5 Captain’s Cottage

30 Alexander Terrace

Many a ship’s captain has lived in Stanley, but only one cottage bore the name of Captain’s Cottage, perhaps because it was the first built in the early 1830s.

The bluestone cottage was originally purchased by Captain Frederick Burgess, in the 1920s, and passed into the hands of other seafarers and their families, including an old sea captain who Meg remembered having fingers “like sausages – uncooked”.

Crayfish and shark were plentiful off the town in the 1940s and it was said that ‘cut lunch’ fishermen could pull in a good catch and be tied up at Fisherman’s Dock by nightfall. Stanley, with its impressive deep-water facility, is still a major fishing port with an immense love of history. Here you can still see crays being caught in traditional hand-woven tea tree pots.

The path up to The Nut starts not far from Captain’s Cottage on Alexander Terrace. Stanley’s geography is best understood either by walking, or taking the chairlift, to the summit. From there you can see how the town juts five kilometres out to sea on a dramatic peninsula with a beach on either side.

Save this trip for later as you continue Meg’s walk to the Church Street shops. The townspeople who fought for their country are remembered at the War Memorial where a World War I solider, carved out of white Italian marble, stands at ease and a garden is kept with rosemary and kangaroo paws, lest we forget.