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.