About 10 days ago I was fortunate enough to visit Stanley,Tasmania. Stanley is a cute little town on the northwest coast of Tasmania, a three-hour road trip from my ‘house.’ We left Saturday morning and arrived around lunchtime. For lunch we went to a seafood place where I enjoyed a delicious plate of fish and chips. I also drank the best milkshake I have ever had! We spent the afternoon driving around Stanley and stopped at some lookouts with beautiful views of the town that consisted of roughly 500 people. I believe you could walk through the whole town in about two hours.
Sunday morning we went to one of the local beaches. It was great fun to swim and jump in the waves for a couple of hours, especially since it was 30 degrees! Later that afternoon we climbed the Nut, a mountain made up of the core of a volcano. The Nut could be an easy climb, however, the heat made it pretty tough. At the top of the Nut, there were lookouts as well as a path to walk along the summit.
We awoke early Monday morning (we didn’t have school) and headed towards Cradle Mountain a well-known tourist attraction, with a beautiful lake surrounding it. The mountain is home to many animals and plants. You can climb or drive up it, to a certain point, to get a nice view. We did not have the chance to experience the view because it was rainy and foggy.
On our way back home, we made two stops: a Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park and Tasmazia. The devil conservation park was especially interesting. During the tour, I learned so much information about these animals and their habitat – and I actually got to pet one of the Tassie Devils. There is a cancer spreading amongst these animals causing a consistent decline in their population. The park was built so the animals could breed and try to prevent the possibility of extinction.
Finally, our last stop on the way home was Tasmazia. Tasmazia is a huge hedge maze that consists of smaller mazes and little villages. It was honestly one of the coolest things I have ever seen. At Tasmazia, there is also a little café known for their pancakes, which we did indeed have the chance to eat. They were absolutely amazing!!
I have four more days in this wonderful state of Tasmania and then I am off to Sydney for a weekend before boarding a flight home to the snow. As keen as I am to see my friends and family, leaving here is going to be really sad because of all the wonderful people I have met and the constant 30 degree weather. –Leah Salzman ’15