We decided to see how far south we could drive in Tas and this took us on the southern most road in Australia and to Cockle Creek. Cockle Creek is a tiny little southern Tasmanian settlement, one sign saying that population was 3! It seemed mainly consist of holiday houses, no shops or anything and campgrounds surrounded by national park. We followed a dirt road past all of the above and suddenly stopped into an area where you can turn the car around and go back. A bit of an anticlimax but at least we can say we’ve driven as far south of Australia as possible.

View from the whale sculpture

We stopped and go out of the car for a very quick walk to a giant bronze whale sculpture, sculpted in memory of the area’s whaling history.

Bronze Whale Sculpture, Cockle Creek

A member of the Mott family

We also came across a cemetery. I love old cemeteries and this one didn’t disappoint. A number of headstones still exist scattered through the overgrown area; with a number that have disappeared overtime. The headstones still standing are mostly legible with names and the information board states that a number of the descendants of the original settler families still live in the local area.

Headstones of the Fields family Thomas (killed in a logging accident) and Alice

The overgrown cemetery at Cockle Creek

The information board provides some fascinating history of the settlers who lived and died here. Some of the settlers died in mysterious circumstances, in tragic accidents, of disappeared suddenly and their bodies never been found. The conditions must have been very harsh; one family, the Adams, had 11 children with 8 dying before the age of 3. We weren’t able to camp in Cockle Creek this time as we are running short of time before we need to head back to Brisbane. I would love to come back and spend a few days relaxing though, definitely the place for some R&R.