Just returned from a Girlie Roadtrip ( myself and Georgie the Diva Doggie) to the Beekeeper’s conference in sunny, seaside Ulverstone in the North West of the island. What never fails to amaze me is the fabulous moist red soil in that part of the island, and lush pastures, which produce some of the richest milk and tastiest vegetables ( and the purest natural honey skincare naturally! ) in Australia.

My first stop was to visit Robbie and Nicola Charles at Blue Hills Honey in Mawbanna, near Stanley  on the North West Coast.

They are right on the edge of the Tarkine Widerness area, which is one of the last remaining temperate rainforests in Australia, and is where they place the majority of their Leatherwood hives, but are now harvesting uniquely potent Tasmanian Manuka too.They were singularly hospitable, despite Nicola being virtually on her knees with the ‘flu,and accommodated us in their single men’s quarters ( no single men, sadly!!) which George excitedly inspected nose to the ground. Onto Stanley for a lovely meal, and a foray in the 4 wheel drive to see if there were any Fairy Penguins out patrolling the streets of the tiny township ( as is their wont apparently) but no luck….the beachside areas thick with browsing wallabies and it looked like Watership Down there were so many rabbits…!

Drove on to Mawbanna Dip Falls, a spectacular waterfall,the view is breathtaking- The water spills down over hexagonal ( spooky, just like a honeycomb cell!!)  basalt columns, formed in ancient times by cooling volcanic rock -and the Big Tree, which is …er….a VERY big tree, 62 metres (203 ft) tall Eucalyptus, with a 17 metre (55 ft) base- awe inspiring in fact, just a fantastic ancient forest survivor . And yes, ok ok, I did hug it.

Mawbanna Dip Falls

Stunningly gorgeous, eh?

I have to say that the cool, sepuchral silence deep off the road in the rainforest, amongst the 2 metre tall manferns is ever so slightly unnerving,broken only by bird calls echoing, and George (who was beside herself in sniffs heaven) excitedly snuffling about in the leaf litter.

The Beekeepers are by nature a reserved bunch, mostly older “bushies”who think a lot and say little, and find a loud, outspoken Londoner a bit confronting, but since I’ve been around for 20 years now they are unbending a bit! We have been telling people about their fabulous honey for 20 years now so I have a few runs on the board..

Shirley and Ian Stephens from R.Stephens Mole Creek, who supply all the beautiful Leatherwood Beeswax for our natural leatherwood honey skincare products were in their 50th year there I believe, beekeepers all their lives, and their families before them.

All the beekeepers have their stories but most importantly a proud  history of harvesting products from the forest in the most environmentally sensitive way, really the first environmentalists of all you may say.

We heard a meteorologist speak about the amazing computer modelling now available, actually pretty fascinating ( yeh, right, I am proudly a nerd!) when you consider that their entire livelihood- and the yield of honey- is driven by the weather, and on the Saturday I gather that an eminent scientist was talking about bee neurology…gasp! I thought you would need the Hubble telescope to see a little bee brain but obviously they is purty smart critters!

Oh well, back to the soap grindstone, watch this space for a fab new real, natural soap soon I feel all inspired, having “gone bush ”  Toodlepip!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 7th, 2011 at 1:55 pm and is filed under Ingredients, Rainforest Honey Magic!, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.