A tiny slice of paradise - Boat Harbour

This must be it! The most beautiful place we've seen in Tassie. Really? I don't know, but definitely close to it.
After driving through Tasmania's remote West on the mostly unsealed Western Explorer road, listening to Carlos Ruis Zafon's "Shadow of the wind", mesmerized by the marvellous landscape despite of the rain, we reached Smithton yesterday in the late afternoon. The town seemed grim, everything was grey and wet and there were hardly any places to stay. Wikicamps guided us to a free RV campspot on something that looked like a golf court. Technically, we weren't allowed to stay as we're not fully self contained, but it was late and we staid anyways, determined to leave early in the morning.
So this morning, for the first time ever, we got up, packed our stuff and moved to Smithton's foreshore, where we had breakfast (and more importantly coffee ;-)). Great choice, as we saw the sun rise above the withdrawn sea and the scenery was picture perfect. And the town didn't seem to be that bad after all.
With only two days left, but also only about 2hours away from the ferry, we weren't in a hurry. The sun had won against the clouds and it promised to be a beautiful day. Neither of us had planned to come to this part of Tassie, so nothing was planned and we decided what to do on the go. I had seen a picture of the "Nut", a fairly high rock formation standing tall in the ocean next to a small town close by, and we decided to head there first.
What a pleasant surprise this town called Stanley was! Apparently it had even been the showplace of a movie (Tall between the oceans?) a few years back. Quaint little shops and cafés, countless accomodation options but above all the Nut and the fact that the village was bordered by two beautiful beaches, must make this the perfect holiday location. We "hiked" up the hill (it's only 450m of steep incline and then a 2km circuit on top), wandered along the main street and then decided to buy local fish for lunch. Being a bit tired of greasy fish and chips, we took a raw pink snapper fillet and headed over to the beach, where public BBQs would help us cook. This is where we met a lovely local couple that had taken their grandchildren out for a BBQ lunch. They are from Boat Harbour and praised their hometown highly. The locals recently voted to encourage "wild camping", probably due to the fact that there is still land for sale and the community would benefit from the money tourists will spend at the few local shops and the café.
Whatever the reason, we are grateful for this decision. Personal recommendation had guided us to an awesome spot before (read our mt Wedge article if you don't recall) and hence we decided to spend our last night in Boat Harbour.
The - so far - tiny village is built into a hill, only a few kms off the highway. It's got one of the whitest beaches I've ever seen (voted one of Australia's Top Ten!), caressed by a calm ocean. There is a little headland that can be surrounded in 10min max and offers beautiful views. It's dividing the sand beach from the beautiful rugged other side, a stoney patch leading to the wild open ocean. The local café, "Sweet-ness by the sea", offers great meals and coffee (at least so we hear from our camping neighbours), there are friendly dogs and as friendly owners everywhere and the locals work out in a garage that has been built in behind the public toilet block. A playground and several BBQs complete the offered facilities. If it wasn't our last night, I think we would stay for a while... and so I sit here, writing this article, thinking about how blessed I am to be able to experience this. It's not common or usual, it's special. And I'm soaking up the sounds of the waves, the last rays of the autumn sun and the spot where the ocean meets the sky on the horizon and hope that I can share this with you by writing about it. Another day in paradise.Read more