[CentOS] Odd nfs mount problem

I'm exporting a directory, firewall's open on both machines (one CentOS
6.6, the other RHEL 6.6), it automounts on the exporting machine, but the
other server, not so much.

ls /mountpoint/directory eventually times out (directory being the NFS
mount). mount -t nfs server:/location/being/exported /mnt works... but an
immediate ls /mnt gives me stale file handle.

The twist on this: the directory being exported is on an xfs filesystem...
one that's 33TB (it's an external RAID 6 appliance).

Any ideas?

      mark