One place on our adventure Greg really wanted to visit was Woolnorth. At the tip of Tassie’s North West, Woolnorth is home to a massive cattle property and an impressive wind farm.  Access is only available through Woolnorth Tours to this private property and really worth the time to visit.

We booked in for our Tour departing from Smithton, but we still had to find somewhere to camp for the evening. Unfortunately there isn’t much camping in the area, with the only caravan park being in Stanley. We decided to go a little further along our route and stay at Crayfish Creek Caravan Park. We found the park in our Camps book, or should I say Camps Bible! I’ll tell you more about that in a moment.  The park is about 40 minutes from Smithton so we set up camp and headed back into Tall Timbers – which we have become quite familiar with might I say!

Helen from Woolnorth Tours picked us all up in a bus. Unfortunately the weather was rather un-impressive, with plenty of mist and light rain. I keep telling you how amazingly green it is up here – well it has to get green somehow! Just don’t let it dampen your spirits, there is still plenty to see and do and honestly, I think Woolnorth had an extra air of amazement added by the misty scenery, the dark skies and the incredible wind at the lookout.

Driving into the property the lush grasslands were full of grazing cows that were soon replaced by the 60+ wind turbines.  Our first stop was to see a set of three turbines on standby should any need replacing. Seeing these up close gave us an actual idea of how huge these things really are, having that perspective really added to our amazement of the turbines.  Our next stop was right underneath one of the turbines. Staring up it was just an awesome sight, complete with the loud and deep whooshing as they turned in the high winds. I think they were at their peak, if the winds were any greater they would have turned off.

Helen then took us to a lookout and information centre. Here the kids could see the massive cables used to move the power generated, and they got to feel the full force of the Roaring 40s as they swept up the cliffs and onto the lookout (which was thankfully enclosed). If we had let go of little Teddy I’m sure he would have been blown away! I have video of Greg trying to take a photo with the rain coming sideways at him and the wind trying its hardest to blow him off balance. He held the girls hands and took them into the wind, all I could hear was the excited laughter as the braved the weather and loved the force of the wind while they clutched tightly to Greg’s hands.

This area is known for having the cleanest air in the world. I think Helen’s comment was along the lines of “It’s great having the cleanest air in the world but sometimes it would be nice to be able to breathe it back out!”

After the lookout we toured the property with its old buildings and masses of grasslands. Helen took us to where the Woolnorth Tours Accommodation is, a lovely old homestead with views for miles over the lush grounds. I could only imagine waking up to that every day, such a great scene.

As Helen drove us back into Smithton she told us lots of stories about Woolnorth, the turbines and the local areas. Her knowledge of the area was truly amazing, that is what really made the tour. It is always fantastic to have a great guide but to have someone who obviously loves what they do and knows everything about it is really something special.

Woolnorth Tours are available as full or half days. We were able to use our child seat (Jemma’s) in the bus for Teddy.  If you travel up to this region you really cannot go past the Tours as your peak into the weather that provides 10% of Tassie’s power, and the old farming history from days gone by. Make sure you tell them we sent you too!