Tassie's Northwest

View from the road
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Hired a car for about a week to explore Tassie's northwest.  Spent time in many places along the way, including Queenstown, Strahan, Zeehan, Rosebery, Wynyard, Smithton, Stanley, Marrawah, Burnie and Devonport.

Driving on the left/wrong side of the road was at times frustating and challenging, but always fun.  Fortunately for me there were few cars and live animals on the roads.  On the other hand, there were more twists, turns and roadkills then I have ever experienced while driving.

Small towns and scenery

Entering the Spray Mine Tunnel
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Travelling this circuit does not include exciting, well-known attractions.  The only areas that are given much mention in travel guides are Strahan and "The Nut" in Stanley.  If you're interested in small towns though, and getting off the beaten track, it's great.

Highlights included:

Spending several hours in the Galley Museum in Queenstown, which contains 1,000+ photographs and other items that chronicle the history of this quintessential mining town.  The area covering the disaster of 1912 -- a fire in a local mine shaft that claimed the lives of 42 -- was especially poignant.

Remnants of a mine near Rosebery
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Taking the recently restored and opened Abt Wilderness Railway from Queenstown to Strahan.  It's amazing to me that the original railway was the only way to get to certain places for about 40 years.

Viewing an amazing sunset on Ocean Beach, near Strahan.  Afterwards, watched  mutton birds fly in, find the burrows of their young and feed them.  It's hard to believe that these birds migrate to the Bering Sea (about 15,000 km), without stopping, at an average speed of about 80km (50 miles) per hour.  It's even harder to believe that the very first time they fly, they make this journey.

Another view from the road
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Driving through the old Spray Mine Tunnel near Zeehan.  Apparently the tunnel was 2.2 meters wide, which barely seemed to accomodate my Hyundai.  (I'm quite sure this activity would not have been sanctioned by the folks at Avis.)

Walking up "the Nut" in Stanley (the steepest climb I can recall doing), walking around the perimter at the top, and taking in the views.