From Boat Harbour we drove the short distance to Stanley and found the free camp on the docks, already home to many travellers, including our new friends Joe and Lourdes, Errol and Beth who got here a day earlier.
Very arty seat!
Glenn bought a rod and a squid jiggler from a guy on the jetty and he went fishing. Unfortunately he didn't catch anything but I caught two fish: one a gift from a Philipino lady who had a bucket full and another from Joe who also had a bucketful ! We filletted and floured them and cooked them for dinner, only to discover the Phillipino way which was cut them in rounds, salt and oil them, and throw them on the barbie. Much simpler! We have had two wonderful nights here around the 'fire in a gas bottle' barbecue with our new friends from Singleton, and have learnt a lot about fishing and cooking as well.
Beth does the cooking and Joe, Errol and Lourdes do the fishing. Works well.
Today we climbed the landmark 'Nut'. It's the solidified lava lake from an extinct volcano which dominates Stanley and the surrounding area. There is the option of a chair lift up and back or a steep walk with stunning views. We walked up, did the two kilometres circular walk at the top and then walked back. The views from the top were panoramic and we saw paddy melons feeding along the way in sheltered forest ares. A lot of the vegetation was windswept, with hundreds of mutton bird nests dug in the low scrub. Unfortunately a lot of the birds die on their epic journey and are washed ashore on beaches as we see every year at Scott's Head on the NSW coast. At the top we met a German girl who is crewing for a British fellow. They intended to sail to Japan but the weather is not suitable at the moment so they are moored in the harbour just near us. We looked down onto our car and van parked at the base, the marina, jetty and the bay. On top of the Nut the wind was strong enough to hold you up.
Our car and van is fifth from the left, still hitched to the car.
While we were in Stanley we indulged in a seafood lunch at the pub. We had half a lobster each with salad and a few wines and enjoyed the view and the sunshine. The area is famous for its crayfish and rightly so we thought.
The area also has a famous son. The first Tasmanian Australian Prime Minister, Joseph Lyons, was born here and the cottage he raised his family in, is now open to the public and has a wonderful collection of memorabilia, and historic documentation of his life and times. He and his exceptional wife raised a family of eleven children. He died in 1939.
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