Freemans Beach

Hamptons on the Bay turned out to be a group of about 7 cottages located across the bay from Freycinet Peninsular hence the great views and amazing sunrise. We were up and rolling towards Swansea and on to Coles Bay.

Unfortunately the weather was not great. Low cloud and some light rain but that didn’t stop us it just meant some of the views were a bit restricted. Our first stop was at a local convict built landmark, the Spiky Bridge! So called because it has sharp rocks sunk into the cement on either side of the bridge supposedly to deter animals from getting too close to the edge then they were being moved. The cement for the bridge actually came from Aboriginal middens around the Freycinet Peninsular

At Coles Bay we booked in to do a cruise around the Freycinet Peninsular to Wine Glass Bay and back. The coast in this area is stunning. The rock is mostly red granite and lots of it and the vegetation is typical coastal trees and scrub. You can see in the photos there is an orange stripe on the rocks just above the high tide mark, this is a lichen that grows all around Tasmania.

The cruise down the Peninsular was very easy and comfortable but once we turned the corner and headed out through Schouten Passage into the Tasman Sea and up to Wine Glass Bay it became really rough. The crew were prepared and moved those feeling unwell to the back of the boat and fed them ginger tea.

We made it to Wine Glass Bay OK and it was very impressive. It is called Wine Glass Bay because it used to look like a glass of claret when they were processing whales on the beach - yes it used to be a whaling station.

The granite rocks were amazing.

On the trip back we were followed by a pod of dolphins and a number of birds including Albatros and Mutton Birds.

We parked inside the Passage and had a good lunch before heading back to the dock. we were going to walk up to the Wine Glass Bay lookout but the weather wasn’t the best so we decided to head back to the cottage. Dinner was in Swansea followed by a walk around the town.

Tomorrow we head to Launceston.Read more