Bruny Island - Adventure Bay

18 – 20 December 2024

Bruny Island is always a favourite place for a couple of nights so we kept an eye on the BoM app and were able to book a cabin in the caravan park at Adventure Bay, at a time when the weather looked good. We left Hobart after morning tea and stopped at Margate to have a look in the op shops and to pick up some fresh bread.

We arrived at Kettering to see quite a long queue waiting to get on the ferry that had just arrived. We didn’t make it on that one, but were on the next one soon enough as there were two operating at the time. We arrived in Adventure Bay and stopped at the park on the foreshore to have some lunch before checking in to our cabin.

Although the cabins are fairly basic, they have everything we need with a bonus of being right across the road from the beach. There is also a walking track through the bush to the shop.

We went for a walk along the beach, stopping to try to photograph birds. We ended up walking all the way to the creek and then back to the other end of the beach before returning home. It was windy, but still a lovely afternoon.

The following morning, we drove over to the Cape Bruny Lighthouse. After Mick has spent some time photographing some of the local birds, we walked up the hill to the lighthouse. Some excited tourists had spotted an echidna in the low coastal scrub so we joined them in trying to get a photo.

Jetty Beach was just beautiful on a sunny day

It was getting close to lunch time so we decided to drive down to Jetty Beach which was quite close by. We couldn’t remember if we’d been there before, and realised when we arrived that we hadn’t. It’s a stunning little beach and with the warm weather there were lots of people about, but it still didn’t feel crowded. We set up in the day use area to have our picnic lunch before another walk on the beach and then back to Adventure Bay.

Later in the afternoon we went for the short drive to the Mavista Nature Walk. This short, easy walk meanders near the creek through the rainforest and as expected, was a bit muddy. Not much in the way of birdlife, but still a lovely walk.

On our final morning we weren’t in a hurry to get home so we stopped to do the walk to the lookout at The Neck. It’s a long climb up the stairs to the top but the view is fantastic. We also walked along the boardwalk down to the beach but didn’t walk on the beach. Our next stop was for honey ice creams at Bruny Island Honey- YUM!

The Neck - definitely worth the climb

On our way back to Hobart we stopped to buy some local fruit from one of the roadside produce stores and then had a picnic lunch at the beach in Snug. Again, a beautiful sunny day had the locals flocking to the beach.

Coles Bay

1 - 4 December 2024

After a reasonably smooth crossing and a good night’s sleep, we disembarked at East Devonport just after 7:00am – which meant we had most of the day to fill in before we could check in to our cabin at Coles Bay. Although we were keen to get to Hobart to see the girls, we had decided on a short break in the East Coast first. We left Devonport and drove to Deloraine where we stopped for some breakfast and to buy some fresh food, as we hadn’t brought any with us. We also went for a walk down by the river which was very nice, but we didn’t see any of the platypus that live there.

Because we had so much time to fill in we decided to travel to the East Coast via Scamander. That route took us through the mountains and down to the coast. Scamander is a beautiful spot and we have stayed there quite a few times. There are usually lots of shorebirds but when we arrived this time the beach looked quite different. There had been a massive storm, with a huge rainfall, overnight and the sea was pumping. There was so much sea foam, seaweed and driftwood on the beach, even the locals had come down for a look.

We spent a while on the beach at Scamander then drove south to Bicheno where we stopped for lunch in the park. We continued on to Coles Bay where we were able to check in to our cabin a little early. We had never stayed at the caravan park there and were very pleased to have a view from our deck.

We planned to go into the Freycinet National Park to do some walking but we didn’t have a current Tasmania Parks Pass. We made enquiries but discovered we would need to obtain new Tassie Seniors Cards (I thought we already had) to get the concession price. Once we had organised that we decided to go to the park in the afternoon when the weather was better.

We walked around in the village of Coles Bay and down by the water before having lunch and then driving to the Freycinet NP Visitors’ Centre to arrange our Parks Pass, and then on to Cape Tourville Lighthouse for the short walk. This walk is easy and takes in some fabulous views.

We decided to have dinner on Monday night at the hotel which was just a short walk through the caravan park. The place was very busy, expecially for a Monday night, and we were glad we had arrived quite early. The meals were good and reasonably priced.

On Tuesday we waited until the afternoon when the weather improved to go on the Wineglass Bay Lookout Walk. This one is a Grade 3, 2.6km return hike. We did this walk with the girls when we holidayed in Tasmania 20 years before and the lookout viewing platforms have been improved quite a bit since then – but you still have to walk up many stairs to get to the magnificent view. It’s worth the effort – but our legs did hurt afterwards. We treated ourselves to an ice cream when we returned to the village – we felt we had earned it!

Wineglass Bay from the Lookoout

View of The Hazards from Honeymoon Bay

On our final morning we went back into the National Park for a short walk on the beach at Honeymoon Bay. As usual there was a spot of birding as well. Finally we decided it was time to head towards Hobart so we left Freycinet and returned to the Tasman Highway for our journey south. We stopped at Triabunna for lunch from the famous Fish and Chip van – always good – and then continued on.

Mick was keen to take a detour to the Tasman Peninsula so we made the decision to take the scenic route along the Wielangta Forest Drive. Even though it took just as long as going via the main roads, it was a beautiful drive. The purpose of the visit – birds of course! Jo’s partner Tom had let us know that the Swift parrots were still about at Fortescue Bay so we just had to go there to see for ourselves.

Arriving at Fortescue we sought out information about the likely location and even though Mick didn’t get a photo, we did hear them and see them fleetingly as they flew over. After stopping to chat with Tom, we finally set off for Hobart to have a couple of months with our daughters.

Spirit of Tasmania - Geelong to Devonport

30 November – 1 December 2024

After a final sort and pack of the car we left the caravan park in Bendigo and stopped at the carwash, before setting off towards Geelong. We had all day to get there so we took the long way, with our first stop in the old gold mining town of Maldon. We wandered around town for a while then continued on to Creswick where we had lunch in the pub.

From Creswick we drove into a birding spot on Lake Elijah in Ballarat. The weather had turned cold and rainy so we didn’t stay long. We made our way over to the Botanic Gardens, and Lake Wendouree, but again the bad weather meant we didn’t spend too much time there. We were keeping an eye on the time and decided to head for a shopping centre to pick up some food for the boat trip and to have a coffee. If we timed it right, we would get to Geelong in time to check in to the Spirit of Tasmania.

It was a very grey day in Geelong

Our timing was near perfect and we arrived in Geelong, checked in and joined the queue for boarding. Once again, we found ourselves on one of the two very bottom car decks which makes getting in and out a bit of a challenge. Thanks to the skilled staff providing expert direction we were soon parked and on our way to our cabin.

We had a couple of drinks and then settled into the cabin to eat our BYO dinner and watch a movie on the laptop. The forecast looked like it could be a rough night, but it didn’t turn out that way at all. We both slept quite well and were ready to disembark in Devonport, well rested and keen for the next leg of our journey.