Monthly Archives: January 2022

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Western Tasmania – Part 2

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Today we’re moving on to another mining town in western Tasmania, Zeehan. Zeehan has been a town since the 1880s, and continues to be a working mining town. The surrounding hills are rich in all sort of minerals – silver, tin, nickel, zinc to name a few (and those are just the common varieties). Signs of mining past and present are all around town.

Mining near Waratah

Downtown Zeehan

In the early 20th century, the town was as big as Launceston and Hobart. These days it’s a lot sleepier.

Downtown Zeehan

But by the grandeur of its main buildings, you can tell that it was once a wealthy town.

Downtown Zeehan

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Knitted Objects 2021

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There was some knitting done in 2021, though it was dominated by these socks with was a gift.

Hulinicki bed socks

You might guess that these took awhile to knit up. However the wool was lovely so I made these baby booties with the leftovers, as another gift.

K & G's baby booties

Finally, it was time to make a few replacement dishcloths using this pattern. These cloths are typically made in pure cotton yarn and can be used either in the kitchen or in the bathroom. They’re easy for a beginner to knit, and take no time at all. And at the end of the day you can chuck them in the washing machine with your other dirty linens.

Knitted dish cloths

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Western Tasmania – Part 1

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We’ll continue our trip around Tasmania with a visit to the West Coast. The West Coast of Tasmania is similar to the West Coast of New Zealand in a lot of ways. It’s wild, rugged, and still relatively remote. It’s covered with mountains and ancient temperate rainforests that date to the time of Gondwanaland. And it’s also got interesting geology and also economically valuable minerals.

We made a brief stop in the village of Waratah.

Waratah Falls

It doesn’t have much now in the way of infrastructure, but it is the site of the first tin mine in Tasmania, Mount Bischoff, back in 1873. Ever the historian, Hubby wanted to revisit the site, so off we went in search of the old mine.

After driving down a few tracks and a bit of walking, we soon found some old remnants.

Mining near Waratah

And the open cut wasn’t far off – it hasn’t been worked for awhile.

Mining near Waratah

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Northern Tasmania – Part 6

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‘The Nut’ can be seen from most of Stanley.

From the road into town.

Stanley, Tasmania

From the middle of town.

Stanley

And from the beach.

Stanley

But what about the view from the top? The Nut is 143m tall so it’s a bit of a hike up there. But there is a short-cut for the less fit – the chair lift.

And it’s a great view from the top.

Of the town.

Stanley from 'The Nut'

The coastline.

Stanley from 'The Nut'

And the port.

Stanley from 'The Nut'

While strolling on the Nut or the town, keep a lookout for these guys – pademelons…

Pademelon

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Northern Tasmania – Part 5

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Hello there! Hope you had a lovely Christmas and start of the New Year. Covid has returned to Sydney. For those of you who managed to get away, congratulations. For those who didn’t, I’m continuing to post from my travel archives this year.

I’m continuing to post on our 2019 trip to Tasmania. I see that some of you have managed to get to the Apple Isle lately. Enjoy!

Anyway, back to the town of Stanley. It might have been founded from whaling, but people soon realised that the land was perfect for grazing. This is the house of the chief agent of the Van Diemen’s Land Company, called Highfield.

Stanley

It’s still surrounded by grazing land to this day. The pastures start from the edge of town.

Stanley

And these days the cattle they rear in these parts are the best in Australia.

Cattle in Stanley

The reason? They have no problem with water around here – look at all that grass. No wonder the cattle thrive.