A Long Weekend in Stanley

Late on Saturday morning (26th February) Val and I drove up to Stanley as I was preaching there on the Sunday. That afternoon I decided to go for a run. I began by tackling the Nut which rises 143m in 0.75k. But once on top there was a lot of undulating track to negotiate. This track was being made into a loosely compacted stone pathway to prevent erosion and had lots of unevenly spaced steps to it. After completing my run around the top it was then the slow descent down to the base, but to do this I had to lean backwards to prevent myself running too quickly. Down at the bottom I then began the loop around Highfield House. I managed a total distance of around 10.25k.

Stanley's Nut

On Sunday morning I conducted the communion service which was followed firstly by their annual congregational meeting, then a meeting of the Session and finally a church luncheon. After we returned to the Manse, where we normally stay in exchange for taking services, I asked Val if she would like to go to Highfield (the original headquarters for the Van Diemen's Land Company that was established in England for the purpose of growing fine wool). We had a wonderful wander around the place and were the last to leave.

Highfield House

On Monday I took Val for a drive to Smithton. On the way Val spotted an absolutely beautiful Brown Falcon sitting on a fence post. As soon as we could I did a U-turn and headed back towards Stanley to try and get a photo. It was not a very obliging bird, I have to admit, for it wouldn't let me get very close and kept flying off. So it was drive a little further on down the road and stop again, only to have it fly into a tree. At least it stopped now that it was safely out of reach. Even from the distance well across the road you could readily tell that it had heard the camera click. At least it stayed there long enough for me to get some good shots.

Brown Falcon

We drove around Smithton and headed out to Montagu Bay where we took lots of photos. I have developed a great photographic interest in birds and insects especially, so was in my element, so I thought, with the immature Pacific Gulls (they are displayed on Facebook under "Birds in Tasmania" and "Smithton-Marrawah" so I won't add them here). Next stop was at the end of the Robbins Island Road, where I saw an egret or something similar. As I went to change my lenses I forgot that I did not have the camera strap around my neck and, in my haste to get a photo, dropped the camera onto the hard ground. The bird took off never to be seen again by us. Picking it up I looked at the damage - the lens cover was damaged but usable. However, the polarising filter had shattered which must have saved the the zoom lenses as I was able to continue to use it without any apparent ill-affects. We had lunch there, but because the March flies were bad we had to make our sandwiches inside the car.

Rather than return to Stanley we decided to take the dirt road into Marrawah, site of one of the surfing classics. It was dead calm when we arrived but we spent a long time wandering around that part of the beach near the camping area taking lots of photos - for me it was bird photos.

Masked Lapwing

Ruddy Turnstones

Crested Tern

What a wonderful afternoon I had and in such delightful company. On the way home I called into the little Marrawah country store for an icecream because, last time we were at Marrawah, I had bought one for Val. After we arrived back at The Manse I went for an easy run around Highfield (about 6.5k) before it was off to the local Stanley Hotel for a wonderful meal together.

Tuesday, well that was another story. It was time to head home having had a wonderful time together - something we haven't had much of since we came back home from holidays.