We went to Tasmania (pt 4)

...it seems a while ago, Tasmania. And it sort of is,

about two weeks since.

So before it becomes a distant memory, here's the last little bit of Tassie. More wondrous natural beauty I'm afraid ...do you think you can handle that? We went and stayed in a great little place, in Coles Bay on the Freycinet Peninsula situated on the north east coast of Tasmania.

Here's a nice view of Oyster bay, with vineyards in the foreground, and haze shrouded highlands in the back...in fact, I think those are the The Hazards.

This was on the way to Freycinet National Park - we stayed at Muirs Beach in a great little place called Coles Bay.

We went a-walking to Wineglass Bay.

It's an up-hill path (not what I'd call a slog, as the path is so well maintained), until you get to the lookout, which takes about 45 minutes.

This is what you get to see once you get there...

Wineglass Bay: pretty as a picture.

So we didn't hang about too long, as we wanted to get our walk weary bods in that astonishingly blue water. 

After another 45 mins of very steep and rocky (but beautifully maintained) downhill path...nearly there!

...just look at that, not very surprising that suddenly taking photos ceased to interest me, and getting into that water was the only thing that mattered. It was actually a tad chilly, which was perfect. Who wants a warm bath on a hot day?

Lovely refreshing dip and picnic in this glorious place. No complaints, not a one. But we had a ways to go (several km), and an isthmus to cross.

An isthmus - apart from being my new favourite word - is a small 'neck' of land that joins one land mass to another. You can see it clearly below: Wineglass Bay on the left, a lagoon in the isthmus, and just a peek of the opposite shore (Hazard Beach).

So off we trekked, into the bush...

...(on a beautifully maintained path). Along the way, we found this: Any guesses???

...it's wombat poo. How they manage to do square poo is anyone's guess...I haven't googled it and well, I'm not gonna (...of course I googled it, but I'm not going to spoil your fun!)

I think I recall reading somewhere that Abel Tasmen, after a rather cursory exploration of the land he'd discovered, and claimed, and named after his boss Antonio Van Dieman, took some of this back as a kind of exploratory souvenir (Van Dieman was Governer General of the Dutch East Indies...did you know Tasmania used to be called Van Dieman's Land?). Apparently Van Dieman wasn't entirely impressed with the square poo. Clearly the man had no sense of humour (maybe that's why they re-named Tasmania in 1856 - I do hope so).

It only took about thirty minutes to get across to Hazard Beach.

Another astonishing vista...around every corner it seems. 

Hello Hazards Beach...which was covered in oyster shells, including fossilised oyster shells which I thought were pretty amazing. 

That's Refuge Island.

And here's a map to give you an idea of the walk, about 11km..

And another dreamily perfect bay....

And a dappled path...

And look who we found...a 'wild' wallaby who was notably not at all bothered by us.

Here's a view of one of the Hazards...

And maybe we're actually on the side of one of the Hazards...

Nearly done anyway...

...but just as one last treat...

...a 'not-very-wild-at-all-wild-wallaby'. A youngster, who was reasonably happy to let us tickle it gently behind the ears (squeee!)

Oh go on then, one more.

Too cute.

The wallabies hang out at the end of the pathways and around the car-park, hoping to get fed. BUT it is strictly forbidden, as they get 'lumpy jaw', so we didn't, but they are still pretty friendly. I guess nobody mis-treats them and probably quite a lot of people do feed them so...

It was a good morning. 

We went to Tasmania (pt 3)

...I'm back in Blighty as it happens - and I'm also wide awake at 3.30 am, so I've decided to use the jet-lag to catch up...

Tassie has a spectacular coast line, so we did little bit of cruise with Tasman Island Cruises

...and it was fab EVEN THOUGH the sea was rather 'big' and quite choppy. I admit, I was quite scared - the boat is a decidedly small looking inflatable, plus they kitted us out in jumpsuits AND top-to-toe ponchos, and handed out hats and gloves and ginger tablets as preventatives against sea sickness. None of these things were the most reassuring signs of a fun trip to come...

Here are Angela and Tim our 'crew'.

They were brilliant and funny and knowledgeable, and very kind to the sea-sickness casualties. Despite all precautions, there was some puking over the side of the boat...and no, I didn't take any pictures of that (..but if I'm honest that's only because I was too busy being wowed by the waves and the fact that I WASN'T being sick over the side of the boat...).

I did try to take photos the sea doing its big and scary thing.

Here's an approaching wall of water...

...which just doesn't look like much I know. And I expect it wasn't much really, not for people who are used to the sea and boats and stuff. 

It was very much like being on a big old roller coaster though, and on occasion there was even some slightly disconcerting wave action washing over the deck...all rather thrilling, but not necessarily conducive to taking snap-shots.

I managed one or two though, when we were in closer to shore, visiting the more sheltered, calmer bits so that the pukers, bless, could have a bit of light relief.

...they were probably still feeling a touch queasy here...

...but it got better.

They took us out onto open water and we watched as a some seals rounding up a shoal of fish and the birds - gannets and albatross - feeding (diving) from above...that was pretty amazing (but puke making apparently).

We saw seals who quite deliberately lolloped into the water to show off for us. There was a white breasted sea eagle. 

And in the harbour a there was a bevy of albatross (albatri???), driven 'inland' by the severe weather the previous night, including this handsome fellow.

A shy albatross. He's a fine chap isn't he? No scale comparisons in this pic, but they're biggish..wing span nearly a metre and weighing in at up to 9lb or so. Nice to get so close. 

And me, back on dry land, sans poncho, and looking a bit wind battered but wishing we could have stayed out longer.

In addition, the founder of the company operates the whole shebang with conservation and preservation of the environment to the fore: check out the website

So, if you are ever down that way, this is a must do thing.

We went to Tasmania (pt 2) Ship Stern Bluff

There is a place on the Tasman Peninsula called Ship Stern's Bluff - also (previously) known as Devil's Point, Shippie's or Fluffie's.

It has only recently become a special spot for surf fanatics (since 2000-ish), but it holds a secure place very near the top of the 'great big terrifying waves that could easily kill you even if you are a world class surfer' list.

Nelson wanted very much to go see. So we did.

There are only two ways to get there. By boat, a 30 km coastal trip. Or walk in, which takes about 2 hours...a bit of schlep if you're carrying a surfboard. People do it though.

The walk is lovely.

First off, the air is (literally and mind bogglingly), sweet and delicious with the breath of the eucalyptus trees - maybe it was just that day, but I don't think so. It was similar to the delicately sweet water in the tea tree lagoon on Moreton.

Tasmania actually does have the cleanest air anywhere on earth - pretty much as clean as the air in Antarctica. It's really something, almost enough to make you feel lightheaded.

You start here...

It's really pretty. Before long, you're  the forest.

The track is quite steep, not really as surprise as Ship Stern Bluff towers out of the ocean at around 200 metres. 

There's a little creek to cross...

...like this.

And lots of this kind of stuff higher up the track, lovely woodland, full of light and air and a kind of fairy-tale feel to the twisty, gnarly eucalyptus trees...and a sense that something surprising is round the corner...

..which it is...

...Ship Stern. Breathtaking. Somehow, even though you've been going up-hill for a good 45 minutes plus, it feels much higher than you expect.

This is the mid-way point viewing spot. 

And we stopped here for a good while. Mostly doing this... getting some true Aussie serenity...

...and a fair bit of this too of course...

Magnificent and stately and, though easily visitable, basically untouched...and this is by far the best thing about Australia - they love and cherish and nurture their wilderness with a fierce and uncompromising passion.

I know what you're thinking now...so what's up with that surf then? Doesn't look like much. That's what we thought...at first anyway. But after a while we realised we could hear 'thunder'...hmmm. A bit overcast perhaps, a bit of a breeze maybe, but no storms on the horizon ...hmmmm. Not thunder then, but the waves hitting the rocks. Big heavy blocks of water landing with a great thundering whumph on the rocks.

We are at least 1 km away as the crow flies at this point, so the bluff and the surf is a good way away. It wasn't huge (it can deliver waves a metre plus if conditions are 'right'...go here for the silly stuff... and go here to see what it's like to actually surf it, probably on a day not dissimilar to the one in these photos).

I think it was probably sizeable, and would have been quite something had we gone all the way down..which, regrettably, we didn't.

Maybe next time we'll go all the way down and dip our toes in...

We went to Tasmania (pt 1)

For a range of reasons the itinerary for this trip had always been loose (if not non-existent). But going to Tassie was always a possibility, one that we'd agreed on even before I'd booked my flight out to Australia. It was always there, waiting patiently in the background for the right moment.

Well, that moment arrived, and off we went. Getting there and making sure we had places to stay was a bit of mission: we were not only a bunch of last-minute-lucies, but easter weekend was also just around the corner. We did pretty well, booking a place to stay on Air BnB as we were boarding the flight to Hobart (which we'd booked the night before).

I can tell you that it was absolutely worth it - Tasmania is uniquely beautiful.

I don't know why I wanted to visit Tassie over say Sydney, or Melbourne, or anywhere else in Australia. I just did. Bit off the beaten track maybe...not the obvious choice maybe...bit quirky and interesting maybe. All those things turned out to be true.

Here's an aerial view of the centre of Hobart, our first stop.

http://www.studytasmania.tas.gov.au/Tasmanian%20Images/Forms/DispForm.aspx?ID=2

We stayed in a little place in North Hobart, not far out of the centre and sitting right under Mount Wellington.

Hobart feels really dinky when you're in it. It makes a nice change to the rest of Australia which (as I have said several times over) seems to me to be mostly big.  Hobart actually has roughly the same population as Norwich, but it somehow manages to feel smaller - maybe my perspective has already been skewed by the towering skyline of the Gold Coast...

There are very few tall buildings in Hobart, only 20 that really qualify as such, and there are quite sturdy restrictions on height for new developments, so it's going to stay dinky - good thing say I.

This is the view from our accommodation. That's Mt Wellington in the back there, and the nearby houses climbing up the hill. Purty ain't it?

And here's the sun, setting very nicely for us.

In Hobart particularly there's quite a lot of red brick, which feels a lot like home somehow. But there are also quite a lot of pretty houses, with covered verandahs and lots of filigree ironwork.

Once out of the city there's a slightly nordic flavour to the place: something to do with the multitude of rolling hills everywhere you look (including in Hobart itself), and the countless bays and lakes and lagoons and harbours, the way the low slung houses are scattered over and nestled into the landscape.

This funny, wonky little shack was in a place called Dunalley, where we stopped to grab a coffee at a harbour-side cafe as we'd made an early start.


Such was our luck that we also got the best breakfast I've had for a long time. Here's the view from the cafe...a definite nordic or Scottish flavour about the place I think. I liked it very much.

...and I also met this gorgeous dog, who belongs to one of the local boat owners. It was a good start to her day, getting some very tasty bacon from me, but I suspect I'm neither the first nor last tourist to succumb. 

The water was clear and icy cold, and the sand was pale. It was beautiful, and serene, and I could have stayed there a good long while.

But we were headed somewhere in particular, so we had to move on...