Zeehan (27/8/07)

I had trouble leaving Stanley - it really is a charming place:
although I think I am glad I stayed here:
rather than here (apparently a YHA, according to the guide, but there was no sign of it on the premises, so it can't have been):
Before leaving, I went to a very twee sort of coffee shop and had an amazing hot cinnamon tea cake with bad coffee (the coffee came out of a dusty tin, suggesting it may have been ground last season) for breakfast, and meandered about for a bit, but I only had a short time in Tasmania, and it is not a static stay in one place sort of holiday. On the way out of town, there was an old farm which has been turned into a sort of museum:As I drove down the road, I discovered something. I’m pretty much an idiot. Yesterday, I was at the Beaconsfield mine. Today there was a news report: findings of an official inquiry into the fall last year which killed a man and trapped another two underground for a fortnight. This was all over the news back home, as everyone waited on the edges of their seats for news that the two guys would be dug out The mine involved was the Beaconsfield, yet it never dawned on me when I was there that this was the mine in the news last year. I even took a picture of the board where miners leave their tags as they come out of the mine, to show they’re safe.

Apart from stopping in Burnie for a late lunch, it was pretty much a day on the road. I drove down past Cradle Mount until dusk, and then had to drive some more, as no town coincided with dusk. Since something had possessed me to write down the name Zeehan when I read the Lonely Planet guide a couple of months ago, I decided not to stop in Roseberry, but to press on to Zeehan. Not a pleasant spot, at least at night. Another town with no-one about - there were three hotels (mine was called the Cecil, which is an interesting choice of name), two of which had big dining rooms with no diners. Not a good look, so I again resorted to fish and chips. Lets hope the food situation improves as I move on. I did like this building, although I had no idea what its function might have been: