sign for the turn-off to Hastings Caves, a labyrinth of dolomite caves that you can tour with local guides. I find them fascinating. I try to imagine what it was like in the 1920s, shortly after timber workers happened upon the cave entrance; when making the trek to the caves would have been arduous and navigating the caves even more so. It’s hard to imagine them without the infrastructure that makes walking through them much more manageable - steps, handrails and lights. There is a house close to the entrance, the style identifiably 1920s, where I have visions of cave visitors dressed in their finery, sitting out with tea following a few hours of exploration. They might have taken a dip in the thermal springs located close to the lodgings. Despite the modern visitor centre, the thermal springs now encased in a swimming pool, the carpark and the signage, it’s easy to see it as it once would have been with narrow roads and barely cleared forest.

You keep going along the highway until you happen upon Ida Bay and the remnants of an old railway constructed in 1919 to transport limestone from the quarry at Lune River to the jetty at Ida Bay. In the 1970s, it became something of a tourist attraction, with visitors able to ride the tracks until a series of incidents, including a derailment, led to its closure. The heritage listed site is ripe for restoration, and a group of volunteers is working to acquire funding. The railway is adjacent to a site recently approved for a major art installation. According to the promotional material, Transformer is to be a reflective pavilion that has a kaleidoscope viewing effect, enabling visitors to see the surrounding landscape in a unique way. It is a project that has been years in the making. It was first proposed in 2019 after bushfires devastated the region and a series of events and attractions were conceived to encourage business and tourism to the area. As is too often the case, it has been stymied by red tape, and only in the last couple of months has it received its final piece of approval. I think it's a case of believing it when I see it. Since it was first touted, costs have increased considerably, and I wouldn’t be surprised if its viability is now in question.

After Ida Bay, the road is unsealed, although it’s usually in good condition, barring a few potholes that are mostly easy to avoid. The road emerges from the forest as it runs along the coastline of Recherche Bay to Cockle Creek. This is as far south as you are able to drive in Australia, literally the end of the road.

It is a place with a long history, from the First Nations people, the Lyluequonny, who inhabited the South East Nation. They were maritime people who used bark canoes to cross the channel and hunted seals, seabirds, kangaroos and possums, gathered shellfish and marine and land vegetable foods, and conducted shallow-water fishing at night with lighted torches.

Many of the local place names - D’Entrecasteaux Channel, Recherche Bay, Bruny Island - are named for the French explorer Bruni D’Entrecasteaux and his ship Recherche, which sailed into the bay in 1792 on a scientific and botanical expedition. Later, it was a port of call for ships transporting prisoners to Sarah Island, the penal colony in Macquarie Harbour, on Tasmania’s west coast. In the 1830s, there were four whaling stations located at Cockle Creek, hunting mainly southern right whales and sperm whales. However, by the 1850s, the whale population had been almost decimated and whale hunting was no longer viable.

It would be vain of me to attempt to describe my feelings when I beheld this lonely harbour lying at the world’s end, separated as it were from the rest of the universe - ‘twas nature and nature in her wildest mood…”

Admiral Bruni D’Entrecasteaux, French naval officer and explorer, 1792

Today, Cockle Creek is a campground, the end of the multi-day southwest walk that starts at Port Davey, and a picnic and walking spot for day-trippers. Despite this, it is a place unlikely to be visited by many people. There are few who make it this far south, and it’s for this reason that I enjoy my occasional visits. It’s a place that puts life in perspective. You can stand near the bronze whale statue, a reminder of the past, and look out to the ocean, where beyond the horizon lies Antarctica. It is a place where you have a sense of the vastness of the earth, the power of the ocean and the relentless rhythm of nature and that we humans are mere momentary specks upon it. As I said, it’s a good place to gain some perspective!

With no options to buy food, a picnic or barbeque is in order when visiting Cockle Creek. At the very least, a snack and a thermos of tea give you some time to sit and contemplate - it really is the best place for that. For a snack I’m a bit of a fan of a savoury muffin on these occasions. They travel well and provide sustenance without requiring a lot of equipment. This version celebrates the very short spring asparagus season when asparagus should be consumed at every opportunity!

Spring Asparagus Muffins

Makes 6 Texas or 12-15 regular sized muffins

• 400 g plain flour

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• several grinds of fresh black pepper

• 300 g buttermilk

• 150 g sunflower oil or other neutral oil

• 3 eggs

• 200 g asparagus, woody ends removed and chopped into 1 cm lengths

• 2 spring onions, finely sliced, green ends included

• 50 g baby spinach, roughly chopped

• zest of 1 lemon

• 10 g tarragon or chervil chopped

• 80 g goat’s chèvre

Preheat the oven to 170°C. Grease a 6 hole Texas muffin tin or a regular 12 hole muffin tin. Alternatively, line with muffin papers.

Put the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper into a bowl. Use a balloon whisk to mix well.

In a second bowl mix together the buttermilk, oil and eggs. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and use a spatula to mix them together. Fold through the remaining ingredients except the goat’s chèvre. Take care not to over mix.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin. Place dots of chèvre on top of each muffin. Bake for 25 minutes or until the muffins are lightly golden and spring back when pressed lightly in the centre. Larger muffins will take a little longer.

Remove from the oven and cool for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Eat slightly warm or at room temperature.

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Next week: spring flowers + pretty cakes

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