East coast of Tasmania
Posted: January 17th, 2011 by Courtney
From Bicheno we drove south to Freycinet National Park, which is know for its beautiful beaches including famous Wineglass Bay. Â Scott and I had planned to try out true backpacking – meaning we would carry our tent, food, water, clothes and camping gear with us for three days and hike a total of 32km.
The first day of hiking took about 4 hours (and I was tired and sore).  We were glad to reach the camping area around 4:00 in the afternoon and relax at our camp site overlooking Byran’s beach.
First little beach on the trail
Our campsite on the first night
The second day of our Freycinet Peninsula Circuit adventure was the longest, 6 hours with part of the hike a steep climb up the side of Mt. Graham.  But as we made our decent into wineglass bay we got panoramic views of the peninsula and were more impressed with the scenery on day two than on day one.  We made it to camp in time to relax and cook up some dinner.
Hiking across the beach
Looking back at the peninsula
Wineglass bay
Finally we made it to Wineglass Bay!
The last day was a short one and a half hour hike across Wineglass Bay and back to the car park.  We were both very sore, but were glad that our packs were significantly lighter now that we had eaten most of the food and drunk most of the water.  We got back to the car about lunch time and after three long days of hiking we treated ourself with some fresh oysters and mussels at a local farm store before driving to Port Arthur.
Oysters and mussels for lunch
The next day we went to the number one tourist attraction in Tasmania, Port Arthur.  Port Arthur is one of the most extensive old convict settlements still existing in Australia.  Most of the buildings are now ruins, but you get a good sense of what it might have been like for the convicts that they imported from England.
Port Arthur
Our last stop in Tasmania was the capital, Hobart.  We were lucky to be there when all of the yacht’s were around after the Sydney to Hobart race and for Taste of Tasmania, the local food and wine festival.  We enjoyed a couple of days looking at the yacht’s, shopping at Salamanca Market, and getting a bite to eat at the Taste festival.  Then it was back to Melbourne, back to work, and to get ready for our move.
Salamanca Place in Hobart