Torrents at the Nut

Up at 5:00 am to get on our flight at 8:00. It was a nice warm Autumn day in Melbourne and the weather extended all the way across the Straight to reveal a clear crisp day in Launceston. It’s a strange inverse relationship that the smaller the airport- the more efficient it is. We collected our rocket from Budget’ (no French accents anywhere - curiously) and hit the road. The Renault Koleos has everything – start button, GPS and a few surprises. Trying to keep the speed down to the standard 110km was tricky with such a quiet ride. It seems that even though they have higher speed limits here, things are much more relaxed on the roads. I guess any driving experience different from the overly policed Nanny State has to be good.
Completely ignoring the hamlet of Launceston we stopped for brunch at Hobnobs in Westbury . Not a Dave in sight – however it was very pleasant consuming our scones and tea amidst the picturesque surrounds of the quaint town whilst the sky was slowly becoming more threatening.
Experiencing the hilarity of constant roadside outfit changes due to the varying conditions we headed west - noting the ferry at Devonport and the log piles at Burnie on the way. We ended up on top of Table Cape with a huge drop to the ocean, a lighthouse and fields full of dried onions, all lined up drying ready for collection, it took us a while to figure out why they were leaving perfectly good onions lying around on the ground – from now on we’ll appreciate the journey they go through before reaching the supermarket shelves.

Arriving in Stanley the rain was finally looking serious and we made the decision to take the chairlift to the top of the Nut anyway. The view was great, the wind was starting to blow and the rain was looking like.. ..well ....rain, so instead of hopping off and exploring the top we stayed on board and headed back down. Good choice, as it just got heavier and heavier. Cursing the rain gods and their recalcitrant ways we headed over to the Historic Highfield Homestead. This is a fascinating insight into the history of the area – it all seems so grand and heroic until the truth hits home in that it was built on slave labour (convicts) and genocide (local inhabitants). Our race’s ability to create suffering on others for our own personal benefit seems to be endless.

150 years later finds us luxuriously sitting high off the road, cruising back into town in our sleek machine all seemed to be good with world apart from the sound of the windscreen wiper motors which sounds curiously like someone on an oxygen ventilating system. Well timed hands from the back seat grabbing the throat of the front passenger at appropriate intervals helped add to the illusion of the vehicle being haunted. Unless Renault fix this noise – don’t buy one.
By the time we got into our incredibly PPP located cabin the rain had well and truly set in. With the nut looming over us (as it does the whole town), the ocean at our door step and we settled down to fill in the time until dinner. Just on sunset the rain stopped and as we headed out the most incredible display of sunset on one side creating a perfect rainbow over the nut on the other showed us just how amazing the nature of the world can be.


Dinner at the full pub (we squeezed in) was fabulous and a stroll back to our cabin sees everyone exhausted and ready for the next day’s journey south into the wild west.