Many of the buildings date from the 1800s, and most have been charmingly restored and are now bed and breakfast or holiday rentals. We wondered if all the locals live in the less picturesque town of Smithton nearby, and rent out their Stanley homes.
The other notable feature is a post office which is also a yarn and haberdashery store. Now that's my kind of shop!
The Nut is a massive volcanic plug, which you can walk up, although we chose to take the chair lift! The views are spectacular and you can see that the strip of land connecting Stanley to the mainland is very thin!
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| Looking down on caravan park |
We also visited Highfield house, which was the home of the Van Dieman's Land Company general manager, and is now a museum.
The early settlement there was not a great success, despite the land now apparently supporting more dairy cows than I have seen anywhere. In those days the merino sheep died of cold, the VDL Co almost went broke and Curr was sacked. Curr's management was also responsible for slaughtering local aboriginals, putting a bounty on thylacines, and flogging his convict workforce more than anywhere else in Tasmania, so he doesn't reflect well in our modern view of the era either. Highfield is, however, a charming property.
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