Fri 16th February
The second and third night of our Tasmania trip were spent with Gordon and Judy Reidy at Gordon’s work-based home in West Ulverstone, about 10 minutes further along from Devonport, and what a beautiful part of her world this is.
Ulverstone is located on the coast of Bass Strait, at the mouth of the River Leven, and Gordon’s house, at West Ulverstone, sits on the river waterfront and just just a 10 min walk inland from the coast. The house offers beautiful views across to Ulverstone and is a lovely modern, 3 bedroom home being a wonderful base for Gordon to reside when he works down here in this part of the world.
Mark, Judy and I arrived at the house on Friday afternoon, after we collected Judy from the airport, and we took a walk to the beach along the riverfront path. The first item of major note is that this area is absolutely beautiful. It has a bit of a beach vibe similar to that of Southwest rocks or even South Coast of NSW, for those of you who are not familiar with this part of the world, as an area with a mostly humble beach cottages, a craggy coastline, long white sandy beaches and beautiful turquoise ocean water. It was simply stunning.
Dinner on the Friday night was an early one back in Devonport at Mrs Jones, located upstairs at the Devonport Surf Live Saving Club. This was was a spectacular venue located right on the beach and with the most mesmerisingly glorious view. The food and service were great as well and this is a hidden gem that I would definitely seek out if you’re ever in the Devonport area. Make sure to book ahead and do come before sunset as Judy kept remarking it was the first time she could enjoy the amazing view as it was usually dark when they dine there. This was clearly one upside to dining at such an ‘inhumane hour’! It also meant we had plenty of time back at the house to enjoy sitting and chatting on the back deck whilst gazing out across the river as the sun set for the day. This is definitely a most beautiful part of the world and well worth a visit
Sat 17th February
It was a cloudy start to the day when Mark left the house just after 6 am for his bike ride but it cleared to reveal a beautiful blue sky by around 9.30 am when we left the house for our trip to Stanley via Penguin. We were going to ascend the Nut at Stanley, one of 14 volcanic basalt plug mountains found in Tasmania, and do the 30 minute loop walk on the plateau of the Nut.
Stanley is located along the north west coast of Tasmania and is about an hour and half drive west of Ulverstone. It was a very full and busy day with little time to write so I’ll try and let the photos do the talking, but, please note the following. This north west region of Tasmania is spectacularly beautiful and is somewhere you should all try to visit. It is one of the most fertile landscapes in Australia, being located on volcanic soils, and this region has 3/4 of those 14 volcanic plug mountains. The water along this section of coast is the most magnificent turquoise blue and laps a range of white sandy beaches and coves. The drive from Ulverstone to Stanley is a most scenic journey as it hugs the coast for much of the journey and passes through a number of quaint historic towns. You could spend many days here, exploring these townships and the many gift shops, cafes, pubs and restaurants as well as cycling along the well maintained coastal cycle paths or taking one of the many nature walks. I’m making a big call here but I consider this to be an area to rival the appeal of Hawaii’s Hana Highway! One small difference being the weather though, there is a much smaller window of tolerable weather so try to plan your visit for February and you might be lucky and strike the magical weather that we have enjoyed.
We made it back to the house by around 5 pm and were dining in with a bbq on the back deck overlooking the river. I have been blown away by the beauty of this area and the many wonders to explore. We were very lucky to be drawn to this part of Tasmania by Gordon and Judy and had greatly enjoyed our short stay in the Ulverstone region and I can only urge you all to make sure you add the North West Tasmanian coast to your to-do list! Gordon chose to locate near Ulverstone, to be close to work, but if I was coming back as a tourist, I would choose to find accommodation near Penguin.
