March 28 Tasman Peninsula (Day 183)
Today we took off to explore the Tasman Peninsula and to find a camping spot for a few days.
A simple map of the Tasman Peninsula.
We drove down through Eaglehawk Neck and up past Saltwater River to Lime Bay campground at the tip of the northwest point of the peninsula. The campground was full, and we had failed to get Australian money to pay for a site anyway, so we returned to the main road and drove the loop to Port Arthur, site of the most notorious of the Australian Penal Colonies of the colonial era. It being late afternoon by now, we didn’t stop to tour the facility, but you can read some history of the site HERE. We continued around the loop and enquired at the 2 campgrounds on the peninsula to discover there are virtually no sites available because it’s Easter weekend, the “end of the summer” for Australians and the biggest camping weekend of the year! We texted Connie and she kindly invited us back to her place! On our way back we took a side road and finally got a beautiful view of Pirates Bay near the narrow neck of land (the aforementioned Eaglehawk Neck) at the Tasman National Park Lookout.
Looking out at Pirates Bay and the Tasman Sea from the Tasman NP Lookout.
Back at Connie & Brendans we admired the bounty of pumpkins they grew despite the severe drought they are in right now.