Tasmania – Day one- A day of Arches and Architecture

Pulled into Devonport bathed in the glow of a glorious sunrise.

Disembarking was as smooth and easy as embarking and I was on the road by 6:45.

Stopped at the Drift Café on the Mersey Bluff. Beautiful way to start the day,

Next it was off to find some beauty. Tasmania seems to have it in spades.

Every few kilometres opened up a new vista, different every time. So beautiful that you start to think that you have somehow ended up on a film set somewhere and this is a set up….

I got some amazing footage on the GoPro of some of the ride but the internet isn’t quite gutsy enough here to upload so, I guess that is ‘coming soon’…

Table Cape was my next stop. If I had been here a month ago, it would have been a riot of colour, Table Cape is a tulip growing area. As it was, there were a few determined tulips waving bravely from fields of verdant green and rich red brown plowed land. The soil on the Cape is volcanic which, apparently, is what tulips like. It is a russet red colour. I noticed the sheep in the area were all orange. I assume they are not kept for their wool.

Along a red gravel road to Table Cape lighthouse. It was a lighthouse, like any other lighthouse but with a beautiful view back across the crops. I imagine it would be incredible when all the tulips are in bloom.

Moving on from the Cape, following one of the sweeping roads through the countryside, I came across Rocky Cape. More ridiculous beauty just casually being breath-taking beside the road….

Next was a ride through some of the most picturesque landscapes that I have ever seen to the Tarkine Drive. This is a drive through some magnificent forest, vibrant green and teeming with birdlife and, unfortunately, littered with more roadkill than even the Barton Highway…. Pademelons are everywhere here and that means they are everywhere on the roads. And possums.

Next stop, Trowutta Arch. A short walk on well made paths through towering tree ferns and enormous trees. As I walked down the stairs and first saw the Arch, it took me a moment to actually believe it was real and not one of those film sets that I felt had been riding through. So picture perfect, formed from ragged rocks, framing a vibrant green pool of water and framed by almost fluorescent ferns and foliage.

A lovely lady wanted to take my photo for me. Anyone that knows me, understands that I am not a fan of having my photo taken but she was insistent and very sweet so I stood awkwardly and and let it happen. Proof that I really am here, I guess… helmet hair and all!

Next, it was on to my final destination for the day, beautiful, historic, quaint, Stanley.

First a visit to the Highfield Historic site.

This was one of those places of great beauty but with a dark past, if you were a convict, indentured servant or First Nations. It is a story of opulence, slavery and murder, which is similar to a lot of early Australian history, I suppose.

Highfield was first established by the Van Diemen’s Land Company in order to settle and explore the North West region of Tasmania. The property was built by convicts and indentured slaves. It has an unclear but dark past filled with infighting and failures due to the area being unsuitable for wool growing and mistreatment (and murder) of the First Nations people who lived in the region.

The property is, of course stunning with sensational views out over the ocean, The Nut and the town of Stanley.

After all that man-made beauty, it was time for a walk in nature…

Off to walk ‘The Nut’. The Nut is a volcanic plug that juts out of the point and towers over the little town of Stanley.

There is a chairlift to get you up and back.

Or, you can walk. I of course, chose to walk (got to put all that running training to good use, right?) There was a sign that warned that it was a very steep ascent. I figured they always add that warning, just in case people with limited fitness were tempted to try, you know, just to cover their butts….

Nah, it was steep. Imagine a near vertical climb up a concrete path that zigs and zags through three switchbacks. Where you are leaning so far forward, you feel like you should use your hands…. That steep.

I made it to the top and it was worth the climb. Extraordinary views across Stanley, the ocean and back to Highfield. Wild vegetation with the soil honeycombed with burrows made by Mutton birds.

Walked the summit circuit around the top of The Nut and headed back down the treacherous path, expecting to plummet to my death the whole way. But I didn’t!

Dinner at the pub and a walk around the picture book pretty town. Every where you look, there is another magnificent house or building that you just have to take a photo of. All with the magnificent backdrop of The Nut.