Stanley - North West Tasmania

 Even though we have only been in Tasmania for just over two weeks, we've found that arriving before midday is the key to getting a good campsite.

We left Burnie with 75 km to drive until reaching Stanley, and again, we had the chance to secure several campsites after people had moved on. We positioned ourselves along the back fence, with a large shrub on one side and a small tree on the other, to ensure we wouldn't be crammed in, as is often the case.

On our first day, we walked the streets of Stanley, photographing the charming cottages that line Alexander Terrace and Church Street. Most of these cottages, built in the 1840s, have been restored with lovely picket fences and gardens. It was an extremely hot day, so on our return, we enjoyed a cold beer followed by lunch and then a lazy afternoon around the van.

Colonial architect and Stanley resident John Lee Archer designed this store in 1843 for the Van Diemens Land Company, which was formed in 1825 to supply cheap wool to British factories. This bluestone building, which later served as a place of detention, a customs house, a butter factory, and a fish processing factory, is now restored as a boutique hotel.

Poets Cottage was built in 1849 by John Lee Archer and initially intended for one of George IV's illegitimate sons.

Joseph Lyons, Australia's tenth Prime Minister, was born here in Stanley in this house in September 1879, and this was the family home.

The forecast for the following day was very cloudy, but by 10 a.m., the skies had cleared, so we decided to take the chairlift to the top of the Nut and then walk the 2 km circuit, stopping at the four lookouts to take photographs and enjoy the scenery below. 

A safe anchorage for the fishing trawlers is undoubtedly required on this wind-swept coast.

During our walk the previous day, we stopped at Providore 24, which offers an extensive selection of Tasmanian food and wine. The following day, we returned with our car and purchased some of their products, including a multigrain sourdough loaf with two jams, some olives, a bottle of Taverners Whisky Mead, and some chocolate.

Then, we went to the Stanley Hotel for lunch. Ros enjoyed a Cape Grim scotch fillet steak sandwich, and I decided to try the seafood-tasting plate. When it arrived, I couldn't believe the size of the meal. It consisted of Boag's beer-battered flake, grilled fish of the day, crumbed scallops, salt-and-pepper squid, local abalone, pickled octopus, smoked salmon, chips, and a garden salad. Suffice it to say the chips and salad were both untouched. That night's meal was tiny after such a large lunch.

The day was still lovely, and we were never sure what the weather would be like over the coming days, so we headed a few kilometres to view the Highfield House Historic Site. Built in 1832, it was mainly built by convict labour for the Van Diemens Land Company.

And the ruins of the accommodation for the seventy convicts who worked onsite. 

The burial ground at Stanley overlooks Godfreys Beach.

We woke on Thursday, February 6th, to an extremely windy and overcast day. We decided to head inland to view the Big Tree and Dip Falls and stop at Blue Hills Honey for lunch on the way home. All these locations were along Mawbanna Road, with the Big Tree and Dip Falls along a dirt road. The Big Tree is a Browntop Stringybark with a height of sixty-two metres and a circumference of sixteen metres. If it were a round table, thirty people could sit around it.

Ros can just be seen at the base of the tree.

Viewing the base of Dip Falls requires going down 208 steps; of course, what goes down must then come up.

On the way back to the van, we had lunch at Blue Hills Honey and purchased some Leatherwood Honey, which is only produced here in Tasmania. 

A second visit to the Stanley Hotel for lunch, where Ros enjoyed the panko chicken schnitzel, and I thoroughly enjoyed my grass-fed Cape Grim scotch fillet steak.

After two weeks at Stanley and exploring the Northwest of Tasmania, it was time to move on.

Tarkine Forest Drive - North West Tasmania

 The Tarkine region's wilderness consists of a cool temperate rainforest, the second largest in the world, covering over 400,000 hectares. 

It was 45 km from our campsite in Stanley to the start of the Tarkine forest loop road. This road is narrow and sealed, but some attractions that branch off from it have unsealed sections that are all in good condition and don't require 4WD.

Overall, I found the day very tiring, especially the drive from one point to the next. The road took many twists and turns, up and down, and some people did not stay on their side of the road. At one stage, we were confronted by a logging truck taking a corner on our side of the road, forcing us to move over into the scrub, but at least he apologised.

Along this loop, the points of interest include Trowutta Arch Milkshake Hills, Lake Chisholm, Julius River Forest Reserve, and Sumac Lookout.

The walk to the Towutta Arch is five hundred metres through a lovely forest, including large trees and giant ferns.

The larger ferns that grow throughout the Trakine can live up to 1000 years. They grow very slowly, from one to ten centimetres per year. They can go to fifteen metres but generally grow between four and a half to five metres.

This unnamed sinkhole was beside the road with a small get-off, so we could film this feature. Fortunately, the wind did not affect it.

It was windy, and unfortunately, the Lake Chisholm Sinkhole, which is probably the size of two football ovals, was affected by this wind. I could only imagine how beautiful this would be, reflecting the surrounding trees on its surface.

It was a lovely walk into Lake Chisholm, with the path surrounded by small ferns. 

 The Arthur River below is seen from the Sumac Lookout.