As summer turned to autumn our time in Tasmania was drawing to a close. It was three weeks until the end of our work season and we managed to snag three days off for a little break away. We had grand plans to go and hike the iconic cradle mountain; but with both of us feeling rather run down and rain clouds filling the sky, we decided a little rest and relaxation in the seaside town of Stanley sounded much more our speed.
It always seems to take us forever to find just the right place to stay, we want the aesthetics of luxury without the price-tag that comes with it. Eventually we settled on a cute little cottage on the edge of the village, where the only downside we could find in the reviews was that it was too close to the towns famous fish restaurant and you could occasionally smell it - something we thought we could live with. It wasn't the biggest of spaces but it had more than enough room for the both of us. It even came with a bath tub... in Australasian fashion that bath tub happened to be in the garden, but it worked and was private enough for a lovely long soak providing you got the bubble coverage just right. But anyway, we weren't just there to relax by the sea, we also wanted to explore The Nut.
I've tried to ascertain why exactly Stanley's famous landmark is called "the nut", however the internet doesn't seem to know for sure. All that's certain is that it was formed from a lava lake of a volcano that went extinct around 25 million years ago. Wikipedia claims "The origins of it's name are speculated to be from the Tasmanian Aboriginal name, "munatrik" (moo-nut-re-ker), or because explosives were unable to dent it during the construction of a breakwater.[4][7]" but doesn't seem to have any sources to really back that up. So with no real reason to be found, i'm going with my own theory that the 143m high landmark just looks a bit like a nut... from just the right angle...if you squint really hard.
There were two options to get to the top. A steep and punishing switch back trail, winding its way precariously up the hillside and a chairlift. I'll give you a second to work out which one we took. It wasn't just my inexplicable fear that I wouldn't be able to gracefully detach myself from the chairlift that had us walking, and it wasn't really the $12 it would cost us either. We just wanted to prove that we could do the walk to the top, that we weren't getting too sedentary - that walking also made us feel better about all the cake we were planning on eating was inconsequential really. Although it took less than twenty minutes to reach the top it still wasn't easy, we had to stop on almost every corner to catch our breath before continuing ever on. Thankfully, it wasn't just us who was stopping, everyone trudging along with us was stopping too, that they were all considerably older than us doesn't really need to be looked at too closely. It wasn't all about just getting to the top, there was a 2km loop that we could do around the plateau. We had to stick to the path to protect the nesting grounds for peregrine falcons and penguins alike, but it was still beautiful, we passed by fields rife with wild grasses dotted with gorse, before sweeping round to a forest filled with Tasmanian Pademelons. The views over the Bass Strait were also stunning, although the wind was blowing so hard I had to literally hold my hat on.
Feeling good about ourselves after our brief spot of exercise we headed to the town in search of a treat. To be completely honest the choices were slim, we kept on forgetting that Stanley was a typical rural town and that meant that all cafes and restaurants seem to keep the opening hours of the 1950's. We had struggled the day before when we went looking for lunch at 2.30pm - the only place still serving food being Stanley Seafood; a fish a chip shop specialising in scallop pies which were thankfully delicious. On this occasion only The Brown Dog Cafe was serving cake, so we grabbed two generous slices and took them back to our little cottage to consume.
After a restful afternoon and a little blustery walk down the crumbling wharf and back, we headed next door to Hersey Seafood, Stanley's most well known fish restaurant. The Hersey family first started a commercial fishing business in Stanley in 1974 which was so successful that they decided to build a restaurant in1984 to compliment their growing fleet. Here we treated ourselves to a medium rock-lobster (or what they would call a crayfish) and an entire small loaf of bread, a healthy and balanced meal.
We only had a few weeks left after our trip to Stanley and they flew by. Before we knew it we had sold our car, paired back our belongings and it was time to pack our bags and go. It felt a bit surreal leaving, we'd really settled in at Quamby and it was nice to have a routine if only for a little while. With two days between leaving work and our flight we decided to have one last stay in Launceston, to do all the touristy things we hadn't done while it was our local town.
First we headed riverside to one of the restaurants that dot the area. We chose "Cataract on Peterson" a bustling restaurant that sold lovely food made from mainly Tasmanian produce. The next day after a well deserved sleep, we headed over to the QVMAG (Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery) where we wandered the slightly chaotically curated museum. I'm still unsure how the small transport area ended up next to the dinosaurs but I guess with a free museum you can't really complain. My favourite area wasn't in the museum proper but in the old industrial buildings outside - the inside of the mammoth blacksmiths building looks like it was abandoned suddenly, the old furnaces left to rust and tools still strewn about.
For lunch we took the recommendation of one of our colleagues who is a proper Tassie local and headed to Ali's Asian Cafe - a small cafeteria style eatery where the service just runs until the food runs out. It was simple but oh so lovely. Feeling well sated we were ready to continue our afternoon of wandering the shops, trying to find everything we needed for our trip to Vietnam.
Before that could happen, we first had a flight to catch and one last spot of Australia to visit.
Next up Sydney.
Trip date : April 2024
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