Blogs from Stanley, Tasmania, Australia, Oceania

We often comment on how time flies, and in an odd way the journey from Strahan to Stanley was rather like that. Not time based, but rather we were uncertain if we were flying through cloud with turbulence or driving through road works on an ultra wet and windy day. The showers slowed from time to time and we got the occasional glimpse of what would be a pilot's worst nightmare; rugged craggy mountains just visible through the clouds. Our intention was to go to Cradle Mountain, but we thought better of that and drove on to Burnie. It was still wet there off and on, and as the afternoon progressed, more on than off. Rather than stay there, we did a weather check (Elders Weather) and saw that Stanley was coming out of the fug ... read more

This morning we headed west across Tassie's top end to the historic village of Stanley. Any visitor from the UK would have felt right at home in this neck of the woods with the cool air, grey skies and rolling green hills and paddocks. The purpose of the drive was to see 'The Nut', an ancient volcanic plug. On the outskirts of Stanley there were incredible views of The Nut. We soon moved to the base and decided to take the hike up and around this distinctive formation. There was no easing into it as the path took us up incredibly steep inclines from the get go. The energy spent making it to the top, and not taking the easy option of the chairlift, was well worth it as there was a panorama of the surrounding ... read more

What a lovely sunny morning! After a leisurely start, we climbed the Nut. It is a 152m high volcanic table-top formation that is about 13 million years old. It was a very steep, but only 15 minute, climb to the top. We walked the 2km circuit which boasts impressive views of the coast, village and surrounding countryside. We took the chairlift back down before heading down to Stanley Wharf where Dean did a bit of fishing.Alas, no bites today… We drove a substantial distance in the afternoon, all the way to Rosebery where we intended to stay the night. This mining village didn’t feel particularly safe, with everyone driving by in utes staring at the strangers, so we found a small rest area outside the village to park our van. Out came the sandalwood sticks as ... read more

We had a great back-to-basics start to our trip, spending 3 nights in the Snowy Mountains, cooking on an open fire and going on various walks. Driving on almost-deserted roads, we caught the chairlift up from Thredbo and walked to Mount Kosciuszko along the steel mesh pathway across the bog. We were prepared for the weathered mountains and low vegetation, but not having been here in summer before, we didn't expect to see so much water oozing out of the hills and running away. It is a fascinating landscape. We carried all the essentials - water, sunscreen, insect repellant (unfortunately no beer though) - but unfortunately left our commonsense behind, so we managed to get quite sunburnt anyway. Luckily the following day was overcast and drizzling a bit, so while it curtailed our walking a bit ... read more

From Cradle Mountain, we drove up to the north coast and stopped briefly in Wynyard. We then went up to Table Cape Lookout before stopping for lunch (barbecued sausages) at Sisters Beach on the edge of Rocky Cape National Park . It was a lovely warm day, so after lunch we went for a swim at the beach, which had a few small waves and was also located next to an inlet, so was nice and sheltered too. Annelies and Thomas tried out their new boogie boards, bought with some of their Christmas money. We headed west again around mid-afternoon to stay for three nights at the Stanley Cabin and Tourist Park, located near the base of The Nut. That evening, a cool southwesterly change came through and the wind started blowing a gale, literally - ... read more