A Wineglass and a half

After a big day yesterday to Bruny Island it was a little hard getting out of bed to be ready for another early pick up, but it was sure worth it.
There was one other surprise as the other passenger on the bus was the same person we went to Bruny Island with yesterday. The same surprise struck another two couples as they met up with people they had travelled with recently as well! Maybe Tasmania is smaller than we think?

On the way to Freycinet National Park, which I have been educated is pronounced ‘fray sin ay’ and not ‘Fry can net’, we stopped for morning tea and a chance to pick up lunch for the day. I didn’t need to buy a separate lunch as I spread most of my chocolate muffin on my pants for later. I then tried using water to wash it off and ended up looking like a MONA piece of art.

The next stop is to a wildlife carer who is rehabilitating Wallabies and Kangaroos and we got to feed them breakfast, and they were hungry! They were a little shy but soon hungry beat shy. They have everything a wallaby needs to get ready for life back in the great outdoors, food, shelter and a trampoline to practice their hopping on. OK maybe they use if for shade but it is a good story. One of the paddy melons thinks life here is pretty good so every time he is released he keeps finding his way back.

Our next stop on this amazing coastline is at Friendly Beach named because of the friendly meeting between the early Europeans and the traditional owners. The traditional owners were naked and the captain made one of his crew strip off to show they were all the same. It was pretty cold today, so if it had of been me that stripped off I would probably be regarded as the female of our group.

We also took a side tour to the Spiked bridge, which wasn’t built in 1836, I know surprising. The bridge gets its name because the top of the bridge is covered in spikey rocks to stop the convicts jumping off of it and escaping. Me I would just run down the road and not risk a fall to my death off the bridge.

We then stopped at Freycinet Marine Park where there was a range of Oysters, muscles and of course scallops. This is the third place we have seen so far that has Tasmania’s best Scallop Pie, mmmm Scallop Pie or chocolate muffin off you pants or head into the bakery Coles Bay, which is where I went. While my toastie was cooking I looked around the store and it appears as though testing the flour drug dealer style was OK as long as you stuck it back up with sticky tape. My chocolate pants are looking more promising. We were going to eat it on the beach overlooking Coles Bay, but with the strong winds blowing and it being a little cool (ok cold for me) the warmth of the café won over a cold sandy toastie.

With everyone rounded up we headed to the Wineglass Bay lookout walk. The walk is relatively easy although the path is uneven at times and there are lots of steps particularly near the top. But you get a stunning view over Wineglass Bay.

Now it is choice time, walk down the 900+ steps to Wineglass Bay or take the two easier walks. Ann and I decided to walk down to the bay while the rest of the group went on the easy walks, no surprise there. The path was well defined and easy going down but by the looks of the people returning the 900+ steps up might be harder than the 900+ steps down. It is interesting to see the change in the vegetation the closer you get to the beach and also the growing glimpses of the azure water in the bay. And then the path opens out onto the beach and the view is stunning.

The walk comes out at one end of Wineglass Bay and we almost had the complete beach to ourselves. Well that was excluding the pair who went for a swim a few hundred metres along the beach. The rumour was they were skinny dipping and I thought they were brave enough just going for a swim. We had at least half an hour before we had to head back to meet the group but when we looked at the watch we had already been there 40 minutes so we had to power up the hill.

We timed it perfectly and arrived back in the carpark just as Phil rung us and arranged to take us back to Honeymoon Bay to meet everyone else. We didn’t get long at Honeymoon Bay but it meant we only missed out on one walk and we got to dip our toes in the waters of Wineglass Bay.

The sun was setting as we headed back to Hobart but after a couple of walks and being warm and snug in the bus there might have been a chance I had a little snooze. I was rocked to sleep by the gusty winds from the cold front moving in. it didn’t slow our bus driver down until we crossed the Tasman Bridge and one gust tried to get us to join the Lake Illawarra on the bottom of the Derwent River. Back in town the wild weather had certainly set in with the driver having trouble opening his door against the wind. In our hotel the wind was rattling the windows and it was nice to be snug inside.Read more