9 Feb 2020

9/2/2020: Freycinet National Park

Today has been a great day. To kick off, we woke up to this view after a night of being lulled to sleep by the sound of the waves crashing onto the rocks ... not bad!


Our plan for today was hiking in the Freycenit national park, about a 30 minute drive south of our base in Bicheno. After a leisurely breakfast we headed off, making a quick stop at the Bicheno blowhole which was certainly blowing today as the swell rolled into towards the shore. Spectacular!



The Freycinet national park is probably one of the most popular in Tasmania, and justifiably so. The view over Wineglass Bay attracts most visitors but not many then continue down the 1000 steps to the beach itself, cross the isthmus to the beach on the other side of the headland and then follows a woodland coastal track back to carpark. We did! A total of 14 kilometres of lovely views, white sand beaches and turquoise seas. We could have been in the Bahamas!!








Tasmania has abundant wildlife, not that visitors get to see that much as most of it is nocturnal! Sadly that also leads to a lot of roadkill: creatures dazzled by headlights are regularly knocked down, despite the numerous signs reminding drivers to drive more slowly between dusk and dawn. On our travels around Tasmania we rarely travel more than a couple of miles in forested or rural areas without bearing witness to this. Very sad. Everything from wallabies, to padermelons, wombats to possums, and more besides. Fortunately, because there are so many critters about, we are still able to find some live ones, including an echydna, a strange looking creature that appears to be a cross between a hedgehog and a porcupine. Actually, it's not related to either, its closest relative is the duck-billed platypus, as you can see from its beak.




Tomorrow we will head for Hobart for our last couple of nights in Tasmania before flying to New Zealand on Wednesday. The forecast isn't too good ... up to 60cm of rain in 48 hours ... but we're meeting up with a couple of sailing friends for dinner on Monday night, and an old school friend on Tuesday evening.

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