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 |
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