Day 654 – 658 24/2 – 28/2 Waratah/Stanley

Heading north so we stopped at Waratah for a night. Again an old mining town, this time tin. A few kilometers out of town is Philosophers Falls, named after James “Philosopher” Smith who discovered the tin deposits in 1871. The walk follows a water race that took water from the Arthur River to the mining town of Magnet for the production of electricity. The race was built in 1920 using only hand tools.

The town of Waratah.

In the town itself is the Waratah Falls.

This is what it looked like in 1890, with the waterfall on the left & the tin processing plant.

The things you find at the Bischoff Hotel. A nice schooner of black (Tooheys Old). Dinner wasn’t too bad either.

Lots of platypus in the lake next to camp.

We are now at Stanley so we started the day with a tour of Woolnorth. The first part of the tour is all about the Woolnorth Wind Farms. The farm is situated at the most North West part of Tasmania so therefore it is always windy. There are 118 turbines that produce 10% of Tasmania’s electricity. The other 90% is produced by Hydro. There are plans for at least another 6 wind farms in the area with most of the new production being exported to Victoria.

The Wind Farm sits on land owned by the Van Diemen’s Land Co. This company was first formed under Royal Charter in 1824 & to this day still exists under this charter. It was originally permitted to select 350,000 acres of land in Tasmania for the growing of wool. Long story short is that the company now has 50,000 acres & after 170 years it realised that the land was unsuitable for sheep. Over the last 20 years it has moved totally to dairy production & now produces 15% of Australia’s milk from 30,000 cows. Each cow produces 30 litres of milk per day. It is the biggest dairy farm in Australia & is owned by a Chinese person.

Cape Grimm is on the property and is a picturesque, if not windy, spot on the most north-western spot in Tassie. The CSIRO has a station here that has proved it has the cleanest air in the world. Look west & the next landfall is South America 20,000km away.

The Nut sits over Stanley. It is an old volcanic plug that is 143m high. How it got its name is open to conjecture. The favourite is that it is a shortened version of the Riginal name Moo-Nut-Re-Ker. There is a chair lift that takes you to the top. We got it on a great day.

Stanley was originally the administrative centre for the Van Diemans Land Co. & was called Circular Head. There are some wonderful well-preserved old buildings.

Highfield House was built from 1832-1835 as a residence for Edward Curr, Chief Agent for the Van Diemens Land Co. From 1856 to 1914 it was leased. It was then sold a number of times until in 1982 it was acquired by the State Govt. who has restored it to its original splendour. Well worth the visit.

The original Highfield Point lighthouse was built in 1924. It was replaced in 2008 & the old lighthouse was moved to the Stanley foreshore.

Walked into the pub for a beer, got given a raffle ticket & won some free beer. Not sure the locals were happy.

Cape Grimm is a brand name for cattle that is grown in a sustainable way. These bulls look pretty healthy.

Dip Falls is 40km inland from Stanley. It is different as the Basalt formations look like it is man-made.

Just around the corner is the big tree. It is 63m high & the base has a circumference of 16m.

She’s back into them. Fresh from Tarkine Oysters.

Trowutta Arch is a colapsed cave with sinkholes just off the Tarkine Drive.

Another one.

Quote of the Day

“Beer makes you feel the way you ought to feel without beer.”

Henry Lawson