Tasmania Day 9 - The Nut and the Edge of the World
Hey Steemit,
Life has a habit of getting in the way of your best intentions, doesn't it? I'm back here with day 9 of the Tasmanian travel blog, this time showing off the North West coast of Tassie.
Morning Drive
Our destination that morning was The Nut, located at Stanley. The drive, as per usual, was very scenic.
We passed a town with an interesting name...
And finally we caught a glimpse of our destination. The Nut.
Stanley
While The Nut was the main attraction, the town of Stanley had its charms too. There were assorted fishing vessels in the harbour, and plenty of sea birds lurking just on the edge of the water.
Stanley Seaquarium
On account of having parked in their visitor parking space while taking photos of the harbour, I felt a little obligated to visit the Stanley Seaquarium. A large, windowless, green metal shed housed a collection of fish and other sea life. Honestly, it was a little depressing seeing all the fish cooped up in such a small space. It looked like a depressing life.
The Nut
After our quick detour at the Seaquarium, we headed to The Nut. From the base of it, you could see the natural rock formation. The Nut is the remains of ancient volcanic plug. That is, it formed when magma cooled in the vent of a once-active volcano.
The done thing was to take the chair lift to the top, do a circuit, and head back down. The chairlift did look a little scary, but I figured I would power through my fear of heights.
This did not work out as planned. The high wind that day caused the chairlift to swing about in the wind, and it was a terrifying experience that I was not looking forward to repeating on the way down. That being said, the short chairlift ride was a lot easier than hiking up to the top!
The view from the top did make the ordeal more worthwhile -
Insects
There was a huge amount of Brown Butterflies fluttering about the top of The Nut. There were also a few other insects that we passed, though none came close to being as present as the butterflies, who flapped their wings quite hard to avoid being tossed about by the strong winds.
(If anyone knows what that shiny beetle is, I'd like to be able to put a name to it)
The descent from the top of The Nut was probably more terrifying than the ascent. We looked down onto the town below, with a sheer drop below the chairlift. I was too scared to take my hands off the bar for most of the ride, but I did get a few photos to illustrate my terror -
The Buildings of Stanley
The houses and buildings of Stanley looked like what I imagine to be a typical fisherman's village. They looked cosy.
Driving to the Edge of the World
We were back in the car again, our home away from home. The scenery around Tasmania differs so much from that of our home state, New South Wales. If you drive 30 minutes out of the city in Tasmania, you're in a whole different world. In Sydney, you still haven't left the inner suburbs! It can take 2-3 hours for you to see the real countryside.
We passed a bit of a funny sight - a huge queue of dairy cows lining up to be milked -
We also had a bit of trouble overtaking a dangerous looking tractor (wouldn't want to get caught up in those spikes!)
The Edge of the World
The Edge of the World did not disappoint -
The distinctive orange of the Eastern Coast was present on the rocks at the Edge of the World (the far West of Tasmania) -
It may not look it in the photos, but the weather was dismal. Windy, cold, and sprinkling. There was a crazy kite surfer out in the dangerous-looking surf -
And two gentlemen trying their luck with the fish -
The Edge of the World should not be missed. It was a great sight. Powerful waves as far as the eye can see, and jagged rocks throughout the area. It really did feel like the edge of the world.
There's just one more day left in this travel blog. I hope I've done the trip justice. It really was a great experience.
Click the below links to see our earlier days:
Tessellated Pavements, Tasman Arch & Devil's Kitchen
MONA, Salmon Ponds & Russell Falls
The drive from Launceston to Hobart
I'd love to read your comments, hear your thoughts or see your own photos, so please leave a comment below.
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