13 March 2012

Hello again.  Some updates on our recent activities.  Last week we were in Freycinet National Park in Tasmania.  It is the oldest National Park in Tasmania and famous for beautiful white sand beaches and walking tracks.  We did a bit of both, staying at Coles Bay and swimming at Muir's Beach, and doing a couple of hikes in the park.  We also did one of the best know hikes in the park, over the range to Wineglass Bay, and return to the start via the Hazards, a range of hills on the coast of Coles Bay.

Wineglass Bay from beach level, where you can't see the wineglass shape of the bay 

  We also had a swim at Wineglass Bay, despite the rather nasty shore dump.  

Freycinet is a beautiful park, but very heavily used as it is so famous.  It is serviced by the town of Coles Bay, where everything is twice the price of anywhere else as they have a captive market -- like diesel at $1.75 a litre.  Luckily we had filled up before we got there.  And a bakery that had no baker and only white sliced bread at $5.00 a loaf, although they somehow managed to have a huge selection of gooey cakes to go with the coffee they sold in the cafe part.  We did have an excellent dinner at Tombolo that specialized in pizza and fish and chips.  Also some very nice local cab/sav.

We next travelled to Triabunna, site of the contentious and now mothballed Gunn's Woodchip Mill.  Triabunna is also the jumping off point for ferries to Maria Island, an offshore National Park.  At one time a prison island, it is now a wildlife sanctuary with particular significance for the Cape Barren Goose.  There are no cars;  the only way to get around is on foot or bicycle.  It is a lovely island and with no motorized vehicles moves at a slower pace.

Cape Barren Geese

We spent a lovely day on Maria Island, cycling around and hiking.  Some of the attractions of the  island include the Fossil Cliffs, where they used to mine a large fossil bed for the lime in the shells.  It is now protected and it is awesome to see metres deep layers of shells and silt from millions of years ago.

Fossil Maria Island

There are also the "Painted Cliffs", an area of striking marked amber and gold striped stone which is very soft and eroded by wind and sea.  Rock pools at the foot are filled with tiny starfish, anenomes and  sea plants.  The whole area smell rather unpleasant, however, as the colours in the rock are created by sulphur deposits which the waves expose.

Painted Cliffs, Maria Island

We spent the greater part of our day climbing one of the peaks on the island, called Bishop and Clerk as the early settlers thought the two stone pillars looked like a bishop being followed by his clerk.  The climb went through woodlands and got progressively steeper as it went over rock scree, boulder fields and ended up in a scramble to the top of a piller.  Fantastic view from the top and not too much wind, which was great, but the day was rather overcast so photos tended to be misty.  The trail was also great as you could ride a mountain bike (well, perhaps push it part of the way) to about the half way point of the trail.  The ride back was all downhill so that was the best part of the trail.

Top of Bishop and Clerk, Maria Island

Echidna seen on the trail to Bishop and Clerk

We are  heading out tomorrow, probably to the South Coast for some remote camping and then back to Hobart to see MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) and some more civilized sightseeing.