We were ready for a break from the heat so we headed south to Tasmania, affectionately called Tassie by the locals. After picking up the car for road trip #3, I was excited to eat my way through a local festival and work it off with a hike on Maria Island. Then we explored the Bay of Fire along the northeastern coast before driving to Launceston where we found some wallabies and peacocks at a gorge!
Taste of the Huon
We had an early flight leaving Sydney so we moved hotels to be within a quick Uber. Our original plan was to take the train but it didn’t start early enough on a Saturday, whoops! Oh well, it was a quick and very affordable ride anyway since we were so close. The rental company we used was a local Australian option called East Coast Rentals and I really liked them, they had an app where I could call the shuttle, showed me where we’d get picked up, and I could see the location of the shuttle as it approached the airport. The driver was very kind and shared a bit about the town of Hobart and even pointed out one of their unique animals: a turbo chook. Australians generally call chickens “chooks” but this one is flightless and can run up to 22mph (35 kph).
They gave us a larger car than expected, a 4 wheel drive compact SUV and they said we would need it, but it was a brand I am not familiar with, MG. Going out to the cars it looked like that was the only kind of car they had! The driver had also mentioned a few festivals going on and tips for visiting Mount Wellington right in the city. We decided to get some caffeine and snacks at a cute little coffee shop before heading east to the Tasman Peninsula to explore.
Our first stop was this Tessellated pavement made from silt stone that has cracked during the movements in the Earth’s crust and eroded by the ocean to create a perfect grid. They had a few other features in the area such a Devil’s Kitchen and Tasman’s arch.
Next we arrived in a national park, here we had to purchase a pass but they had a 2 month tourist pass for the price of just a couple of days and we knew we were visiting a few other sites. The only thing here to see was called Remarkable cave. It was a cool view over the ocean as the clouds and rain approached. After several steps down we reached the cave just as it started to rain. We snapped a quick picture and ran back up to the car since I didn’t have my raincoat out of my bag.
For a different route we drove up the western side of the peninsula for a different view, finding a few more animal crossing signs, such as this Tasmanian Devil, he certainly looks scary! Once we arrived back near Hobart, we picked up a few groceries, and checked into our room.
The next day was clear so we headed up to Mount Wellington. We got there just in time since we could still see somewhat under clouds that came up during the hour or so drive from the hotel. We went to the pinnacle and by the time we came down from there the clouds were so thick! It was cool and wet walking around so we headed to the info center to read a few signs.
We had planned to hike up there but with such poor visibility instead we decided to check out one of the festivals happening Southwest of Hobart called the Taste of Huon. They were so many varieties of food trucks including a local cidery that had a delicious ginger beer as well, lobster sticks, Chilean empanadas, pad thai, Portuguese booth had pastéis de nata, and another with delicious wood fired pizzas. We walked around tried several things, the favorite being the empanadas, better than some we had in Argentina!
They also had different bands play and around the time we were there the naval band played and sang, and it was an excellent show while enjoying the local foods and brews! When their set was done we decided we could fit one last dessert and found a cookie pie while Mr. Wander enjoyed a mead and I had switched to water as the driver. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by the cidery tap room for a few to-go packs to enjoy throughout the next ten days before we’d fly again.
Hiking Around Maria Island
We were greeted by another early morning, we had to pack up and drive a few hours to catch our 10am ferry. Along the road there were so many animals killed from the night prior. Most looked like wallabies which are more active dusk to dawn according to signs asking drivers to slow down to watch out for these little guys. On our way into the town we stopped to get our snacks for breakfast and hiking around Maria Island (pronounced like Mariah).
The ferry arrived and there were so many people were coming back after camping on the island. There were large boxes unloaded with a crane full of backpacks and coolers and so many bicycles! Only about half our group were headed there with bags, most were like us, just there for a few hours.
It wasn’t super full we managed to get off quickly and start walking up the road. There were lovely views back towards the jetty and we spotted a few wallabies in the trees next to a few campsites.
We were headed towards the painted cliffs hoping to get there before most of our boat did, which was pretty good timing. Some were there that had camped on the island but we were able to get several pictures with just ourselves. It is amazing that these formations are carved just by wind and waves!
There was a more inland path we were able to take to avoid some of the traffic arriving to this spot, as everyone else had the same idea! It was a lovely walk in the trees and had some nice views as it was fairly high up.
Then we had wanted to reach a loop trail to the other coast but took a wrong turn, whoops! But maybe it was meant to be because if we hadn’t turned we wouldn’t have noticed these cool birds in this tree on the way back. We had only turned one road too early and then we found our path to what was called the fossil cliff track. It went off through the middle of the island directly towards the northwest coast.
Just before we reached the coast, we looked up the hill to our left and we saw this animal that looks like a porcupine or hedgehog. Mr. Wander looked it up later and it was actually a Echidna, or a spiny anteater.
I was ready for a snack so after many pictures near the edge, we saw a bench up the hill and decided to relax there for a bit, with some people watching. We crested the hill and then made our way down to some steps taking us to fossil cliff, which is the name of this loop we had been hiking on.
There were fossils of various shells of clams and oysters, and it was fun to find them among the rocks.
It was a short walk back to the ferry and we had to wait just a little bit. They loaded early, and as it was one of the last few back to mainland Tassie for the day, it was very busy. There were announcements that if you missed your scheduled ferry you’d have to sleep on the island! It was quite full but we found seats outside. The wind had picked up so the waves were more intense than we left so it took a bit longer this time but soon we were back to our car.
We headed up the coast another hour, with just a quick stop at this spiky bridge just off the road.
As we had done over 5 miles of brisk hiking that day, we took an easy afternoon at our accommodation and only wandered out for dinner at the lobster shack. It was a cool place but we really had to guard our food from the persistent seagulls! We split a half lobster with salad and chips and some tempura prawns, also with chips. Looking back I wish I would have asked for a different side with the prawns since the chips were a bit too plentiful!
The following morning after checking out, we made our way to a parking lot where we started a path along the sea. It’s called a Whale Trail, there are several of these along the eastern coast of Tassie as during the right season humpback whales, orcas, and dolphins are all over these waters! I definitely want to plan to visit Australia in whale season next time.
We wandered along the shores and ended up at the blowhole. It thankfully was the right time with the tide and it was blowing! I enjoyed listening to the sound before the water surged out of the blowhole. Using the road we made a faster return back to the car with a quick stop for caffeine and pies of course! I am going to miss these when we leave Australia.
Touring the Bay of Fires
Along the way we stopped at the St Helens Conservation to do another hike but it wasn’t really a good one with an overgrown trail that didn’t let us be near the cool colored rocks! This whole area of Tasmania is known as the Bay of Fires due to the vibrant orange lichen growing on them.
Finally it was time to head into our accommodation in St. Helens. We opted to have another relaxing day since we had two nights here and instead enjoyed the luxury of a full kitchen and even made french toast. We also tried loaded baked potatoes again from this little bakery, they were so good. I could not stop eating mine! Mr. Wander went tropical with a Hawaiian (pineapple, ham and cheese), and I had a creamy chicken sauce that was amazing.
Before we left we wandered out for a hike at what was called Skeleton Point, again part of the bay of fires.
An hour up the road was another stop called The Gardens. The parking was very small but we managed to come in just as someone was leaving so that was lucky. By the time we left the parking was backed up on the road a bit. On our way back to the main road we stopped off at Taylor’s beach to have a little walk along the sand.
It was time to head inland to keep the drive a bit manageable and stopped at a spot on the Tin Dragon Trail. The monument talked about the Chinese immigrant tin miners of the 19th century. Then it was time for lunch so we stopped at a brewery in the town of Derby that was full of mountain bikers and rental places. The sandwich was delicious and finally our last stop took us to a memorial of ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) soldiers who were lost in World War I. They had planted these trees in 1918 but unfortunately caught a disease in the early 2000s, so they opted to carve statues and scenes into them instead of just cutting them down in 2004.
There was one nice viewpoint not long before we made it into Launceston, Tasmania’s second largest city. Our hotel was unique and had giant murals in the hallways and even in the room. It was called Change overnight and proceeds from your stay can go to many programs which you get to choose when you are booking your room!
On our way out the next morning we headed to the gorge, this pretty park right in the middle of the city. We decided to take the chairlift but didn’t realize until we were on it that we didn’t really need it to go “up”, it took you across but there are a few bridges and nice trails so it’s not even a difficult hike. Glad we just bought a one way ticket though. At least it gave us a different vantage point for taking pictures of the gorge!
The main goal here was to see peacocks, and there were several! They also had many wallaby’s and in one spot they were blocking the trail, they must’ve just gotten fed because hey were all chomping on what looked like corn kernels. We were lucky enough that on our way out we spotted a few baby peacocks!
In a gazebo it talked about how this whole park was established in the Victorian era and they maintained several elements from that style of garden over the decades. However, the darker side is the reality that these manicured and domesticated “wilderness” areas can cause harm to animals, and they attribute the extinction of the Tasmanian Tiger to this exact thing taking up their habitats. These tigers were never killed off directly but indirectly were greatly harmed. Tasmania uses tigers in many of their logos throughout the state as a reminder to consider the consequences.
Next Time
After just one night in Launceston we made our way to the town of Penguin, and we did get to see the tiny fairy penguins! We also were able to meet up with another couple who were not only fellow nomads, but originally from Minnesota. We continued counter clockwise on our loop and hiked in Cradle Mountain park, visited an old penal colony site near Strahan that inspired the longest running show in Australia. We arrived back in Hobart enjoying a some wine and watching planes at the airport before leaving Australia again! Until next time, cheers!
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