The Nut dominates this coast line - it is the solidified remains of the lava lake of a long extinct volcanoe and rises 152 metres above the little town of Stanley nestling below.
Stanley is like a step back in time. Stone fisherman and weatherboard cottages, festooned in iron lace and fret-worked barge boards, line the streets. Charming shops line the single main shopping area displaying mostly art, craft and local produce.
It remains a fishing port although tourists enjoy it's old world charm, wild life attractions, (penguins and seals) and taking a chair lift to the top of the Nut. Most of the catch - abalone, crayfish, scallops - is exported. At present because of the health crisis local crays are available starting at around $75.
Stanley has a long history: the Van Diemen's Land Company, established in London in 1834 to take advantage of pastoral opportunities in the new colony, took up land here to farm sheep and prospered over the next decades. The centre of the operation here was named Highfield and it saw many violent contests between the Company and the Indigenous people. From the establishment of the VDL Company the whole of the North-West of Tasmania was opened up.
Highfield House.
Threatened with bull-dozing by the last unsympathetic private owner, Highfield was acquired thirty years ago and has been restored. The house, chapel, stables and walled garden present a substantial pastoral property, lovingly cared for, illustrating life in the 1800s.
The chapel provided services to Stanley before the erection of churches in the town.
The walked garden.
Flagstoned floor in the stables.
Highfield is run by Tasmanian Parks. It is informative and reflective rather than replicating life in these early days. Well worth visiting.
After breakfast at Moby Dick's reading the local paper of 1872 I took the road for Launceston exploring small communities such as Penguin and Ulveston along the way. Coastal views were fabulous. Burnie remains quite an industrial town with port and transport facilities but less obviously than in previous times.
Dairy farms, green paddocks and contented cows are interspersed with the chocolate soils of ploughed land waiting for crops. Log trucks abound - transporting plantation timber mostly - the Information Centre informed me upon inquiry " not our beautiful forests".
Sprinkled with rain most of the day but not cold.
Last 2 nights in Launceston - full of quirky and vintage properties clinging to hilly streets. My hotel is overlooking the Park I walked through every day on my way to school - still a green oasis in the city.
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