A wandering little old lady

I am now officially 'a little old lady' 😁 

If it weren't for covid, I'd probably have opted for an adventure on the far side of the planet to celebrate turning 60, but as that was not to be, I found a place close to home that reminded me a bit of Cornwall. A month ago, four days at, and around, Stanley and the Nut on Tassie's north west coast.

A gorgeous sumptuous high tea at the Speckled Hen Cafe.

We stayed in the old farm manager's cottage of Highfield House. Built in 1828, it reminded me of my grandparents' farmhouse. Full of history.

We visited Highfield House, high on the hill above the village of Stanley, across the road from our humble but comfy cottage. Edward Curr was the head of the Van Diemen's Land Company around the 1830s. His poor wife Elizabeth bore 12 children, one of whom died aged 4 in a freak accident when the dog that was pulling the little cart she was sitting in, got excited and ran off, upturning the cart. 

Some other things we saw, in no particular order:

Seagulls looking for lunch at Boat Harbour.

Shells and fossils in the rocks of Fossil Bluff at Wynyard.

Bluebells and a stone wall - so very British!

Trowutta Arch - a quiet ancient place with a sacred atmosphere. Surrounded by rainforest and formed by a sink hole filled with algae-covered water. Looking down...

Looking back up from the water's edge.

A picnic lunch at Marrawah Beach. Too wet and windy to wander on the beach.

Dip Falls was very impressive. Loads of water from recent rains.

Art in the forest, on the way to the Big Tree near Dip falls. Fungi fun.

My birthday was a better day for beach wandering. Godfrey's Beach at Stanley. I took a photo very similar to this on the South West Coast Path in England almost 2 years ago.

We went back the following night at 8pm to watch little penguins coming home at the viewing area at the base of the nut. They even live (and love - you get my meaning) in people's gardens!

We climbed the Nut. Views in all directions. Superb and windy! One brief hail shower.

Is it an English wood? No - it is an enchanted sheltered spot on top of the Nut. That is onion weed under the trees, unfortunately, a bit smelly - if only they were bluebells.

A walk in the fields of the farm where we stayed. Looks quite Cornish. On our way to see seals.

I do love the zoom lense on my camera. Literally hundreds of seals on Bull Island.

Bull Island seal colony behind me. The closest I can get to walking in Britain at the moment.

I may be 60, but I still have many years of wandering in me!