East coast beaches, walks and Wineglass Bay

  Bicheno, Tasmania, Australia
Monday, March 16, 2009

As we travelled north we decided to stop at the historic town of Swansea; a caravan park on Schouten Beach was a pleasant spot and from there we could walk around the point to town. At this time of year, at dusk, the Short-tailed Shearwaters or Mutton Birds fly in to their burrows and we enjoyed sitting  quietly and watching them. We then had dinner at 'The Ugly Duck Out'; a short walk from the caravan park and recommended by several people we had met. No idea about the name but the food was excellent with local seafood prominent yet again.

Spiky bridge

We also visited the Spiky Bridge built in 1843 by convicts from local fieldstones and with no mortar. It appears that the convicts were put to good use in many infrastructure construction projects. From here it was on to Wineglass Bay and fittingly we sampled some excellent, award-winning,  cool-climate wines at  the small vineyards on the way.

Freycinet in distance over vines

Our next stop, the much-photographed Wineglass Bay in Freycinet National Park, is certainly featured in many tourist brochures and we drove there anticipating a wonderful experience.

Wineglass Bay

We were not disappointed as it is even more beautiful than all the images we had seen. That feeling may be partly due to the effort involved in getting there. To reach the lookout is a one hour walk which is quite steep but amazing views at the end. Then it is another half hour downhill to the beach in the bay itself. The water looks so blue and inviting but the temperature was such that we only took our boots off to walk along the pure white sands and soothed our aching feet and legs by paddling and our toes definitely felt tingly and refreshed.

Freycinet-Hazards beach

A picnic lunch on the beach gave us energy to tackle the longer walk back via the Hazards on  the opposite side of the peninsula; about 2 hours. Another long day of walking but what amazing scenery and we collapsed onto the veranadah of the waterfront Freycinet Lodge for a well-deserved afternoon tea.

While in this area we camped on beachfront private land which was off the beaten track near Bicheno just north of Freycinet.

Through the trees to Douglas River campsite

We had to take it easy trying to make our way through the trees to the camping area but it was worth a few scratches.The bays and beaches all the way up this coast are just gorgeous; white sand and long, sweeping curves  with aqua-coloured ocean. We had been told of this place by a Tasmanian couple we had met who often stay there. The retired couple who own it are happy to make a living this way. David enjoyed the beach fishing for a change and the beach walking was excellent. Wild blackberries were growing around the camp spots so we could pick bowls of fresh blackberrries each day; they were sweet enough to eat just as they were with no cooking. Have to keep up our vitamin C intake now that raspberry season is just about over.

Douglas Apsley Gorge reflections

One day we visited a lesser-known National Park called Douglas-Apsley, after  the 2 rivers running through it, and again had a great day walking. We walked about an hour up and into a beautiful gorge and then back along the river bed. The latter part of the walk involved a great deal of rock-hopping through and around the beautiful pools and took over  2 hours.

Douglas Apsley Gorge for picnic lunch

The gorge was beautiful but we didn't see much wildlife except a couple 'skinny-dipping' as they had not expected any 'visitors'; most walkers return by the same path they came up as the river bed is quite tricky to negotiate. We all had a good laugh and a chat and it turned out that it was the wife's 50th birthday; what a great way to celebrate.

A long weekend was coming up and most decent caravan parks and camping areas were full so we were wondering where to go. Fate intervened when we were chatting to a local from Bicheno who lives in and owns businesses in the town. He is keen to attract travellers like us to stay in Bicheno and is offering free camping on his property.

Bicheno caravan in the distance

When we saw the property we could not refuse the kind offer; it was on a hill sloping down to the bay and we could see the rocks covered in orange-coloured lichen and the spray coming up from the blow-hole in town and it was only a few steps to the beach; a magical spot.

Bicheno caravan in solitary splendour

So we decided to stay a little longer in this beautiful area.

As we explored the tiny town we saw a harp concert advertised in the local community hall. We went along not expecting too much but it was a delightful experience. Once a year an internationally renowned harp soloist from Europe, Professor Florence Sitruk, comes here to lead a residential harp school and this concert is the culmination of the course.

Bicheno Harp Concert

When we entered the small village hall we were delighted at the site of a stage set with 12 beautifully crafted  individual harps and then heard performances from several of the students. The highlight was the final performance by the professor herself and it was enchanting to sit back and listen to a performer known as 'one of the finest artists in her field' in such an incongruous setting. She has performed with some of the best orchestras in some of the finest music venues in the world and here she was in tiny Bicheno village hall. Life is full of wonderful surprises and we certainly appreciated this one.

Another attraction of the area is East Coast Natureworld and what interested us was the Tasmanian Devils. We have not yet seen any in the wild so thought that we cannot leave without seeing them.

Tasmania Devil

It turned out to be a bit run down but we liked the atmosphere and spent a couple of relaxing hours wandering around and saw lots of Devils in addition to other animals and birds. The animals were not really caged and could roam around in large enclosures so one could see them well. They make very scary noises a bit like screaming and one can understand how they got the name Devils.  Click on this movie (and then the arrow when it appears) to hear their screaming. 

Tasmanian Devil screaming movie

We are still hoping to see one or more in the wild but, if not, we have seen them now. The population is being decimated by a cancer that causes facial tumours and so far nothing has been found to halt its progress so they may not be around for ever. In the last 12 years the population of Devils in Tasmania has halved.

We now understand why this beautiful east coast is so popular with locals and tourists with so many amazing bays and beaches. We still have more to come as we head further north to the Bay of Fires; 'The hottest destination on the planet' according to Lonely Planet.