 This was our first day in Tassie, and we were off to its north-west corner to visit family, see the sights and get to the Tarkine. Look out local beauties: Penguin, Boat Harbour and Stanley! We headed out from Devonport and hit the highway that took us past Burnie, and out to the north-west area. Here's the quick visual version:  PENGUINOur first stop, by design, was Penguin – an absolutely delightful village with a stunning ocean front overlooked by a small high street that was home to an array of shops and galleries. The sun was fully resplendent on the day of our visit so we were very lucky. A stroll along the oceanfront, and a coffee at the bakery, and we were ready to move on. Before we did, one particular building caught our eye and that was the local church right on the main street. It looked particularly vibrant in the sun, and reminded us of churches we’d seen in Iceland – colourful and bright, and beautifully designed. This was similar, though of course, of English heritage.  On advice from two locals who were also sunning themselves during morning coffee on the terrace outside the bakery (as you do), we made for Boat Harbour, which was on our way to our ultimate destination: Smithton. The roads were good and it was easy driving to the Boat harbour turnoff.
BOAT HARBOURAnd so we turned off for Boat Harbour: down towards the sea we ventured, negotiating the narrowish but ok road into town…except there was no town in the sense of “shops”, though there were plenty of houses, some clearly for holiday use, others more lived in. There was one café on the beachfront, and it looked lovely, but we didn’t sample their wares this time But then the beachfront. Oh my – what a picture! That sun was still around briefly, and the breeze had picked up, but wow, what a beautiful spot. Not so many boats in this harbour, but kids swimming, a couple of scuba divers visible just further out, and families young and less young making the most of these sunny moments. We walked out to the little headland – a very short track and mostly scrub and rocks, and we managed to peep back towards the main beach for a different view. Still wow! We can imagine it’s a rather different experience when the cold fronts come through, but that’s the same everywhere. We’re glad we took that advice, and turned off for Boat Harbour. STANLEYStanley was the next stop: and wow again. 
Plenty of people obviously live and work here in the more suburban sections, but the old high street, with many historical shops and houses, has been very well preserved and is definitely worth a stroll. We lunched at the Sticks Stones Shells Bones which doesn’t sound that appetising, but it was. Apart from displays of local crafts in those media, this is a popular dining spot, snug and friendly, and we enjoyed our light lunch and coffee there.  Highlights afterwards include the Cow'n'Calf Art Gallery – David Murphy is an excellent landscape and nature photographer who also prints his own and others’ works. The display is rather breath-taking and well worth serious browsing time.  Not only are they worth admiring and purchasing, but these photographs give the tourist a window on the wild nature of Tasmania awaiting them along the road. We found the photography inspiring, so much so that we tried more landscape photography – in addition to bird and nature photography – as we went around Tassie. The drone has been put to some good use expanding that repertoire. Not quite stunning results yet, but we’re working on it. We drank in all the lovingly restored and maintained cottages along Stanley's high street, right down to the main jetty and back, and our final dalliance was with the Providore24 store at the top of the street. This place has all the holiday essentials: wine, cheese, savoury accompaniments, gifts and crafts, and even bird pins. The Orange-Bellied Parrot got a guernsey, and now sits proudly on a hat.  We left town via a different route, led by one of the locals: he headed north along the coast and then up a steep (but very safe) hill towards the elevated grazing land and around to Highclere house (an historical site which we didn’t visit on this occasion). But also up there is a parking area with a lookout right across the town and bay – and it's really worth the short drive. You can even take your photo in a large Instagram frame (we refrained). Continue along that road and you will rejoin the only road out of town, back along the narrow neck of land, and then you can turn right to Smithton which is what we did. SMITHTONWe weren’t sure what to expect in Smithton, it being a working town and not exactly promoted as ‘touristic’ whatever that means. What’s more, we needed accommodation there for two nights and there didn’t seem to be a lot on offer, so we took a deep breath and headed for the Bridge Hotel, where – we had been warned – it can be very noisy with music playing late into the night (!). Well, actually, it was great! Great value, and a very clean, comfortable and renovated motel room out the back of the pub. Now the weather was really reverting to type and let’s just say it wasn’t that warm, so we decided to dine at said pub…how bad could it be? It wasn’t bad at all. In fact, it was jolly good. Roast lamb all round on the first night, and fish the next? The meals were great, the beer was cold (gee, that Tassie beer called Furphy is a nice drop), the staff were really accommodating and friendly – and what’s more, we got to see the locals enjoying family time. That’s one of the reasons we like dining in country pubs: they are usually where families can afford and or enjoy meeting, and you always get some local flavour (literally and figuratively). Plus dining at the pub is often a great way to support the community. We know that smaller country towns often rely on the local pub as a community hub. A good pub often means a happy community! Anyway, we loved our time in Smithton – including on our second night an influx of bikers with eye-watering Harleys on a ride from Queensland. They were clearly having a good time together (and why not), but there wasn’t a hint of any intrusive noise, music or whatever during our stay. Bravo! We didn’t experience a lot else of Smithton, but our digs were great. And, what’s more, it was our jumping off point to the Tarkine…read our next blog!
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