After what had been a fairly ordinary day of schooling, with significant amounts of gnashing of teeth, we decided on a different approach for Thursday. It was time to hit the road and see the northwest.
We bundled into the car and motored up the Bass Hwy, stopping at whatever we saw that looked interesting along the way. The aim was to make Stanley and "the Nut" by the end of the day.
First stop was a lookout about 15 mins out of Devonport that gave us a great view of the countryside and had info on the various landmarks around the area.
First stop was a lookout about 15 mins out of Devonport that gave us a great view of the countryside and had info on the various landmarks around the area.
After some attempt at school-in-the-car-while-driving, we started to feel the hunger creeping on, getting close to Wynyard. So in we went to look for provender. There were loads of the usual greasy Joe style places doing burgers and chips but as none of them even offered a vege burger, we felt the need for something different. We stopped in at a health food shop and had a look around. There was an old peanut butter machine where you grind your own, choosing how coarse you want the nuts. The shop keeper showed us how to use it and the boys were pretty impressed to be able to catch the snake of peanut butter as it came out of the machine into our container. I asked the woman in the shop if there was anywhere to get some sort of mildly healthy lunch, and she suggested the Lady Bug Cafe back out towards the main road. It was great! (We've put a link on the reccommended page.) We ate fantastic healthy food, and spread our school books out over the tables while we were waiting for the meal to arrive. They were very accommodating, and I have to say that while we weren't overly productive, it sure was nicer to get some school done in that sort of situation, rather than thrashing against it in the caravan. I had a slice of white chocolate mud cake for desert, and Isaac decided that he couldn't do without, so chose to spend his own money on a slice for himself. It was massive! His brothers were only too happy to help him out and they polished the lot off without too much trouble, only slowing near the end.
Next stop: Table Cape Lighthouse.
This was a fantastic stop on our way up to Stanley. We paid for a little tour up to the top of the lighthouse, and Karl, our guide, told us loads of interesting stories about this lighthouse and many others in the North of Tasmania and around the world. He used to be a lighthouse keeper himself, I think on the Mersey river at Devonport. (could be wrong about the place) Karl was a great story teller and gave us the history of the light on Table Cape and some of the sad stories of the people who worked there. One lighthouse keeper lost his son over the edge of the cliff, and another child died from illness in part due to the remoteness of the area. We saw his little grave at the gate as we drove out. He also explained how the light used prisms to send a single 100 watt, one inch halogen globe's light, 29 miles out to sea! There is a picture of the light below, with the spare globes sitting there if one fails. Karl took a picture of us at the top of the lighthouse and you can just get a sense of how windy it was.
This was a fantastic stop on our way up to Stanley. We paid for a little tour up to the top of the lighthouse, and Karl, our guide, told us loads of interesting stories about this lighthouse and many others in the North of Tasmania and around the world. He used to be a lighthouse keeper himself, I think on the Mersey river at Devonport. (could be wrong about the place) Karl was a great story teller and gave us the history of the light on Table Cape and some of the sad stories of the people who worked there. One lighthouse keeper lost his son over the edge of the cliff, and another child died from illness in part due to the remoteness of the area. We saw his little grave at the gate as we drove out. He also explained how the light used prisms to send a single 100 watt, one inch halogen globe's light, 29 miles out to sea! There is a picture of the light below, with the spare globes sitting there if one fails. Karl took a picture of us at the top of the lighthouse and you can just get a sense of how windy it was.
On to Stanley! It proved to be a really quaint little town with a lot of picturesque buildings all painted in pastels. We made straight for the nut and decided that after lunch, we were better off climbing up rather than taking the chairlift. It was a seriously steep climb in places, and we had to give Dom a lift from time to time. We had a couple of minutes rest when we reached the top, and then made our way out to the lookout on the northern side. I say northern side, because that was part of the school work for the week, getting the points of the compass straight. We found a trig station on top of the nut, and this helped a great deal with getting it cemented in the boys heads which way was where. There were loads of spectacular views everywhere you looked.
On top of the nut, Dom found a rock showed it to Emma saying "this is my map of Australia rock". It was carefully transported back to the van as a souvenir!
Back down at the bottom, we had time for a quick look at some Tasmanian Devil scat that Isaac had found. It was easily distinguished by being so white. The devils eat the entire animal, fur, claws, bones etc. so there is a lot of calcium in their poo, which makes it so white. Good spotting Isaac!
And that's it. The northwest in a day.