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Published: February 18th 2010
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Day 291 - Sisters Beach
One by one the caravans, camp trailers and motor homes went on their merry way this morning until it was only us and the original caravan left behind at Sisters Beach. There must have been about 20 altogether last night which is no mean feat considering the area isn’t that big! Getting in early seems to have been the best policy so when another motor home arrives I wander over to give them the low down on the ‘tricks’ of the camp spot before we go out on a day trip.
We were half expecting to wake up to rain this morning; it had been forecast as a wet day but so far so good. We head off towards Stanley to tackle ‘The Nut’ with Darryl at the wheel of Tony & Jane’s Landcruiser. There’s no denying that these cruisers are one of, if not the top choice of vehicle for 4WDing around Australia. They are awesome, very comfortable, very roomy and have plenty of umph!
The route follows the coastline for much of the way so the view from the car window is a very pleasant one. We’re planning much of what
we’re doing and where we’re heading on a day by day basis, trying to fit everything in is going to be a challenge but none of us are scared of early mornings and late nights so we anticipate covering quite a lot of this interesting state. One area that we’re all intrigued about is the west coast so stop in at the tourist information centre to see if we can get some up to date details about the state of the link road between Arthur River and Corinna. The road is just over 100 kms of gravel and opinions on its condition seem to vary greatly! Today we’re told by the lady at the visitor centre that it’s a very remote area to travel through and that we should ensure we have sufficient fuel and supplies. She seemed a bit surprised that we were even questioning whether we should do it or not - why wouldn’t we do it was her opinion. It’s what we wanted to hear so it comes as a bit of a surprise to find the jury is still out on whether we go or not, we’ve come a long way with our little 20 year
old caravan and its questionable why would want to risk it over 100kms of gravel track now! We put any decisions on the back burner and get on with today’s mission of exploring Stanley.
The Nut stands tall and impressive behind the town, you just can’t miss it. We have the choice of walking up it or taking the chairlift, of course we walk! It’s a steep track that winds its way skywards for 143 metres to give you great views over the Bass Strait and of course Stanley itself.
We came across a few Pademelons bouncing around in the bush up top. They’re not all that shy and don’t seem to mind the occasional tourist popping up with a camera for an early morning shot! We’ve got our usual spring in our step this morning so walking the 1 hour long circuit around the top is easy pickings and the conversations are varied with lots of laughing as always.
There wasn’t much ‘GST’ to add to the walk this morning, you’re quite confined up the top of the Nut by the sheer drops and steep cliffs. Even two of the lookouts have been sectioned off because
the ground has given way underneath!
Back down to earth we went and had a bit of a tour around the area to take in a few more of the outstanding views. There’s no shortage of them and The Nut features in them all! Stanley itself is a lovely place and we found a nice little spot outside the local fresh fish place for a lunch break. We did have a look at the crayfish, lobsters, shark and oysters all waiting to be freshly cooked but decided that our homemade sandwiches would be just as good!
With much of the afternoon still ahead of us we had time to take in short walks around Boat Harbour Beach and Tangdimmaa (Rocky Cape) national park. Our legs are holding up well to the walking but Jane’s pedometer read only 9523 steps at the end of it all which is very tame, we’ll have to pick it up tomorrow!
The heavens opened on our way back to the car from the North Cave in the national park and poured til we got back to the caravans at Sisters Beach. It wasn’t so busy there tonight, in fact there were plenty
of spare spots so the bad weather must have put people off.
Darryl cooked up a great Spag Bol which the four of us tucked into and then we made room for visitors. A couple of fellow campers came across on invitation from Jane to enjoy some homemade cakes & biscuits. All Darryl’s hard work at rationing them so they would last longer is being ruined!! Again the conversation was varied and became even more so when the chap let slip he was an Elvis impersonator (nay, tribute artist) but sadly there was no spontaneous performance.
Are you lonesome tonight?! We’re not!!
Sleep well everyone, roll on tomorrow
Dar and Sar
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KangarooJack
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That's Just Nut's really!
Hi guys, nice photos Sarah, that unidentified sea creature must be poisonous, everything else is!! Glad you made the Nut, we had toditch our day out there as the weather was so bad, therewould have beenno point walking up the Nut as we would not have been able to seen a thing.......!! I am envious that you are in Tassie and we're not, but still we cannot grumble...... I love the Pademelons.... We did not do that road you were talking about, the west coast weather was bad so we skipped the West to enjoy more time on Cradle mountain, however as usual it was hard to get good information on the road conditions, however I am sure that you will make the right decision for you. Have to go running out of battery, well the laptop is... not me!! lots of love Mrs KJ xx ps hope to see you when you are back on the mainland! Have fun and travel safe.