At last! We had been hanging out to stay in Stanley, this beautiful fishing and farming town which nestles beneath the 'Nut'. And it was about to happen. Why were we so keen? That seems a fair question.
"Stanley is a truly remarkable town. Not only is it steeped in the early
history of Tasmania (for it was from here that the mighty Van Diemen's
Land company operated) but it is also a town full of beautifully
preserved historic buildings.
Not surprisingly it is a classified town.
As a bonus it has one of the most remarkable landforms anywhere in
Australia: the Nut, the stump of an old volcano, towers over the town.
Although the Nut can be bitterly cold when the winds are blowing it is a
magnet for everyone who wants to get a panoramic view of the
surrounding countryside."
So there you have it, dare I say, in a nutshell! Once again 'Aussie Towns' has summed it up perfectly.
Well, almost perfectly. The phrase "when the winds are blowing", included in the above, is a little misleading. It should be restructured somehow to read along the lines of 'when the winds are not blowing in Stanley'. Situated where it is, on a headland which protrudes well out into Bass Strait, and on the side of Tasmania which is buffeted by the Roaring Forties, this is one windy town, and I have to comment that this can restrict activities and options.
But we were savvy to this and made plans accordingly, which included making a quick trip from Smithton to the Stanley caravan park to do a recce and reserve a site which would offer us room and some protection.
After what had been a somewhat surprisingly entertaining stay by Duck River in Smithton we were on the move again, but not far!
Even on this very short hop we still shared the road with large and seemingly precariously loaded timber trucks to challenge us (we were nowhere near as close to this one as the photo suggests)
and, of course, the ubiquitous herds of cattle.
In less than fifteen minutes we were easing back on the throttle and made the left turn off the Bass Highway to complete the run into Stanley.
And, strangely enough, here under the shadow of the Nut, we had the passing company of more contented cows!
The road out along the peninsula took us over a quite narrow isthmus bordered on each side by large 'inlet' bays both of which are complemented by long and good beaches. In fact, in addition to all its other attractions, Stanley could well be described as a 'town of beaches'.
Another feature of this historic town, which I learnt to our detriment, is that it does not quite face the direction I first thought it did. A cursory glance at the map suggests that it looks out to the east. Not so. The slopes of the Nut on which much of the old town was built actually face southwards. This, and my initial misjudgement of actual directions, became a factor of our stay as I shall explain shortly.
As we made our way along the rather blandly named Main Road, we had our first taste of what was to come by way of Stanely scenery as some of the old homes at the base of the Nut came into view.
We followed the curve of the road as it morphed into Wharf Street
and soon found ourselves at the entrance to the Stanley Cabin and Tourist Park at 23a. Here we were confronted by one of the most impressive park offices we had ever come across.
The interior matched the external appearance. Lounges, paintings and various artifacts were everywhere,
including these two carved wooden dolphins. We had been told that the park owner could be a bit of a battleaxe, but we found her to be both charming and obliging (or was it that she could recognise perfect guests when she saw them!). Having said that, it was obvious that this was a park with rules which were to be obeyed, a concept we applaud.
From the office we drove down one of the very well paved park roadways
past a group of vans on this somewhat crowded grass area,
and made our way to our allotted patch, one we had booked in advance during our previous recce. It was something of a shame that the lawn was little more than crunchy brown stalks, but at least we had ground cover and we did understand why the grass was in this state.
We had chosen a large drive-thru site bordered on one side by a roadway and on the other, a park cabin with its thick hedge. And herein lies the tale of my mistake. I had been a bit blase in determining the relevant directions, and had thought that here we would be well protected from most of the inevitable Stanley winds. There was only one thing wrong with my calculations.....the protection we were afforded here by both the cabin hedge and further afield, the bulk of the Nut, applied only if the winds were northerly, a rare event indeed.
As it was, my miscalculation of about 45 degrees meant that we were donged by any blasts which had an element of south or west in them. Yep, that's where they all came from, and on a couple of occasions, with considerable gusto! Ah, well, you know what they say about the best laid plans!
Aside from having to hunker down on a few occasions, and the lack of green grass, our site was otherwise first class.
The end of the roadway alongside us took us directly to a path alongside the small green park facilities building which gave us immediate access to Sawyer Bay (more of this later).
Directly across that same road was the excellent camp kitchen with the main park ablution block immediately behind it. No access problems here.
Like all things about this park, the facilities provided in the camp kitchen were first class, including good BBQs, (importantly) sheltered from the winds,
a very well equipped kitchen area,
and a large indoor dining area which opened out onto an al fresco area for those who were included to commune more closely with nature (winds permitting!).
The ablutions were more than fit for purpose as was the park laundry. And all this within no more than thirty metres of our patch.
Recreational fishing is one of the attractions of Stanley, and the park wisely catered for the needs of those who had success from either the local jetties or the more versatile platform of a boat, by providing a good fish cleaning table near the waterfront.
As expected, there were rows and rows of cabins,
of varying styles and sizes,
including something we had not come across previously, a couple of large houses, where families or groups could settle in in style.
We were not in the slightest surprised to find plenty of permanents,
some of whom were quite unabashed about their reasons for coming to Stanley,
but a couple of the park homes were simply out of the box. This one, which we suspected belonged to relatives of the park owner, was as far removed from a 'beach shack' as was possible, and it came with all the toys to match!
Visitors with tents were not overlooked. This grassed area alongside the beachfront roadway was one of several camping sites in this large park.
One of the great advantages of the Stanley topography is that the Nut provided a great vantage point for various views, including this which shows the caravan park stretching out right on the beachfront.
And there we were, with the park facilities right next door and the beach on our doorstep.
We were even fortunately enough to inherit a couple of neighbours (who had come up from Hobart in their little pop top) with whom we struck up a very good relationship. Apart from several entertaining happy hours (wind permitting), I went fishing with John, and we later caught up with he and his wife Gill in Swansea, where they provided us with a wonderful surprise....no, you'll just have to be patient!
All in all we were more than relaxed about our choice of sites despite the odd blast or two, which we soon learnt was part and parcel of life in Stanley.
We were even treated to a couple of marvellous sunsets, one of which painted the sands of the beach at low tide with reflected colour
and brought an old homestead on a nearby hill into stark relief.
The second over the waters of a full tide in Sawyer Bay was far less fiery, but displayed an equally impressive pastel pallette.
As well as taking in all that Stanley had to offer, we had planned to make this place a bit of a rest stop, and Liz took full advantage of one 'lay day' by making herself busy in the galley. Our larder was soon graced with a couple of fine carrot cakes, and my challenge then became to resist more than one small slice at a time!
We really did enjoy our stay here. Stanley's charm, history and scenery lived up to all our preconceived ideas of what we would find here beneath the Nut, and we even splashed out on some of its much touted seafood. In fact we later both agreed that this was one of our real highlight stays in Tasmania. Stay tuned!
Post Script:
In case anyone is wondering just how Max settled in at Stanley, I'll let the picture tell the tale!
We followed the curve of the road as it morphed into Wharf Street
and soon found ourselves at the entrance to the Stanley Cabin and Tourist Park at 23a. Here we were confronted by one of the most impressive park offices we had ever come across.
The interior matched the external appearance. Lounges, paintings and various artifacts were everywhere,
including these two carved wooden dolphins. We had been told that the park owner could be a bit of a battleaxe, but we found her to be both charming and obliging (or was it that she could recognise perfect guests when she saw them!). Having said that, it was obvious that this was a park with rules which were to be obeyed, a concept we applaud.
From the office we drove down one of the very well paved park roadways
past a group of vans on this somewhat crowded grass area,
and made our way to our allotted patch, one we had booked in advance during our previous recce. It was something of a shame that the lawn was little more than crunchy brown stalks, but at least we had ground cover and we did understand why the grass was in this state.
We had chosen a large drive-thru site bordered on one side by a roadway and on the other, a park cabin with its thick hedge. And herein lies the tale of my mistake. I had been a bit blase in determining the relevant directions, and had thought that here we would be well protected from most of the inevitable Stanley winds. There was only one thing wrong with my calculations.....the protection we were afforded here by both the cabin hedge and further afield, the bulk of the Nut, applied only if the winds were northerly, a rare event indeed.
As it was, my miscalculation of about 45 degrees meant that we were donged by any blasts which had an element of south or west in them. Yep, that's where they all came from, and on a couple of occasions, with considerable gusto! Ah, well, you know what they say about the best laid plans!
Aside from having to hunker down on a few occasions, and the lack of green grass, our site was otherwise first class.
The end of the roadway alongside us took us directly to a path alongside the small green park facilities building which gave us immediate access to Sawyer Bay (more of this later).
Directly across that same road was the excellent camp kitchen with the main park ablution block immediately behind it. No access problems here.
Like all things about this park, the facilities provided in the camp kitchen were first class, including good BBQs, (importantly) sheltered from the winds,
a very well equipped kitchen area,
and a large indoor dining area which opened out onto an al fresco area for those who were included to commune more closely with nature (winds permitting!).
The ablutions were more than fit for purpose as was the park laundry. And all this within no more than thirty metres of our patch.
Recreational fishing is one of the attractions of Stanley, and the park wisely catered for the needs of those who had success from either the local jetties or the more versatile platform of a boat, by providing a good fish cleaning table near the waterfront.
As expected, there were rows and rows of cabins,
of varying styles and sizes,
including something we had not come across previously, a couple of large houses, where families or groups could settle in in style.
We were not in the slightest surprised to find plenty of permanents,
some of whom were quite unabashed about their reasons for coming to Stanley,
but a couple of the park homes were simply out of the box. This one, which we suspected belonged to relatives of the park owner, was as far removed from a 'beach shack' as was possible, and it came with all the toys to match!
Visitors with tents were not overlooked. This grassed area alongside the beachfront roadway was one of several camping sites in this large park.
One of the great advantages of the Stanley topography is that the Nut provided a great vantage point for various views, including this which shows the caravan park stretching out right on the beachfront.
And there we were, with the park facilities right next door and the beach on our doorstep.
We were even fortunately enough to inherit a couple of neighbours (who had come up from Hobart in their little pop top) with whom we struck up a very good relationship. Apart from several entertaining happy hours (wind permitting), I went fishing with John, and we later caught up with he and his wife Gill in Swansea, where they provided us with a wonderful surprise....no, you'll just have to be patient!
All in all we were more than relaxed about our choice of sites despite the odd blast or two, which we soon learnt was part and parcel of life in Stanley.
We were even treated to a couple of marvellous sunsets, one of which painted the sands of the beach at low tide with reflected colour
and brought an old homestead on a nearby hill into stark relief.
The second over the waters of a full tide in Sawyer Bay was far less fiery, but displayed an equally impressive pastel pallette.
As well as taking in all that Stanley had to offer, we had planned to make this place a bit of a rest stop, and Liz took full advantage of one 'lay day' by making herself busy in the galley. Our larder was soon graced with a couple of fine carrot cakes, and my challenge then became to resist more than one small slice at a time!
We really did enjoy our stay here. Stanley's charm, history and scenery lived up to all our preconceived ideas of what we would find here beneath the Nut, and we even splashed out on some of its much touted seafood. In fact we later both agreed that this was one of our real highlight stays in Tasmania. Stay tuned!
Post Script:
In case anyone is wondering just how Max settled in at Stanley, I'll let the picture tell the tale!
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