Honey, hugs and hypothermia.

It was another balmy 6 degree morning here in Launceston, perfect outdoor activity weather. We took the National Highway west to Deloraine, before setting our sights for the Mole Creek Caves. Before long, we reached the village of Chudleigh (for some reason we find the name cuter than a bugs ear), and called into The Honey Farm, which is essentially the only draw-card of the place. It was even colder in Chudleigh if that were possible, so we hurried inside - our collective breaths fogging up the place.

They have a huge variety of honey flavours to sample, as well as beeswax products and anything remotely marketable with a bee on it. While there, we witnessed two bus-loads of Japanese tourists come through (imagine an overwhelmingly polite whirlwind), with the entire Martin clan being hugged by one poor girl, claiming it was her mission to hug at least 18 people that day.

Note the Tasmanian Devil beanie.

We found the Blackbutt and Wildflower varieties of honey delicious, but I crossed a line in terms of dark honey when I sampled the Buckwheat. Possibly one of the foulest concoctions I have tasted, akin to licking the rear wheel of a coal truck.

All sugared up, we pushed on to the Marakoopa Cave (part of the Mole Creek Cave system). Jen picked up some tickets at the front office (about 150 metres out from the cave site), managing to lock out a grumpy older hiking lady, who was then mistaken for a man by the unfortunate Ranger behind the counter.

Marakoopa Cave

Largely unscathed, we waited for about half an hour in 6 degree temperatures - unsurprisingly we were the first to arrive (everyone else was likely still sitting in the relative warmth of their vehicles). Lily groaned and rolled her eyes as each additional participant turned up (clearly we were going to run out of cave space). Our guide was quirky and informative - detailing how stalactites initially form as straw-like structures, before thickening up. He described other formations such as shawls, teeth, pendulums and flow-stones. On the return trip, the lights were dimmed (ie complete darkness) to allow us to view quite a nice collection of glow worms.

Resurfacing, we noted that the temperature had not climbed, and it was now raining. Despite this, we thought it a brilliant plan to drive through some tortuously curving mountain roads to Sheffield (which is actually a very cute town) and on to Tasmazia. Can you see what they did there? A collection of mazes, in Tasmania. Genius. It was around 1:30pm by the time we arrived, so we picked up some lunch before heading in to the Great Maze (as much to avoid the inevitable drenching as much as to sample gargantuan pancakes). 

Despite the icy, miserably wet conditions - we actually had an okay time. The hedged mazes were fantastic, and the tiny township of Lower Crackpot was hilarious. Sheffield is known for its many murals, and it was obvious some skilled artists had a hand in decorating the teeny buildings.

We took the main road back to Launceston, thawing out along the way.

Tomorrow will likely see a continuation of the cold and wet conditions - so we will take a look at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery. I will (under much sufferance) take the tour of Boag's Brewery in the afternoon - possibly even sampling one or two varieties.