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A Lotus Eating Fiat

Cygnet is an easy 45 minute drive from Hobart and, unfortunate kitchen fires aside, usually boasts two great cafe / restaurants:  the currently slightly char-grilled Red Velvet Lounge and, just a bit further down the main street, the Lotus Eater.  It's normally an either / or choice but with the former out of action for now, Mrs UMPH and I happily headed off for a late lunch at the latter.

Adding to the allure of today's outing is the fact that Cygnet is accessed via some really fun roads, especially if one returns to Hobart via Kettering by the Woodbridge Hill route.  In fact, that way's so good that it's a Targa Wrest Point competitive stage!

Having decided on the Fiat, we headed down to the Lotus Eater, via Huonville, arriving just as Cygnet's twice-monthly market (1st and 3rd Sunday of each month) was winding up.  Not a particularly exciting drive today but scenic none the less.  Timing is everything; too many utes and trailers can take the gloss of what are some normally joyous sweeping bends with clear sight lines and pretty views of the Huon Valley.

Once at the cafe, we were welcomed in and shown our table.  It's a small, unpretentious place with a staff that make you feel right at home very quickly.  Mrs decided on a soup of broad beans, onions, dill and mythical creator being knows what else, accompanied by a crispy baguette;  I went for a potato and some sort of cheese tart (note to self: if you're going to write about food, pay more attention!) with a salad of beans, lettuce, nasturtium flowers and leaves, olives and ... (I promise to be more attentive next time!!). 

Both meals were wonderful.  The soup was tasty-as, with a hint of dill but not too much; the (chunk of) tart was infused with something that made me think of chicken (a herb, probably.  Sage, maybe?) and the salad complemented it nicely, too.  We'll be back!

I was really looking forward to the return run over the Woodbridge Road.  So was the driver of the white XR6 Falcon that was following us, by the look of it.  However, he was a bit cleverer than me, slowing down on the straights so that he could get a good run through the twisty tarmac sections without ending up stuck behind one of the valley's ubiquitous flat-tray utes like I did.

The dawdling ute didn't really matter, though; the road is still a joy, even at 60 km/h, and it was good to be reminded what a great drive it is.  It's a fairly long run, tight and twisty, with a few short straights where you can stick to boot in for a bit of a cheap thrill.  The surface is smooth asphalt, the sight lines are good - especially if you keep your eyes up - and there's some camber to help keep your car tracking the where it's meant to be.  Wind your windows down and there's the added bonus of hearing your exhaust crackling, snarling and bouncing of the low hills opposite. 

Being a silver-lining sort of bloke, I'm happy to now have two excuses to head down to Cygnet again:  the Red Velvet's phoenix-act (not sure when but soon, please!) and another crack at those bends.  And maybe we'll be accompanied by one or two of our friends and their cars, too.     

Comments

  1. What's not to love on that route! An additional loop around the bottom through Verona Sands is a tasty slab of asphalt with some magic views (watch the road please Panteras frequent the area). I've done that route many times in either direction. Have morning tea at cygnet and lunch at Woodbridge or the reverse? Cheers Woodie

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