Trish Forrester

After assessing our current list of ailments including Rae's knee, back and blood pressure, my knee, hip and mild cold, we decided that we'd forge ahead with our plans to climb to the Wineglass Bay Lookout, which we did 15 years ago. I'ts not a long walk as walks go, but it's a steady climb, increasing in steepness toward the end. 45 minutes each way, with a stunning view to look forward to, we decided if it was a bit much for us, we could always just turn around. Without breaking our necks to get there early, we had leisurely breakfast before setting out.Rae had the included 'full English breakfast' which included egg, sausage, bacon, tomato, mushroom, black pudding and toast. He passed on the haggis! I was happy with fruit, yoghurt and toast!

Well satisfied we set off on the hour or so's drive round to Coles Bay and the Freycinet National Park. We stopped at the visitor's centre for our National Park day passes and drove to the Wineglass Bay Carpark - quite a few cars here, but we managed to find a park OK. I was slightly alarmed at the clobber some people were carrying, but reminded myself that this is the starting point for a lot of much longer walks available. I loaded up my pockets with meds, tissues phone, and of course water. Rae had his car keys and phone :)

We both thought the track was in much better condition than the last time we'd been. We started off fairly close to a group of young twenty something asian people who for some reason chose to speak at a volume that could be heard from 100 metres away, so we hung about letting them pass us, but they were just ambling, so we decided to overtake them and try to advance past the racket. Well I guess our fitness level wasn't too bad! There were a lot of people on the track, but we didn't pass anyone coming back. Two thirds of the way along I realised why - when we reached a fork to the descending path. The last third was steeper and two way. We stopped in several places looking back to take photos and chatting to other people on the track, both offering and receiving encouragement, mainly from people of a similar age. Everyone was good natured and enjoying the climb, in the main!

The lookout at the top was of course well worth it, although it was quite crowded, and it took a while to get the photos we wanted. We were also joined by a most unlikely companion, a kangaroo started hopping about amongst the climbers, not frightened in the least and seemingly very tame. I guess this is where he knows he can get an easy feed, as a lot of the climbers had brought food and drinks with them for a picnic.

We stayed for a good 20 minutes patting the kangaroo, taking photos, and chatting to people before descending. Toward the end the leg muscles definitely were letting us know they had been pushed, but we were both pretty happy with ourselves for completing it.

We stopped again briefly in the visitors centre to top up my water and have a browse around before heading down to Coles Bay looking for a drink and lunch. The place I remembered from 15 years ago wasn't there - burned down apparently. Enjoyed our lunch overlooking the bay before wandering down to the front for some more magnificent photos in front of the Hazards.

From here we drove a short distance to the nearby lighthouse. We were able to drive quite close to it, with only a 15 minute walk further to the lighthouse. Another tame kangaroo in the carpark! The views along the high coastal path were stunning looking back towards the Hazards. We were glad we added this little bonus to the day.

Started the drive back towards Swansea, but stopped just before it at a place called Devil's corner. It's a vineyard with the glorious coast as backdrop, with a viewing point, cafe and bar all available. Another beautiful spot to be, so we wandered into the cafe and had an afternoon drink, although unfortunately had to put up with paper cups! After a suitable rest and more photos we made our way back to Freycinet Waters for a rest and shower before it was dinner time.

For tonight's dinner we decided to go to the pub. It was a little further than a short walk, and having decided we'd done enough today we drove there. Good country pub atmosphere with interesting historical stuff on the walls to read as well. However, again, not cheap.

Sated, we made our way home, me to read my book, and Rae to this time try the DVD, since the TV reception was so bad. Try as we might, we couldn't get it to work, and didn't want to disturb the lady of the house at this hour, so another night of phone games for Rae.Read more