Tasmania 2 – The Northwest Part 1

To be honest, if we would have had more than 5 weeks in Tassie we would have extended our stay in Cradle Mountain. It is an incredibly beautiful area and we were pretty keen to do the Overland Track and the Walls of Jerusalem. We did the sensible thing and packed up – vowing that we will come back for the multi day hikes.

Our next stop was Burnie, a lovely town on the sea. By the time we got there we were hungry and went to the nearest coffee shop – they only had pies which we try to stay away from, haha, not that day. It was delicious and filled us up. The best way to do grocery shopping – with a full stomach.

Just getting out of our Ute at the shopping centre we were greeted by a lovely old lady who stopped to study our number plate – a thing in Tassie as we learned later, they always check out the number plate when you arrive somewhere.

She was lovely and we had a good chat about Burnie and Broome, where we are from (and our number plate).

Amazed by the welcoming, nice lady we went into the shop where this just continued. Everyone in the shop said “hi” – customers and sales people alike. I mean, Broome people are very friendly too, but it being such a touristy town, they don’t greet everyone anymore. It was a very refreshing experience.

From Burnie we went on to explore the northwest coast and stopped at several places.

Doctors Rocks – named after Dr Thomas Wilson, who lived at the rocks and served the community for many years. The rocks are mainly basalt but have traces of gold and osmiridium content which can be panned on the forshore at low tide to this day.

The Doctors Rocks are also home to the little penguin; The Wildcare group has provided a few shelters for the penguins which they use in the breeding season (September to April).

The Fossil Bluff a bit further west is a beautiful beach and on each side very high cliffs which contain an abundance of fossils. Unfortunately we were visiting on high tide when neither the cliffs nor the cave are accessible.

The Table Cape Lookout is remnants of a lava lake which formed within a volcano crater 13 million years ago. The crater walls have eroded away but left behind the flat Table Cape.

Sisters Beach – a lovely tiny settlement with a very long beach along the foreshore. It was very nice weather and we went for a stroll on the soft sand enjoying the view of the bright blue water and rock formations.

Further west lies Port Latta. It’s the iron pellet production site belonging to the Savage River mine further inland. To us it was of interest as my partners father helped build that mine and the pipeline that brings the iron ore concentrate as a slurry to the port. It is very interesting without being attached to its history, as it was the worlds first 53mile long steel pipeline! Built as early as 1967 – the plaque says operation ceased in 1997 but when we were there the pellet production was operating – so was Savage River which we visited later along the track.

We stopped at Black River Camp for the night – a beautiful spot along an inlet. Apparently its good fishing on incoming tide and there are Oysters to get on the other side (accessible on low tide). We camped a bit further back to be out of the wind but did come down for the sunset.

From there we went to Stanley – famous for The Nut (another old volcano), formerly known as Circular Head. The Nut is 143m high with a flat top. You can either walk up a very steep bitumen track or take the chairlift. We decided to walk despite the drizzle and did the loop walk on the top which provides information boards about the migrating seabirds and the flora. The view wasn’t great that day but we could get a glimpse of what you’d see on a nice day. From the Fishermans Wharf Lookout you can see the fishing boats from Hursey (see below). In the foresty part you get to see plenty of Pademelons – they seem to live everywhere!! Before the climb we enjoyed breakfast at the Touchwood Café – highly recommend it, it has a stunning view, is amazingly cozy (especially on a cold rainy day) and the food, coffee and service are excellent!

Before we left we checked out Hursey Seafood as we were keen on some local crayfish. Hursey is recommended by internet and tourist guides but we found it very expensive. You could eat a cray at a restaurant for the same price – not sure if the restaurant ones would be as massive as the ones in the shop though.

$110 plus seems to be the going price in Tasmania – I admit, the crays are very big! So, no complaints, just a bit over the budget…

From Stanley we moved on with the plan to visit the most northerly point of Tasmania. Unfortunately we got to a dead end at a gate. It’s Woolnorth property and you can book tours with them.

In 1825 the Van Diemens Land Company was formed which established a fine wool industry in Tasmanias far Northwest, a British Colony back then. In 1993 nearly 90% of the Company was sold to New Zealand agribusiness Tasman Agriculture who changed it to mainly dairy.

On we went in search of the most westerly point of Tasmania instead. Arthur River claims to be the “Edge of the World” and Tasmania’s most westerly point. Looking at the map I am sure Bluff Hill Point is further west… we visited both, just to make sure haha.

Bluff Hill Point has a lovely view. It was incredibly windy when we were there and visited the remains of the lighthouse – which is literally a concrete base you can climb onto and shattered glass which seems to be from the lighthouse as I’ve never seen such thick glass.

From the “Edge of the World” we went on to the Western Explorer Road. Initially I picked that road as a shortcut to where we were headed – the Savage River mine – but it turned out to be THE most scenic route we’ve taken in a long time. A roughly 120km long gravel road to Corinna, where you have to take the ferry to continue to Zeehan. Stunning landscape all the way along the track.

We camped just before Corinna in the forest along a little creek. Corinna itself has a nice campground too.

We went into Zeehan which is a small town with not much to see and do. It’s a tin mining town. We stopped for breakfast and got the best toasties ever at the Pitstop Cafe.

From there we headed into Strahan, a nice little town on the Macquarie Harbour. We went for a look at Macquarie Heads where there is a nice campground. Apparently its good fishing in the channel at the Head, we didn’t try though. Instead we treated ourselves to a Motel room in Queenstown to get out of the rain and cold. How it always works with things like this, the sky cleared up as soon as our bags were in the room and it turned into a beautiful couple days which we spent exploring and hiking around the town.