Blog 13 Last Days on our Own

What a difference 400 miles makes.  While a lot of southern Australia (Melbourne to Adelaide and up to Alice Springs) are still sweltering in 38-40 C (high 90’s to 100’s for us), we awoke Saturday morning, 9 March, to temperatures in the high 50’s with overcast and drizzling skies. We took a tour to Freycinet National Park, located on the east coast of Tasmania.  The east coast has stunning coastal scenery and the East Coast Highway is an award-winning highway.  Our tour started early – it is about a 2 hour drive up to Freycinet.

Our first stop was a “potty” break at a pretty, little beach called Raspins Beach.  It was still overcast, but our guide said the weather should clear by about noon.  From here we drove to the Bark Mill Café and Tavern in Swansea where we grabbed a quick breakfast and a sandwich for a picnic later in Freycinet.  We then stopped at the Freycinet Marine Farm for those who wished to purchase some fresh Tasmanian oysters.  They are said to be the best in the world.  Bill bought a half dozen and said they were very good, but that Apalachicola oysters are still the best in his mind.

Raspins Beach

Oyster Farm

Once we reached Freycinet National Park our driver stopped at a little fishing pier and pointed out the Hazards Mountains, four mountains that are within the park’s boundaries.  The mountains were named after an American whaling captain (Capt. Richard Hazard) who, after his ship capsized on some rocks, swam all nine of his non-swimming crew (one at a time) to safety on a nearby beach. 

Hazard Mountains

Coastline in Freycinet NP

Once we go to Wineglass Bay we were given three options:  (1) the strenuous hike up to Wineglass Bay lookout and then down the other side to the beach, regularly voted as one of the best beaches in the world (about 2 ½ hours of hiking), (2) the “moderate” hike up to Wineglass Bay lookout (about 1 hour); or (3) stay on the bus and the driver would take you to another beach where you could relax.  All but 4 of us opted to take the strenuous hike.  Bill and I and 2 other older ladies decided to just walk to the lookout.  We started out and it was fine – the path was not too bad, and the scenery was beautiful.  However, the further up we went, the steeper it became.  One of the ladies turned back after about ¼ mile, but we trudged on.  The higher we went the steeper it got, and the stone steps were becoming slippery from the light drizzle.  When we reached the Coles Bay lookout (after about 20 minutes), the sign said it was still 20 minutes more.  We walked on for about 5 minutes when we met some people returning from the lookout who said it was about another 15-20 minutes of steep inclines/steps up to the lookout and that because it was overcast, there was not much to see.  The 3 of us then decided to turn around and return to the start of the walk.  I am not sure which was harder – the uphill climb or the downhill climb.  It took us about 20 minutes to return and our guide was there waiting for us.  Upon returning we noticed a sign about the Wineglass Bay hikes which read “The Walk to Wineglass Bay lookout may be the hardest walk you do in Tasmania.”  We certainly agree with that!!!  

Map of Wineglass Bay Walks

View of Coles Bay 

View of Wineglass Bay

This is what the view of Wineglass Bay from the lookout would have looked like had we completed the walk and the sun was shining.

He took the 4 of us to Honeymoon Bay where we had our picnic lunch and admired the beautiful little cove.  The coast in this area is gorgeous, and when the sun finally broke through the clouds, the sea was several shades of blue.  From Honeymoon Bay our guide drove us to the Cape Tourville Lighthouse (built in 1971 as an automated lighthouse and never manned) where they had a wooden path along the coast line and some nice views looking to the south, north, and east to the Tasman Sea.  Looking to the south, you get a small view of Wineglass Bay and to the north are the Nuggets – 2 islands where New Zealand fur seals are sometimes seen playing on the rocks.  On the way back to Wineglass Bay to pickup the rest of our tour, we saw a wallaby standing by the side of the road.  But he was too fast, and by the time I got my camera out he was in the woods.  However, when we got to the parking lot of Wineglass Bay, there was another wallaby just standing in the carpark.  He was very used to humans and was apparently looking for food handouts.  However, you cannot feed them as human food is very dangerous for them.  They cannot handle the sugar and carbs and just like humans, they can develop diabetes from it.  But that didn’t stop the wallaby from letting people pet him (he was okay with it as long as you did not pet his head).  Since there were already several people petting him, I just took pictures.  But he was cute!

Honeymoon Bay

Rocks at Honeymoon Bay

View of Wineglass Bay (far center) from Cape Tourville

Looking down from Cape Tourville

Cape Tourville Lighthouse

The Nuggets

Looking north from Cape Tourville

Friendly Wallaby

From Wineglass Bay we headed back home to Hobart.  We made two stops.  The first was to Kate’s Berry Farm where you could buy her homemade ice cream or chocolates.  I had a dish of her salted caramel ice cream and Bill had a mixed berry crepe.  The story goes that Kate drove her tractor all the way from Darwin to Melbourne, loaded it on a ferry to Launceston, Tasmania, and then drove it through Tasmania to her current farm on the east coast.

Spikey Bridge

Our second stop was at the Spikey Bridge.  This bridge was part of the old coach road that was built in 1843 by the convicts who had been sent to the penal colony in Port Arthur.  It was made from field stones and laid without mortar or cement.  And for some reason – that still remains a mystery, the convicts laid the top layer of stones (cemented in) vertically.

I have found that the Aussies have a knack for coming up with very unusual names.  For instance, instead of a sign for a passing lane, they call it “an overtaking lane” and a “Yield Sign” would read “Give Way.”  There were two steep hills that we drove over on this trip, one was named “Break Me Neck Hill” and the other was “Bust Me Gall Hill.”  It did make for some amusing moments on the ride.

We arrived back at our hotel about 6:30. Although we had missed Happy Hour, we still went to the bar for a drink.  We also ordered a pizza – but these are not your normal, everyday pizzas that we are used to.  In fact, our bartender who is from Italy will not eat them.  These were more like “gourmet” pizzas.  One was a fish and chips and it had a thin crust, pieces of cooked fish and French fries, cut-up tomatoes, and cheese.  We ordered the roast beef pizza which turned out to be surprisingly good.  It was a thin crust with small pieces of beef, cherry tomatoes, spinach and lots of cheese.

On Sunday, we decided to go to the Cascade Brewery.  From what I had found out, it was a short bus ride to the Brewery.  We had to walk about 4 blocks to the bus stop and then we found out that the bus did not run on Sundays.  Fortunately, we found a cab.  Once at the brewery, there is a little park and walking path along the river where people have spied a platypus playing in the water.  We walked along the path but had no luck in seeing the shy little platypus. 

Cascade Brewery was established in 1832 here in Hobart and is the oldest continually operating brewery in Australia.  We went into the visitor’s center, but Bill couldn’t decide if he wanted to spend $30 to take the tour.  He ordered one of their pale ales that he really liked, I had wine, and we went out to their gardens to relax and enjoy the trio of jazz musicians.  He then decided that maybe he would like to take the tour, but apparently, if you have already had any alcohol, you cannot take the tour.  So, we got another taxi and came back to the hotel.

Cascade Brewery

Drunken Admiral Restaurant

Our guide yesterday had recommended the Drunken Admiral Restaurant for seafood, so we decided to give it a try.  The hotel tried to make a reservation for us, but they did not have one until 8:30 pm.  However, they did say if we came down now they could probably fit us in – which they did.  Bill had the mixed grill seafood and I had the prawn linguini – both were excellent.

Today (Monday 11 March) is a national holiday in Tasmania – Labor Day.  We took a tour up to Mt. Wellington (or Kunanyi as the aborigines call it).  It was named after Lord Wellington who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.  Its former name was Table Mountain, named after Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa.  Aussies are not very original when it comes to naming streets or places.   At its summit, Mt. Wellington stands at 4,163 feet.  It has beautiful views of Hobart and the Derwent River to the north, a barren stretch of wildland to the southern coast (where no one lives), and the Southern Ocean as you look towards Antarctica.  It has already snowed twice up there, but today was a beautiful day – sunny (although there was some haze) and no wind.  The temperature was a cool 45 F.  On the drive up the mountain our guide told us about a devastating fire in 1967 where many structures were destroyed.  The only one that was not damaged was an 1800's chapel about half-way up the mountain.  He also pointed the cliffs on the face of the mountain.  They are called Organ Pipes because (1) they look like organ pipes and (2) when the wind blows down the mountain it creates a whistling sound.

Organ Pipes

1800's Chapel

Looking down at Hobart

Looking toward the southern coast with its barren land

Looking South toward Antarctica

Top of Mt. Wellington

After our tour finished, we walked over the wharf area where we had a wonderful seafood lunch at Mures Restaurant.  This was another restaurant highly rated in my travel books.  Bill had the seafood spaghetti and I had fish and chips.  Again, both were delicious.  And as an added attraction, two seals came to play in the little harbor next to the restaurant.

Seals playing in the harbor

Seal playing in the water

This afternoon was spent doing laundry – I can never get away from that, but thankfully many of our hotels have guest laundries – and waiting for the rest of our pre-tour to arrive.  There will be 5 more (2 from Brooklyn and 3 from Phoenix) plus our guide, Ben Walker.