Christmas in Stanley, Tasmania

We spent the Christmas week in a quaint little fishing village in the northwest corner of Tasmania. The town of Stanley has about 500 residents, caters to tourists and has a robust fishing industry.

 

Our little cottage on the beach.

Gazing at the view from the porthole window.

Our Charlie Brown fibreoptic Christmas tree.

Historic Highfield House where the story of Tasmania begins.

This is an alternative to getting coal in your stocking.

"The Nut", a 13 million year-old volcanic plug.

Check out the zig-zag trail we climbed to the top. Gorgeous views all around the rim!

Stanley from the top of The Nut.

Santa came to town pulled by kangaroos (and a tractor). The fire trucks accompanied him.

Historic St. James Presbyterian Church (1855), where we went to Christmas morning service.

Preparing Christmas dinner. Our first barefoot Christmas BBQ.

Next we move on to Cradle Mountain, a wilderness area where we hope to find some hiking trails and see some of the Tassie animals in their natural habitats.

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Platypus, echidna and lavender

We found The Platypus House at Beauty Point. We had an up-close look at some platypuses and echidnas. We were quite surprised to see how small the platypus actually is. It was hard to get photos of a platypus because these little guys are quick and slippery. The tour guide threw some worms into their tanks, so they were pretty busy feeding. We found out that the male has a venomous spike on each of his back legs which can inflict some really serious pain on a person. Their venom has no known antidote, so all you can do is take pain killers, none of which are apparently very effective. The venom stays in your system for life and effects from it can be triggered much later. We were happy for the glass between us and them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Echidnas were eating mealworms and something else that was pretty gross to us. They were cute little guys, but apparently very strong. The tour guide told us that if you picked one up and he didn't like it, he could break your hand with his legs. Ouch! Check out the back feet. They go the wrong way around.

We also went to a nearby lavendar farm, one of the largest in the world and suppliers for Yardley. We were lucky to be here when the plants were in bloom. Harvesting starts December 26.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our next stop is Stanley on the north-west corner of Tasmania.

 

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Bicheno, Tasmania

We flew from Melbourne to Hobart, Tasmania, where we picked up a car, this time a Hyundai i20, and carried on to a little coastal town called Bicheno. We have been here just over a week and have had a wonderfully relaxing time. Here are some of the highlights of our week:

 

Daily walks . . .

. . . on deserted Denison Beach.

We hiked over a mountain saddle to Wineglass Bay.

 

 

 

We went to the Bay of Fires and found red lichen on the rocks and beautiful white beaches.

We went to nearby Natureworld to see the infamous Tasmanian devils.

This one is feeding on wallaby, bone and all.

 

After dark we went on the Fairy Penguin tour. These guys are the smallest penguins in the world.

They come ashore at night to feed the babies waiting patiently in the nests.

CUTE!!!!

 

 

Every picture tells a story!

 

 

Tomorrow we drive to Launceston on the northern coast, then on to Stanley in the north west corner of the island for Christmas week.

 

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Melbourne

We spent two days investigating Melbourne. Here are some of the things we did:

 

The Flinders Street Train Station -- our link to downtown.

This building contains the Eureka Skydeck on the 88th floor. We went up for a birds eye view.

Flinders Street Train Station from the Skydeck.

 

Walking away from the city on the Yarra River hike and bike path.

The hike and bike path took us to the Royal Botanical Gardens. The Skydeck is in the background.

The Shrine of Remembrance for soldiers who fought in WW I.

The historic Melbourne Gaol.

Who's this bad boy? Good thing he's behind bars!

Too sweet to have committed any misdemeanours.

 

Next we fly to Tasmania.

 

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Apollo Bay

After a very relaxing time in our little log cabin in the woods, we left the Grampians behind and drove to The Great Ocean Road. On our way to Apollo Bay, we stopped at several lookout points to see some of the fabulously sculptured coastline. It reminded us of some parts of southern Oregon, though these formations are made of sandstone rather than rock. Check out the features in the photos below.

Erosion in the Bay of Islands

The Grotto

London Bridge really is falling down.

The left side used to connect to the mainland, but erosion took it.

 

 

The Twelve Apostles -- there are only eight of them left now.

 

Coffee time found us in a little bakery with big treats. This is how to keep Mal happy!

 

It's the Australian version of Tim Hortons!

 

 

Tomorrow we head for Melbourne. We will have three nights in the city before flying to Tasmania.

 

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The Grampians

The drive to The Grampians was very interesting. They have some neat road signs like "Drowsy Drivers Die" and "Stop, Revive, Survive" and at some rest stops they offer free coffee that they call "Driver Reviver". One sign said "Droopy eyes? Powernap now!" followed by powernap pull in places. How about "A microsleep can kill you. Powernap now!" Not very subtle. How about the one that said, "Speed and you're a . . ." followed by a picture of a doorknob. We haven't seen anything like that in Canada!

 

On our way we stopped to see the view from Mt. Lofty as we left Adelaide.

A pastoral scene from Mt. Lofty.

Downtown Adelaide from Mt. Lofty.

 

 

Such a wonderful place, this Land of Oz. We're certainly not in Kansas anymore. There are strange birds making very strange sounds, interesting animals and exotic plants everywhere we look. We are now in a very different accommodation in the Grampian Mountain Ranges. It's called the Grampian Pioneer Cottages and we are in a log cabin built from red gum trees. Our front patio slopes down to empty fields where the kangaroos come to feed every evening. Last night we counted more than 60 of them of all assorted sizes. We watched flocks of cocaktoos flying by and lorikeets two by two, monogamous birds that pair for life. Sweet!

 

 

Grey and red cockatoos with the kangaroos.

 

 

Fight night!

The kangaroo tail plant in the Eucalyptus forest. The top part is really a complex flower.

Our little cabin in the woods.

It's a cozy little two-bedroom cabin. We didn't need the fireplace. 29 degrees again today.

 

A Superb Fairywren -- that's his name, not my description! Neat little guy.

We went up to some lookout points -- great scenery! We had a liesurely couple of days here.

Wartook reservoir from Boroka lookout.

Mackenzie Falls.

An interesting climb through a place they call the Grand Canyon. Nothing like the one in Arizona.

 

 

The Pinnacles lookout at the top of the climb.

 

 

Next we move on to Apollo Bay and the ocean beaches again.

 

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