Launceston to Coles Bay – Monday July 5
We left Launceston and headed toward our beach side accommodation in Coles Bay, which is about 2 hours East-ish of Launceston on the coast. Along the way, we stopped at a very small place, called Campbell Town – with a population of less than 800 people (many of them wearing summer dress). Apparently (so my Dad tells me) it’s famous for things other than Banjo’s Bakery, but that’s where we and 50 other people gathered yesterday for morning tea.
Once we arrived in Coles Bay, we still had a bit of time to kill before check-in, so we had lunch at the Tavern and walked on the beach. A few essentials were purchased before we headed to our lovely little home. The views are incredible – the weather yesterday was gorgeous and we even had coffee on the balcony.
I managed another little walk to find the closest beach to our house (note the steep pathway) which is only a few hundred meters away.
Somewhere in the house, Hamish found a gun-style, infra-red ‘non-contact’ thermometer which he is using to scan absolutely everything: each of us, cups of coffee, the couch, the laptop, the light, the atmosphere, the sun…I can continuously hear little ‘beep beeps’ around the house as Hamish finds something else to scan.
Last night after Rod’s vegetarian nachos for dinner (we’ve not missed a Mexican Monday in over 12 months) plans were made for today, which included:
Rod and Belinda – Freycinet National Park walk. How far? Not sure.
Jess, Matt and Hamish – Nature World, Bicheno
Freycinet National Park – Tuesday July 6
The ‘children’ drop us off at the start of the walk and we loosely talk about plans to pick us up later at the Freycinet Lodge. I have talked Rod into doing the Wine Glass Bay – Hazards Bay loop which is about 11km. The attendant at the Information Centre tells us the suggested time for this loop is 5 hours, and I quote, “at a leisurely pace” – she tells us she’s done it in 3 hours before. I love her for this. There is no leisurely pace when I walk anywhere, so I’m very pleased to say we smashed this ‘recommended time’ by 2 hours.
The weather has potential to be dicey, but is settled for the entire 3 hours. We agree the walk is a perfect mix of: uphill, downhill, steep, flat, steps, sand, beaches, rocks and forest. The views are just gorgeous and make the uphill worth it. I am very pleased to inform you there’s an actual toilet at Wine Glass Bay, which I use, not because I need to, but because I can. We are overtaken by only one (much younger) couple, of which the bloke is kinda jogging. He’s obviously trying to break the 3-hour time too. Along the way, we walk past a few ‘chest-clutchers’ but it appears, thankfully, they are just unfit and not in need of emergency care.
We arrive back at the carpark, where I tip a bit of sand out of my boots before heading towards the Lodge. It’s only 2.5km, but I sound like a kid on a car trip: “How much further now? Are we nearly there?” The beer at The Lodge is the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted and we both devour a burger and chips and talk about how good we are doing a 5 hour walk in 3. We think we’re super.
Nature World, Bicheno
After dropping us off at the National Park, Jess, Matt and Hamish headed towards Nature World, Bicheno. This conservation park breeds Tassie Devils and rehabilitates wombats; it also has an array of Grey Kangaroos (which can be hand fed), emu’s and ostriches.
The Tassie Devil feeding frenzy involves the keeper giving them cut up possum to fight over, before giving each of them a piece. One of the female Tassie Devils did zoomies around the enclosure showing off her catch to everyone.
The wombat they saw was only 18 months old and was sleeping in a little cat-style bed; in fact, he was still asleep when the attendant held him. The attendant has to take him home every night to feed him because he’s so young. The Park keeps the wombats until they’re about 3 years old, then they’re rehabilitated to the live back in the wild.
Little snippets from the day:
- We fed the kangaroo’s, they were cute and friendly
- Hamish was gentle around the animals
- Tassie Devils are much smaller than we expected – they are cat sized (Hamish says they are Jono’s dog-sized, which is a Jack Russel)
- The hardest part of the wombat is its’ bum – why? Because that’s how they protect themselves in their burrows. Head first bum out.
We are headed back to the Lodge for dinner tonight. Tomorrow we leave for Hobart and will be there until Sunday. We’re loving our little tour of Tas and are keen to check out the capital city.
PS Does anyone know what these little critters are? We’ve found them washed up on the beaches here. We thought initially star fish, but I can’t seem to find anything on the internet.
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