FREYCINET NATIONAL PARK

8^th February, 2014

We say goodbye to Triabunna and head north up the coast towards Freycinet Peninsula.  As Wayne has been free camping for over a week he is in need of a Laundromat to do some necessary household chores so we stop at Swansea and find a launderette in a back street.  There is no-one in attendance but the machines are all coin operated and we have the place to ourselves so it’s a great opportunity to get all our washing up-to-date.  We put our washing into the machines and settle back to wait when our mobile rings.  At this point we should say that our mobile phone and internet connection is with Telstra and apart from a few remote locations in Tasmania we have had good coverage.  Wayne on the other hand, is with Optus, and so far has had no coverage around most of Tasmania.  To say he is not happy with the Optus coverage would be an understatement.  He has therefore given our phone number and email address to those people that may need to contact him while he is with us in Tasmania.  The phone call is from Damon (Wayne’s Real Estate Agent) and he has good news for Wayne about the sale of his unit in Brisbane.  He has a buyer and wants to email the initial contract to Wayne for him to sign and email back.  While Robyn keeps an eye on the washing – Wayne and Wok print out the attachment on the email (we have a printer on board in the van) – Wayne checks the contract and signs it – then they scan the completed contract and email it back to Damon in Brisbane.  The timing of the phone call couldn’t have been better with the printing and emailing finishing at the same time as the washing.  Now all we can do is keep our fingers crossed and wait for the next contact from Damon – Wayne has everything crossed!

We continue on our merry way and are soon turning off the highway and heading down the Freycinet Peninsula.  Ten kilometres down the road we turn off to check out a free campground on the way to the main part of the National Park called Friendly Beaches Campground.

Mitzi and The Van head down the road to the Friendly Beaches Campground

It’s a long weekend in the southern part of Tasmania and the main campground at Freycinet will be heavily booked so we are hoping to find space here.  We are in luck – well sort of!  Wayne finds a camping bay big enough for his Avan with the Prado parked beside and with all the other camping bays occupied we find a pull off area not far from him where we can overnight and then hopefully move to a proper camping bay in the morning when someone leaves.  We take a walk down to the beach where a couple of hardy souls are having a swim in the freezing water but the beach is nice with lovely white sand.

North Friendly Beach

In the morning the van on the site next to Wayne moves out early so we snaffle it up and then have breakfast before setting out to explore Freycinet National Park.  Well that was the plan but the best laid plans of mice and men can sometimes go astray.  We got to the National Park Information Centre only to find that all the walking tracks had been closed due to a High Fire Danger being called.  Apparently the temperature was to soar to 40 degrees Celsius and winds up to 100 kph were expected.  We decided to head back to camp and have a rest day.  There was a change forecast to come through in the early evening so all going well the walking tracks would be open again tomorrow.  Well the forecast hot windy day certainly eventuated with the gusts of wind spraying us with sand and generally making it unpleasant to be outdoors.  Even the local wildlife were having a tough time of it with a wallaby sitting oddly on its tail and using the shrubbery beside our van as a wind block for most of the afternoon.

A hot wallaby taking time out in the shade

Thankfully the change came through and the following morning dawned bright and clear.  Our first stop was at Cape Tourville where the walking track took us around the lighthouse.  From the lighthouse we could see south down the coast where the sandy beach at Wineglass Bay peeped around the headland.

View south along the coast to Wineglass Bay from Cape Tourville

Looking north we could see the band of orange algae on the rocks along the cliffs.

View looking north from Cape Tourville

At Coles Bay the rugged peaks of The Hazards dominate the skyline.

View of The Hazards across Coles Bay

We continue south into the National Park and drive to the end of the road – the car park where all the walking tracks into Freycinet commence.  The boys decide to tackle the climb to the Wineglass Bay Lookout and along with a bevy of other enthusiastic trekkers make their way up the mountain.

Lots of climbing up steps to get to the Lookout

As they climb a great view of Coles Bay opens up behind them

Wok takes a photo of Coles Bay

and at the saddle between Mount Amos and Mount Mayson they join the multitudes gathered at the lookout.

Wayne waits for a chance to take a photo at the Lookout

From this point the hardier trekkers can continue on to Wineglass Bay and further afield.  Treks of three and four days can be undertaken with a ‘Leave No Trace’ regulation in force.  The boys wisely decided that this type of trek was maybe a bit beyond them and made their way back to the carpark.  We returned to our campground later that afternoon before spending our last night on the Freycinet Peninsula.  We leave this post with another photo of Wineglass Bay from the Lookout.  Freycinet is a rugged and beautiful national park – well worth a visit!

The magic of Wineglass Bay and Freycinet National Park

MARIA ISLAND

5^th February, 2014

We have enjoyed our stay at Dunalley but it is time to hit the road again.  We aren’t travelling very far – about 100 kilometres.  We stop off in Sorell for a few hours so that Wayne can get his chipped tooth attended to.  Those good old ‘Minties’ have done it again!  We do some supermarket shopping, fill up with fuel and gas and we are on our way.  We pull off the highway and into the small village of Triabunna where the lady at the Information Centre says we can camp for free in the paddock across the road and there are toilets and showers attached to the information centre.  Now this is no ordinary paddock - as the Information Centre is located at the wharf area we are handy for the ferry ride to Maria Island and opposite the Spring Bay Hotel which was built in 1836 with convict labour.

Our campsite at Triabunna - Spring Bay Hotel in background

Beside the hotel are the convict built barracks

The barracks at Triabunna

and further along the street are more early 1800 buildings – some occupied, some not.  Right beside us is the butcher shop and Wayne has volunteered his services to cook us ‘lamb shanks in red wine with rosemary and vegetables’ for dinner.  We were a little worried when he was having trouble remembering how much wine had to go into the pot.  When he finally came over to our van and said that he had put a whole bottle of red wine in with the shanks and veggies we figured that it might be a good thing that we weren’t planning on going anywhere after dinner.  Let us just say for the record that the meal was cooked to perfection.  The meat just fell off the bone, the potatoes were grand and the pumpkin, carrots and sweet potato were thought provoking.  Now we aren’t ones to poke fun at anyone else’s cooking but the colour of the meal was perhaps a wee bit different.  Wayne insisted that since we were in Tasmania he had tried to add a little bit of Tasmania to his meal – hence the lavender colour.  The jury is still out on that one!

Lavender coloured Lamb Shanks and veggies

Weather forecasts for the next day were favourable so the following morning we packed a picnic lunch, strapped on our backpacks and walked down to catch the ferry.

Wayne and Wok waiting for the ferry

Forty minutes later we were stepping onto the jetty at Maria Island.

 

The island was declared a National Park in 1972 – too late to save the convict built buildings from being plundered for their wood, fittings and bricks.  Even the army used the settlement as a place to blow up and burn things.  We checked out the Information Centre in the Commissariat Store which overlooks Darlington Bay.

Darlington Bay at Maria Island

There are many walking tracks on the island – some are long treks which take a few days.  We are definitely not in any condition to go on those hikes and opt for the Fossil Cliffs Circuit which should have us arriving at the convict settlement at Darlington in the early afternoon.  From there it is a short walk back to the jetty to catch the ferry at 4.30 pm.  A footnote here is if you miss the ferry there isn’t any more until the following day.  As there are no shops on the island all food, drinking water etc. must be carried in and waste carried out – hence the backpacks.

Now for your history lesson :  In 1825 fifty convicts, military escorts and other officials settled on Maria Island.  The settlement was named Darlington and was a depot for prisoners returned to authorities after having worked for settlers or convicts guilty of light offences.  It was a convenient location that dispersed convicts from Hobart – the worst being sent to Macquarie Harbour on the west coast.  The island was to become notorious for convicts escaping by rafts or bark canoes.  A number perished or gave themselves up while a few ended life on the gallows. The settlement was wound up in 1832 and other than the grazing of sheep and whaling the island was not settled again until 1842 when convict tradesmen were sent to the island to prepare barracks for 400 men.  By 1844 convict numbers had grown from 387 to 627 with prisoners mainly involved in agricultural activities.  By the end of 1955 the convict occupation of Maria Island was over.  In the 1880’s the Bernacchi family planted thousands of vines and operated a vineyard.  A bustling township of over 250 people occupied the settlement and a school, butcher, baker, blacksmith, shoemaker, post office and shops were operational.  By 1896 the island was once again deserted except for a few farming families and holiday makers.  The island was again a hive of activity in the early 1920’s when a cement making company was established.  However the limestone cliffs proved unsuitable for making cement owing to the many sea-lilies embedded in it and by 1930 the ill fated venture was over.  Sheep and cattle continued to graze on the island until the government finally acquired all the privately owned properties and proclaimed it a National Park in 1972.  OK – history lesson over!

We set off up the hill – past the stable and cemetery and arrive at the Miller's Cottage.

The Miller's Cottage

The views from the cottage are spectacular and as we walk along the track we continually stop to look at the scenery.  The open grassland on the island attracts a variety of animals and we pass groups and pairs of foraging Cape Barren Geese.

Cape Barren Geese on Maria Island

As we top a rise we can see the Fossil Cliffs in the distance

The Fossil Cliffs - quarry in the foreground

and take a side track down to the quarry.  We take one look at the steep hill we have to climb and know that it will be a challenge.  Wayne is the ‘hare’ again and gets to the summit while us ‘tortoises’ plod slowly and steadily up the hill.

Yep - that's us tortoises slowly working our way up the hill

The view along the sea cliffs is truly stunning.

Wayne and Wok take in the ocean views

We continued along the track and came to the Engine House.

Wok checks out the Engine House

Behind the Engine House were the remains of the brick and lime kilns.  Not much left to see there.  By early afternoon we finally arrived at Darlington where the Penitentiary was now being used as a dormitory for overnight stays.

The Penitentiary at Darlington - Cape Barren Geese in the foreground

There was a shaded area with tables and chairs near the campground so we made our way there and had our picnic lunch.  Boy were we glad to sit down and rest our weary legs.  While munching away on our sandwiches a movement on top of a brick wall beside us caught our eye.  At first we thought it was a rat but when the ‘rat’ climbed down from the wall and hopped across the ground with a baby in its mouth we could see that it was a marsupial.  We checked the island information sheet on what animals were on the island and we found our ‘rat’.  It was a ‘bettong’

Bettong on Maria Island

and apparently it was moving its babies to a new location – away from the black snake that was intent on having a snack of bettong. 

We rested in the picnic area for quite some time before making our way back to the jetty along the avenue of trees that led up to the settlement.

Wayne and Wok walk down the avenue of trees

By the time the ferry arrived at 4.30pm we were more than ready to hop on board and brave the large swells coming from the ocean into the bay behind the island.  We were starting to get aches and pains in places we never knew we had.  The vote for having a rest day the following day was unanimous – and maybe we could even manage a sleep-in.   Ahh it’s a tough life but we are doing it well! 

PORT ARTHUR

4^th February, 2014

After a quiet night at our freecamp at Dunalley Hotel we head south once more to the convict historic site of Port Arthur.

The Port Arthur convict station was established in 1830 as a timber-getting camp using convict labour to produce sawn logs for government projects.  From 1833 it was used as a punishment station for repeat offenders from al the Australian colonies.  It was much more than a prison – it was a complete community and home to military personnel and free settlers.  The convicts worked at farming and industries, producing a large range of resources and materials.  Many men were broken by the discipline and punishment but some left Port Arthur rehabilitated and skilled as blacksmiths, shipbuilders and shoemakers.  By 1840 more than 2000 convicts, soldiers and civil staff lived at Port Arthur.  With the end of convict transportation to Van Diemen’s Land in 1853 the site became an institution for aging and physically and mentally ill convicts.  The settlement finally closed in 1877 and many of its buildings were dismantled or destroyed by bushfires.  The area gradually became the centre of a small town renamed Carnarvon in an attempt to erase the hated convict stain.  However first-hand stories of convict life proved to be a drawcard and tourists began visiting the settlement until finally in 1920 it became Port Arthur once again and became a major historical tourist destination for Tasmania.  A tragic chapter was added to Port Arthur’s history on Sunday the 28^th April 1996, when a lone gunman took the lives of 35 people and wounded 19 others in and around the Port Arthur Historic Site.  A memorial garden has been created around the shell of the old Broad Arrow Café where many were killed as a place of remembrance.

We wander through the very interesting and informative Information Centre before heading down to the jetty for a short ferry trip around Mason Cove.  We cruise by the Isle of the Dead where around 1100 people are buried.  It is the final resting place for military and civil officers, their wives and children as well as convicts.  The most common causes of death among the convicts were from industrial accidents and respiratory disease.  At Point Puer we pass by the Boy’s Prison which operated from 1834 to 1849.  It was the first purpose-built juvenile reformatory in the British Empire.  Juvenile offenders were separated from the older convicts to protect them from criminal influence.  Most of the boys were aged between 14 and 17 but there were some younger boys – the youngest being 9 years old.  Point Puer was renowned for its regime of stern discipline and harsh punishment but all the boys received an education and some were given the opportunity of trade training.

Back on shore we joined an Introductory Tour of Port Arthur.

Our Tour Guide at Port Arthur

Then we were let free to explore on our own.  The building that dominates the site is The Penitentiary.

The Penitentiary

Once used as a flour mill and granary the building was converted into a four storey Penitentiary when the mill failed to supply adequate flour for the settlement.  The next building we investigated was the Asylum where mentally unbalanced convicts were treated. 

The Asylum

As it was lunchtime we had a quick bite to eat at the Museum café inside the Asylum before continuing to explore the site.  Adjoining the Asylum was the Separate Prison

Farm Overseers cottage on the left - Separate Prison entrance on the right

which was designed to deliver a new method of punishment by reforming the convicts through isolation and contemplation.  Convicts were locked up in single cells for 23 hours each day.  Here they ate, slept and worked with just one hour per day allowed for exercise, alone, in a high-walled yard.  They were not allowed to speak and communication with the guards was through hand or whistle commands.

Wayne and Wok get a personalised tour through the Separate Prison

Their only respite from this inhumane treatment was at church on Sunday when for two hours in the morning and evening they were allowed to go to the chapel which was attached to the Separate Prison.  Here the convicts were placed standing in separate boxes facing the pulpit.

Wok can just see out of his box in the chapel

The only person they could see was the Minister as he delivered his sermon

Wayne preaches fire and brimstone from the pulpit

but by all accounts the singing of hymns was a highlight.  And why wouldn’t it be if it was the only time you could use your voice?  Is it any wonder that many of these convicts ended up in the Asylum!

A short walk up the hill was the Pauper’s Depot

Wayne and Wok wander through the Pauper's Depot

and the Hospital where common conditions such as respiratory or rheumatic ailments contracted from working outdoors and sleeping in cold cells and wet clothing were treated.

The hospital

View of the Asylum and Separate Prison from the Hospital

At the top of the hill was Smith O’Brien’s Cottage.

Smith O'Brien's Cottage

This cottage housed one of Port Arthur’s most famous political prisoners – Irish Protestant Parliamentarian William Smith O’Brien.  Transported for life from Britain, he was sent to Port Arthur after an incident on Maria Island. 

We follow the pathway down the hill to the Senior Military Officer’s Quarters and Guard Tower

The Guard's Tower

past the Law Courts

The Law Courts on the right

and along a road behind the Penitentiary where a lovely rock wall with steel gates

Wok and Wayne at the gateway to the Commandant's House

leads us up to the Commandant’s House.

The Commandant's House

The Commandant was Port Arthur’s most senior official.  A residence befitting this rank and position was erected in 1833 and housed five of Port Arthur’s ten Commandants.  The building was extended several times and was also used as a private guest house when the convicts had gone.

Entrance hallway in the Commandant's House

We were getting pretty tired at this stage but we had one more area to explore.  We walked up the hill to the Accountant’s House and Parsonage

Accountant's House and Parsonage

and then on to the ruins of the 1837 convict built church.

The Church at Port Arthur

It was now pretty late in the afternoon and we managed to hitch a ride on a prison golf buggy.  The driver probably thought we looked pretty tuckered out and might just not make it to the exit before the site closed for the day.  We were just glad for the ride! 

It had been a great day wandering around the site and we were just as impressed this time around as we were in 1996 when we last visited.  A few weeks after us being in Port Arthur 35 innocent people lost their lives – it still brings chills to us to think that but for a blink in time we could have been caught up in that moment of madness.  The lives of those 35 people are now forever entwined into the history of Port Arthur …

TASMAN PENINSULA

2^nd February, 2014

It’s time to leave our quiet little caravan park at New Norfolk and meet up with Wayne again.  We skirt around the Derwent River past Hobart and turn east towards the Tasman Peninsula.  By lunchtime we are pulling up in front of the Dunalley Hotel which offers free camping in a large paddock beside the hotel for self contained RV’s.

Dunalley Hotel

A couple of hours later we are joined by Wayne and set up camp.

Our rig and Wayne's rig

We are going to use this site as our base to explore the Tasman Peninsula and after dinner take a walk down to the Denison Canal which is a man-made waterway constructed in the early 1900’s.  The canal connects the east and western sides of the Forestier and Tasman peninsulas, ensuring safe passage for sea vessels – a maritime ‘short cut’ to Hobart.

A view of the bridge over Denison Canal from the dam at the hotel

In the morning we all hop into Mitzi and set out to do some exploring.  Our first stop is at the Tasman Seacliff Coast Lookout.

Tasman Seacliff Coast Lookout

From the lookout we follow Pirates Bay Drive to Eaglehawk Neck and stop to take a look at the historic Officers Quarters; believed to be the oldest wooden military structure in the country.

Officers Quarters at Eaglehawk Neck

It was surprising to find that the building had no-one in attendance and admission was free.  Inside each room were information boards detailing the history of the building and its occupants right up to its present day use as a heritage building. An excellent historical gem.  The Officers Quarters was part of a military station set up at Eaglehawk Neck in 1831 to keep a watch for convicts trying to escape from Port Arthur.  Eaglehawk Neck is a narrow isthmus and not long after establishing the military camp a line of dogs was set up.  Dogs were also placed on platforms out in the water to prevent escapes by sea. This was the infamous ‘dogline’ where each dog was said to have been capable of taking first prize at any show for ugliness and ferocity.

The Dogline memorial at Eaglehawk Neck

Our next stop was at the eastern end of Pirates Bay where the ocean is doing its level best to try and cut through the dolerite rocks.

Channel cut through the rocks at eastern end of Pirates Bay

A plaque on the rocks is a sobering reminder of the unseen danger of rogue waves and the sad loss suffered by two families in 1956.

About a hundred metres further on is the blowhole – deceptively quiet on the day that we visited.

The Blowhole

We continue along the coast to the Tasman Arch

Tasman Arch

where the highest sea-cliffs in the Southern hemisphere rise from the churning ocean.  On our way back to the main road we pass through Doo Town where many of the shacks and houses have name plates.

The name says it all ...

There were other titles such as ‘Gunnadoo’, ‘Make Doo’, ‘Xana-Doo’, ‘Doo Little’, ‘Doo Me’, etc.. etc.. etc…  There were many imaginative ‘Doo’ names.

We have packed a picnic lunch today as we are going to visit one of the lesser known convict historic sites on the Tasman Peninsula – the Coal Mines Historic Site.


The Coal Mines opened three years after Port Arthur.  By the late 1830’s they produced most of the coal used in Van Diemen’s Land.  It was extensively used in government offices but householders did not like it because it emitted showers of sparks when first lighted setting fire to carpets and any other material that was close by.  The Coal mines served as a punishment station for men who had committed a serious offence in the colony or who continually committed relatively minor offences.  By 1843 there were 579 prisoners here, with 27 soldier guards, 35 civilian supervisors and administrators, 14 of their wives and 90 children.  Only convicts who were skilled miners worked at the coal face.  They dug an average of 3 tons per day.  Most convicts were employed in quarrying, lime or charcoal burning, building, gardenings, splitting timber or labouring above and below ground.  Skilled convicts such as carpenters, blacksmiths, shoemakers, tailors and tanners also worked at their trades.  The Coal Mines ran at a loss and discipline was a problem so the Mines were leased to private operators in 1848.  The new owners managed to make a small profit until 1877 and the Mines were finally abandoned in 1901.  We wander through the ruins of the many buildings.  As is the case at many of the convict sites, settlers were encouraged to come and take whatever they could use from the buildings once the sites were abandoned.  The following photos are some of the many that we took at this large site which has walking trails of 2 hours and 1.5 hours.

Settlement Square

Buildings in the square

Solitary Punishment Cells

Wayne really liked the finishes on the stone chimneys

Another chimney for Wayne to admire ...

After strolling around the site for a couple of hours we had our picnic lunch near the main shaft

The main shaft

before continuing our drive around the peninsula to Remarkable Cave.  The walk down the steps to the cave was a wee bit challenging after our trek around the Mines.

Some of the steps down to the cave

At the bottom of the steps we could see through the jagged tunnel gouged out by the ocean.

Remarkable Cave

And the reason why this cave is called ‘Remarkable’ is because at the very end of the tunnel the opening forms a rough silhouette of Tasmania.

Yep - a rough outline of Tasmania

We’ve had a full day and our little old legs are just about dropping off.  Getting back up all those steps is really taking some time and Wayne is the ‘hare’ and we are the ‘tortoises’.  We eventually catch up to him taking a ‘time out’ on the railings.

Wayne - catching some 'rays'

Ahh well!  His time will come ….