DECOROUS DEVONPORT

The Spirit at Rest Devonport Wharf

Well, here we are in down-town Devonport – actually, that’s a bald-faced lie, we are as of yesterday, in Stanley, but let’s pretend we are still in Devonport, and I will tell you about Stanley next time.

As you know we arrived in Devonport, last Sunday evening, quite late and so didn’t have a chance to get our bearings until the next morning. We were of course, armed with an absolute abundance of literature, all advising us of ‘must sees’, ‘must dos, and of course, ‘must haves’. It is a little bit overwhelming when you arrive in a new spot and wade thru’ all the promotional bits and pieces.

The most ‘in our face’ message we received was that pretty much all roads from Devonport lead to Cradle Mountain! I kid you not, almost every single road sign indicates Cradle Mountain, or at least ‘Cradle Country’. It isn’t really very surprising when you realise that most of the surrounding countryside is literally dominated by views, sightings and glimpses of the big mountain. For a West Aussie girl like myself the sight of any mountain is exciting, having basically none at all at home. I was in a perpetual state of awe and excitement. At every turn and around every bend we saw the awesome rocky faces of the mountain.

The Mountain Dominating Most Views

We went shopping the first day and purchased some cold weather gear for our lad. He really is quite sure all his bits are going to freeze and drop off. He picked out, all by himself, some tracky-dacks, camouflage style, covered with buffaloes and gum leaves (I know, a rather odd combo!) – they are water-proof, wind-proof and basically everything proof. He is very pleased with his purchase and a couple of days later saw DD striding along the paths of the mountain adorned in his ‘cammo’ gear, despite the very warm 25 degrees on the mountain that day. Our lovely friend Fleur once commented on DD’s propensity to wearing striped shirts, dubbing him Pyjama Man – Fleur, not sure what you will make of these strides!! I also managed finally to find myself a warm jacket for the colder months to come and we both invested in some gloves. Yes, we are ready for whatever the weather might throw our way now. Needless to say, since we arrived here the weather whilst not always fine, has been balmy temperature wise. I had heard that temperatures feel different here and I have to say that has been the case so far. 25 degrees here feels more like 30 at home – doubtless due to the seemingly constant high humidity. The locals tell me it is not usual, just how it is right now. We have also been told that this is the driest season in most memories, and many cannot ever remember seeing the dry golden paddocks we have been confronted with. I’m not sure whether we are lucky or not. I dare say we will have memories of Tassie that won’t be shared by many and of course, as the season changes we will see much more in the way of the verdant green fields I was expecting.


Golden Fields


Speaking of locals, what an absolutely delightful group of people! This morning I encountered for the very first time, a local who didn’t bend over backwards to please. Not that he was rude, but certainly not particularly accommodating. I bet he was a ‘newy’ from the mainland. Apart from this fella’, everyone else we have met has been super obliging and very friendly. Nice people certainly enhance the experience.

We feel very much like locals, even tho’ we have had to shake our heads a couple of times at what appear rather quaint customs and behaviours. Tassie, so far, is like stepping back in time to when folk were friendlier and life a little slower. We are hill-billies from way back of course, and so fit right in. No offence to the locals!

So, where have we been and what have we seen. Hmmm, Devonport itself is a fairly atypical small port town and frankly isn’t really outstanding in any way. Just nice, small and relatively efficient. We didn’t venture east of Devonport as we will cover that territory at a later date. We simple explored to the west and slightly south. What we discovered is that most small country towns have looked for and found something to ‘hang their hats on’. For example, Railton has exploited topiary and has a selection of quite lovely topiary running along the main street. It seems to be a fairly recent thing and so many of the plants are still in the developmental stage. Sheffield has adopted murals as their claim to fame and a great many of the buildings are decorated with quite stunning murals. Another town has taken letterboxes on board, and of course Penguin is full of Penguins of all shapes and sizes. I think you get the idea. In Sheffield we bumped into a jazzy looking local and his mate Pedro. This dapper fellow charges $2 for a photo with Pedro – we were happy to pay the man for the experience and lauded his enterprising idea.

Cute & Clever Elephant Topiary - Railton

Stunning Murals at Sheffield

Names here are quaint to say the least. I can tell you, we have been Nowhere Else and also to Tasmazia and The Town of Lower Crackpot. Don’t even get me started on Leith and Howth! Most of the country towns, are tiny, well presented and totally beautiful, just like the surrounding countryside.

Nature Mimicking Art - Sheffield

Pedro & His New Girlfriend

I just cannot seem to get used to the fact that everywhere we drive, we see astounding huge tree ferns drifting along the side of the road, amazing drops away from the road and incredible tall hills and mountains along the way. Whilst the fields are not their usual verdant green, they are multicoloured patchworks of gold, brown, green, blue and red as they are either watered for stock and vegies, left to rest for the next planting, planted in blue cabbages, ploughed ready for new planting or simply left to do what comes naturally. It seems only logical that a popular crop down here is flowers. I can’t wait to see some of these beautiful hills adorned with oceans of tulips. Interspersed amongst the hills and paddocks are myriad streams, rivers and ponds, all of course, decorated with the obligatory ducks and geese. The paddocks are dotted with sleek glossy cattle and clean woolly sheep. The overall effect is one of rural serenity.

Stunning Patchwork Colours

Yellow Brick Road - Lower Crackpot

Where Else?

We had been told that it was rare to see the top of The Mountain without cloud cover – we were also told that on any given day it could be sunshine followed by snow or vice versa and so to expect anything and everything. As a result of this advice, we waited until the first totally clear day, Thursday, to take a drive to the top of the mountain. The drive there was just glorious, a mix of heavily wooded mountains and farmlands, all with teasing views of The Mountain. Finally we arrived at Dove Lake, in the middle of Cradle Mountain. I think we felt a little bit of an anti-climax as the surrounding countryside and the drive there was just so incredibly beautiful, the mountain itself somehow just couldn’t eclipse our journey. I expect we would have felt differently had the mountain been dusted with snow.

Dove Lake - Cradle Mountain

The Peak of Cradle Mountain Up Close and Personal

It was quite a long day, driving up and back to the mountain, as even though the distance is not that great, the roads are definitely testing and DD had to exert strong concentration all the way. Poor lad, he is still not particularly well – the bug he picked up is waning, but even today, he is not himself and is currently snoring gently in the background. I still have not succumbed, but can am fighting the good fight against swollen glands – I am not giving in! We have our mates Steve and Sylvia joining us tomorrow, last time we saw them I was recovering from a lurgy, I AM NOT going to be ill again this time!! NO, NO, NO.....

Where was I? Oh yes, The Mountain. It was great and I would suggest a definite ‘must do’. The following day we took a leisurely drive up to Wynyard and back. The coastline along the way is a little tame by WA standards, but pretty never the less. Penguin really appealed to me and we will take a drive back as far as Burnie while we are here in Stanley, so that we can have a proper look. As DD wasn’t the best, we just drove and didn’t really explore that day. There is a Maker’s Workshop in Burnie that I really want to have a good look at. Burnie is quite a big town and it would be very easy to get lost there I suspect. We will wait until DD feels better.

Pretty Coastline between Penguin & Burnie

We are staying here in Stanley for at least a week and so I will have a chance to put up the next blog before we leave here. Then we will be all up to date, for a little while at least. As DD is still floating little snores thru’ the van, I will take it upon myself to say his bit – he wanted to talk to you about the roads. As far as the mountain is concerned, leave your vans in a CP, the roads are just toooooo steep and bendy. The road to Stanley however is just fine – 4 lanes most of the way and plenty of overtaking lanes after that. We stayed at the Big 4 in Devonport, the park was neat and tidy and for our ‘doggy’ mates, it is pet friendly. In fact, there were a couple of very hippy types in two vans, (one each) who had a rather pretty pussycat on a lead. Very unusual, not sure what it says about the fellows in the vans, but hey, it’ a free world here (so far). Until next time, be cool, don’t judge and stay well – Steph.
PS - I tried to fit in more photos but they just fidn't dit - never mind, I'm sure I will be able to fit some in next time.