Boats moored at Kettering

Kettering (including Woodbridge)
Pleasant coastal town on the D'Entrecasteaux Channel
Kettering (37 km south of Hobart) and Woodbridge nestle into the coast on the D'Entrecasteaux Channel opposite Bruny Island - two tiny settlements gazing across the narrow channel at the island's low lying hills. It is hard to imagine that they were once violent outposts where the local Aborigines were persecuted and maltreated by sealers and whalers.

The area was first explored by Bruni D'Entrecasteaux in 1792 and was settled in the early 1800s by timber cutters, whalers and sealers. Life was hard and the people who lived in the area rarely settled for long preferring the life in Hobart Town to the whaling stations and logging camps.

It was just north of Kettering in Oyster Cove that the last Tasmanian Aboriginal settlement was established in 1847. Aborigines from all over Van Diemen's Land had been rounded up some years earlier and isolated on Flinders Island. In 1847 the remnants, now only 44 people, were taken to a reserve at Oyster Cove. By 1855 there were only 16 people left and by 1869 only Truganini remained. She died in 1876 but it was not until 1976 that her ashes were thrown to the winds on the D'Entrecasteaux Channel.

Kettering Marina

Today the area is noted for its orchards (apples, cherries, pears) and Kettering has become an important service centre for the local farmers. Like so much of the area south of Hobart, both towns have become centres for commuters and alternative lifestyle dwellers who find the peacefulness suits them - although, from a mainland perspective, Hobart is hardly a centre of urban decay and hysteria.

These tiny settlements are now the focus of marine activities.

Things to see:  

Marine Studies Centre
The Commonwealth Government has established a Marine Studies Centre at Woodbridge (it is down on the water near the town jetty) which is specifically designed to cater for school children interested in marine biology and Kettering, with its Marina and its regular ferry service to Bruny Island, is becoming an important tourist mooring and departure point.

Marine Studies Centre, Woodbridge

Woodbridge Hill
Travellers wanting a short cut across to the Huon Valley can take the C627 and C626 through the mountains behind Woodbridge and Kettering. The C627 passes through the Woodbridge Hill area, a 400 ha park characterised by rainforest vegetation and the presence of the rare Bell Everlasting. Woodbridge Hill, which rises 580 m above sea level, is part of the mountain range which runs between the D'Entrecasteaux Channel and the Huon River.

Oyster Cove Inn
The Oyster Cove Inn, which has views across the Kettering Marina, is one of those strange anomalies. It was originally built by a wealthy Queensland grazier who, presumably, preferred the cool tranquillity of the D'Entrecasteaux Channel to the heat of his own state.

	Tourist Information
	Visitor Information Centre 81 Ferry Rd Ferry Wharf Kettering TAS 7155 Telephone: (03) 6267 4494
	Hotels
	Oyster Cove Inn 1 Ferry Rd Kettering TAS 7155 Telephone: (03) 6267 4446 Facsimile: (03) 6267 4330 Rating: **
	Bed & Breakfast/Guesthouses
	Anstey Barton Bed & Breakfast 82 Ferry Rd Kettering TAS 7155 Telephone: (03) 6267 4199 Facsimile: (03) 6267 4433
	Orchard Lea Guest House 11 Weedings Way, Woodbridge via Kettering TAS 7155 Telephone: (03) 6267 4108, 0408 899 508 Email: stay@orchardlea.com.au Rating: ****
	The Old Kettering Inn Bed & Breakfast Ferry Rd Kettering TAS 7155 Telephone: (03) 6267 4426 Rating: ****
	Cottages & Cabins
	Herons Rise Vineyard Cottages Saddle Rd Kettering TAS 7155 Telephone: (03) 6267 4339 Facsimile: (03) 6267 4245 Email: cwhite@vision.net.au Rating: ****
	Camping & Other
	Hartzview Vineyard Homestead 70 Dillons Rd Gardners Bay Kettering TAS 7112 Telephone: (03) 6295 1623 Facsimile: (03) 6295 1723 Email: spatterson@vision.net.au Rating: ****
	Restaurants
	Oyster Cove Inn 1 Ferry Rd Kettering TAS 7155 Telephone: (03) 6267 4446 Rating: **