Big trees and colonial splendour in Tasmania

Part of any holiday back to Tassie is discovering new things and sharing familiar things with my beloved. A new place we explored was the Makers Workshop, next to West Park Oval as you drive into Burnie - it's a combination of information centre, museum, and showcase for local artists. There are lots of creations made out of paper due to the history of paper making in Burnie.

Knitted paper

The above display of poppy heads highlights the importance of Tasmania in this industry - Tassie produces 50% of the world's legal poppy crops for use in medicines. I'll take a picture of a poppy crop for another post.

Below is Greg Ling who is a very talented wood craftsman and makes beautiful wooden instruments. He very kindly played this 'cigar box' style guitar for us and the sound was amazing.

View from the workshop along West Beach to the wharf.

Cow.....

More paper creations....

Upside down Christmas tree - I don't know why.

Whenever we come home my beloved usually finds a project to undertake - this was him removing all the weeds from the edge of mum's drive.

Our next day out was heading west and taking Ken to see the Big Tree which lives in the Dip River Forest Reserve - 70km west of Wynyard. The Big Tree is a eucalyptus, is over 60 metres tall and has a circumference of 16 metres at the base. There are bigger trees in the forest, this one is just an example.

Ken and the Big tree

The manferns are really big and it was so peaceful as no one else was around - we should have packed a picnic as it was so lovely.

Ken showing the tree a bit of love

Now because we were deep in the wilds of Tassie, Crumble had to have his picture taken in his natural habitat.

After the excitement of the big tree I then took Ken to the base of Dip Falls to see their splendour - slight problem as it's been quite dry lately so the falls are a bit of a trickle. There are 152 steps to get to the bottom and they're quite steep - it's well worth it though.

We came across this old steam engine resting in a paddock. Good thing it wasn't in the UK as my beloved may have tried to save it.

We found a few more contenders for wackiest mail box - a lovely bee themed one, and two different vehicle boxes.

We then went to Stanley for lunch - Stanley is one of my favourite places in the world and you must visit if you're ever in the area. Beautiful colonial houses that retain the feel of a bygone area and lovely little shops. One that we love is Touchwood which is a gift shop, cafe, and has accommodation - we stopped for lunch and I had a cheeky glass of fantastic Tasmanian wine.

A few of the gorgeous buildings along the street.

The below house has special significance as it was the birthplace of Joseph Lyons, the only Tasmanian to ever be Australia's prime minister. The cottage is set up as a museum to him and his family.

I love that in Stanley they have traffic signs to protect the penguins - yes, we do have penguins in Tassie.

View of the nut with Stanley sheltered in it's shade.

Now for today's disgusting find I thought it would be difficult to beat the grossness of Caramite ice cream, but today I present to you vegemite chocolate!?!? All I can say is eeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwww!

Hope you've enjoyed this look at some more of Tassie's beautiful north west coast.

Until next time, keep smiling, be good, and we hope you have a peaceful and restful week.

Pamela and Ken
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Wynyard - a special little town on Tasmania's north-west coast

Wynyard, the town where my mum lives is a really special place, especially if you wander off the main drag and really explore its charm.

At the top of the main street is the very impressive looking Catholic Church - actually, for a small town Wynyard at least 8 churches.

Here's a few of the really pretty colonial style homes which often include gorgeous gardens - the roses around the town look fabulous at the moment.

We found this campervan/truck and loved the artwork - also the fact that it looks like it could go anywhere.

If you've read any of our blogs you'll know that we like to make friends with any animals that we meet. So far on this holiday we haven't met any cats for me to commune with, but there's been plenty of dogs. This was a very sweet old boy who would have been happy for Ken to scratch his ear all day.

This is the view from the wharf looking towards the mouth of the Inglis River - a very calming view.

Since we were home in 2013 the Waterfront Hotel, next to the wharf, has put in place some new units made out of shipping containers - a great example of recycling.

Another of the feel good graffiti in Gutteridge Gardens.....

Now to continue our theme of whacky mailboxes - here's two contenders that we found whilst walking around the town.

Of course we had to stop for coffee and cake - traditional Aussie food, a lamington for me, and a custard tart for Ken.

In the middle of the main street there are two very cute chairs designed to look like tulips - you'll see my beloved and mum demonstrating them beautifully. Wynyard holds a tulip festival every year, that's why they're shaped that way.

There are plenty of places to stop for a break, and I had to resist all the cakes in this one where we took mum for a snack on her birthday.

Mum......definitely doesn't look 80.

Painted cow's skull which was in one of the shops.

Here's my beloved making friends with two more puppy dogs. The top one's name is Watson who was patiently waiting outside the butchers for his daddy - I hope they bought something nice for him to eat.

Here is another interesting find in the local supermarket - I love caramel ice cream, I love vegimite on toast, but in what universe would you want to eat caramel and vegimite together in an ice cream??? Cara-mite ice cream - #!@!#.

Hope you've enjoyed this look at the little jewel that is Wynyard on the north west coast of Tasmania.

Until next time be good, stay safe, and take a few moments to think of five things today that you're grateful for.

Pamela and Ken
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P.S: Final shot is me and mum after her 80th birthday dinner.