Coles Bay

“Around the world, national parks have been created to preserve truly magical places and there’s no doubt Freycinet National Park has a magic all of its own.”

Magical indeed. But you have to truly “work” to see it.

What I mean by that is first off you have to detour 27 miles off the Tasman Highway to reach the park. Once you get there, you then have to negotiate narrow, winding roads to get to trailheads. And then you have to do quite a bit of bush trekking … insect repellent recommended.

The park’s best known feature is Wineglass Bay … said to be stunning. But it requires an in/out 1.5-hour hike just to the lookout … twice that to get to the beach. Slow hikers that we are … double those numbers for us. We, unfortunately, didn’t have that kind of time on our hands. Besides, after our three hour-hike yesterday, today was supposed to be a day of rest. Nonetheless, we managed a couple of short walks.

First up was Cape Tourville … one of Tasmania’s “60 Great Short Walks.” The path up to the lighthouse was easy. Once we got to the boardwalk there were jaw-dropping sweeping views to enjoy. Supposedly this is a good walk for an easy view of Wineglass Bay. Hah! All you see is a very distant partial arc of white sand. Good thing there were better views nearby to compensate.

Next, we stopped in the Sleepy Bay car park. We had no real idea of what to expect, but we figured we’d do the walk to the day use area anyway. WOW! At the end of the trail — which was about 20 minutes of up and down and steps — our eyes beheld Sleepy Bay Beach … a rocky bay with orange lichen-covered rocks and turquoise waters. Yes, the colors today were as vivid as they are in the photos. And yes, we did clamber all over the rocks!

Once again back in the car, it was time to find a place for lunch. A mile or so down the road we found the Freycinet Lodge. The signage had the “crossed fork and knife,” signifying that food was available. The reviews were good, so we went in.

Indeed, the food — eaten al fresco at the Bistro … with beautiful views of Great Oyster Bay as a backdrop — was quite good. Finally had Tasmanian salmon! And Mui got the octopus he’d been searching for!

By the time we left the lodge, it was 4:00p. Time to head to Bicheno.

P.S. Our only wildlife sighting was of a short-nosed echidna crossing the road on the way to Freycinet NP. Nowhere to stop, so no photo of my own … but I borrowed one from the internet.Read more