Stonesthrow - Norwood Sat. 11th August 2018
Stonesthrow is a cafe with a difference at 55 Sandown Road, Norwood (at the end of Queechy Road). Formerly called Old Macs Farm and Fishery, in recent years it has changed ownership and has been re-invented as a cafe that also includes lakes, a wetlands reserve, animal encounter farm and many walking trails. It is a beautiful and relaxing place to enjoy, very close to Launceston.
After we arrive at the car park at Stonesthrow, we will begin our walk around the property. We can expect to see horses, ponies, alpacas, cows, sheep, eagles (or at least eagles' nests), swans, ducks, waterfowl and other varieties of bird life. We will have lunch (BYO) together somewhere on the walk, as is usual for Boots 'n' All, hopefully by the North Esk river if we have not had too much rain over the days leading up. When we return to the cafe at the end of our walk in the early afternoon those who wish to will be able to enjoy coffee and cake at a specially arranged rate of $7 per head. After that everyone will be free to leave or stay longer as they wish. There will be the opportunity to buy feed at $2 per bag to feed some of the animals.
This will be an easy-medium family oriented walk. There are various tracks to choose from of differing lengths and difficulty. Which ones we tackle will depend on the group, the weather that day, and the amount of rainfall over preceding days. Even if we are able to complete the full circuit, it will only be about 5-6 km at most, with less than 100m climbing. It would be suitable for small children. Some strollers and pushers will have limited coverage, however the more rugged off road variety could probably manage most of the walk. It is rather wet, muddy and slippery in places at present, so it would help to wear good boots or walking shoes with some grip. Some may want to bring a walking pole to help. It may also be good to bring a waterproof groundsheet to sit on at lunch time as the ground will certainly be wet. Bring some drinking water - suggest ½ litre per person. Gaiters might help keep some of the mud off your pants. You should carry wet weather gear as well as warm clothing including gloves and beanies in case of sudden weather changes.
Meeting Times and Places:
If you are interested in going on this walk, please phone Phil
Andrew, the walk leader, on 0408 014 757 or
6300 1067 to book in. The departure time is 10:30 am
from Door of Hope car park in South Launceston. Those who would prefer
to go directly to Stonesthrow could meet us there at 10.45 am.
Regardless of where you propose to meet the group, please contact the
leader beforehand. The leader should be notified of any other
people you intend to bring along. Please be at any meeting place 5
minutes ahead of departure time.
To access this area from northern Tasmania: The walk is in the Launceston area. See notes above about car park.
Warnings:
There are no warnings for this walk, which is rated easy-medium
Map details:
For this walk, there isn't really a need for map
references, but we do have a track for the likely walk in gpx and Google
Earth format in our downloads on website. See link on top left.
No peakbagger points on this walk! For listing of peakbagger points, see the Hobart Walking Club
Peakbagger's Guide (2000 revision) which can be downloaded (Excel) from
http://tastracks.webs.com/peakbaggers.htm The same web page
contains several other listings of Tasmanian peaks.
Ggpx and Google Earth tracks are available on
website for this walk.