Stanley is a small (550 person) town in the far north west of Tasmania. It sits at the foot of a volcanic plug known as The Nut (munatrik).
From around 1825 Stanley was the base of a farming corporation called the Van Dieman’s Land Company and the town has a number of well preserved and restored buildings from the colonial era.
It takes about five hours to drive from Hobart to Stanley.
We arrived late afternoon and spent the first evening checking out colonial-era buildings then climbing to the top of the Nut with great views east to Table Cape, and west to the Bass Strait Islands.
Stanley remains an active fishing port with rock lobster the speciality. We took an early morning stroll around the wharves where the distinctive red and white boats of the local fishing company were taking refuge from a howling easterly.
High winds are not uncommon in this part of the world, and the nearby Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station measures atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases in what is some of the cleanest air on the planet.
Though the wind was up the sun was out so we drove ~20 kms east to the main entrance of the Rocky Cape National Park. True to its name, this national park hugs a spectacular rocky coastline backed by cliffs and hills covered in native vegetation and dotted with ancient aboriginal sites.
Rocky Cape (pinmatik) has several caves that archaeological studies have shown were occupied over 8,000 years ago.
We stood at the entrance of South Cave, explored the rocky coastline, pondered North Cave from the viewing platform, and took in the lighthouse which has helped to ensure safe navigation since 1968.
The wind stayed up overnight and then the rain came in, so it was definitely an indoor day.
Highfield House is an historic site that sits on a hill overlooking Stanley and the Nut. It was built for the Van Diemen’s Land Company, with construction commencing in 1826 using convict labour . It’s an excelent example of early colonial architecture from the Regency Era.
The site has been thoughtfully restored to give a sense of what it was like for Europeans transplanted to northwest Tasmania in the mid 19th C.
Leaving Stanley the next morning we drove east towards Devonport to stay with some friends overnight before driving home to Hobart the following day. This gave us the chance to explore parts of two national parks.
Rocky Cape National Park has a secondary (eastern) entrance from Sister’s Beach. We walked up though Banksia Grove and visited Wet Cave.
About 120 kms further east, quite close to Devonport, lies the Narawntapu National Park
It’s dominated by the long, sandy Bakers Beach. We spent a lovely afternoon there, beachcombing and exploring the estuary of the Rubicon River.
Recent Comments