Second – geography. Tasmania is located between 41° and 43° S. Latitude. This is roughly the equivalent of Wyoming’s north latitude. Except Tassie is also surrounded by polar waters. So not a tropical island.
Third - Our friend Denise planned this entire trip. She does intensive research and takes the time to ensure maximum hiking experiences and the most scenic places to stay. I wish I had her patience for planning. It was a treat to enjoy all the fruits of her planning as we traveled together.
Map of places we stayed along with some hiking areas
Day 1 - Hobart
We were met by pounding rain when we landed in Hobart, the charming capitol city of Tasmania. I was lucky to receive an umbrella from a woman whose Uber driver had given it to her, and she was passing it on to me before her flight. That umbrella has been a gift that keeps on giving!
Denise stayed at the airport to meet her friend Iain flying in from New Zealand while Darrell and I went to get our rental car. Denise met Iain on a hiking trip around Monte Rosa in Switzerland this past summer and they had planned future trips together. Iain had trekked in Tasmania several times so was an invaluable resource and fun travel partner on this trip!
We stayed in a funky garden apartment in North Hobart and barely got there in time to clean up and meet my friend Karen at a nearby restaurant. I met Karen and her now husband Kim when I volunteered with the catering crew for the Gibb Challenge way back in 2012! Kim was working in Western Australia so I missed him, but it was so wonderful to have a small catch-up with Karen. We borrowed their esky (cooler) for our trip and it was invaluable. Rental cars should just come with eskies in the boot (trunk) for all their tourist trips.
Catering Crew for the May 2012 Gibb Challenge
Kim and Karen are just to my right in the middle of the photo
Day 2 - Gowrie Park
Today was a long drive north to our Airbnb in Gowrie Park, situated so we could hike Cradle Mountain the next day. The weather was clear and I walked up the track towards Mt. Roland but the many trees blocked good vistas.
Day 3 - Cradle Mountain
We had decent weather in Gowrie Park but it was raining with blowing wind when we got up to the National Park. We took the Park bus to Ronnie Creek where we walked high enough to see Crater Lake and then took another track down past Wombat Pool to Dove Lake.
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| Darrell and I at Crater Lake overview |
Darrell and I took a magical fern and mossy walk and met Iain and Denise who were having tea at the Lodge and warming up in front of the fire. We were all chilled from the cool, wet weather.
Magical Mossy Walk
Our drive today took us downhill to Launceston where we stopped in at the Visitor Center, enjoyed a bakery and got groceries before driving to Mt. William. We had a nice easy hike up to good views from Mt. William and then checked out some of the campsites on the NE coast. Stumpy’s campground was grand and a great place to stay if we were camping but we pushed on to our place at Bay of Fires – right on a long, beautiful white beach with the orange lichen on rocks that may have inspired the Bay of Fires name. Note: It is more likely named for aboriginal fires seen by Captain Tobias Furneaux and his crew in 1773!
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| The gorgeous Bay of Fires |
We took a beautiful walk north along the bay, clambering over rocks and enjoying long beach stretches. Iain made us a wonderful grilled dinner on the barbie. A picture perfect Aussie day!
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| Iain working his own magic on the barbie |
Day 6 – Coles Bay – Freycinet National Park
The drive to Coles Bay was a shorter one so we had time to hike up Mt. Amos before going to our Airbnb. Mt. Amos is a steep climb up both smooth granite faces and big steps in the more vegetated areas. Darrell and Denise got some amazing views from the top while Iain and I hung out a little farther down.
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| Darrell and Denise get the view from the summit! |
Day 7 - Freycinet National Park
We walked to the absolutely gorgeous Wineglass Bay (bay on left of photo above), where we wandered the beach before crossing the isthmus to the other beach (on right of photo) and then hiking back. We drove to our place in Triabunna so we were close to the ferry terminal to Maria Island for the next morning.
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| Iain and Denise on the lovely Wineglass Bay beach |
Day 8 - Maria Island National Park
Maria Island was one of the sites where convicts were held in Australia. It is now a World Heritage Australian Convict Site as well as a National Park. There are lots of places to explore on the small island - from the settlement sites to some natural wonders. Darrell rented the last available bike on the island while Denise, Iain and I walked. We saw a wombat up close and personal plus a large Forester Kangaroo resting in the shade of a tree. The fossil cliffs were truly fossiliferous with giant clams and relatives of scallops and sea fans.
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| Iain herding a Cape Barren goose on Maria Island |
Day 9 – Nubeena – This area has easy access to some of the tracks that go out to the capes on this peninsula. While we couldn’t do the entire Three Capes Hike, we did have a great day hiking the track to Cape Raoul and then adding a short hike to the Shipstern overlook to see farther west. It was probably my favorite hikes with great plant biodiversity, lots of birdsong, and wondrous views of the coast including tall diorite columns. We all went out to dinner in Port Arthur to celebrate the conclusion of a great trip!
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| Iain and Denise at the overlook of these amazing diorite columns |
Day 10 – Drove to Hobart and said our goodbye’s to Dee and Iain who were off to Bali as we flew to Sydney.
Big thanks again to Denise for organizing this spectacular trip!
Denise in Tassie!
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