April 3 Freycinet NP (Day 189)
We woke to the promise of a wonderful day to explore Freycinet National Park, encompassing most of the peninsula across Great Oyster Bay. On the way into the park we encountered our first live wallaby (we’ve seen plenty of road-killed!).
Such a cute fella, glad to see a live one!
We headed into the visitor center and learned that there is no available caravan camping in the park, but they gave us other available options. We then headed to the end of the road to see the famous Wineglass Bay! The crowds of selfie-taking tourists on the trail attest to Wineglass Bay’s Tasmania bucket list status! We didn’t have time for the 3 hour hike down to the beach and back, or the 5 hour circumnavigation trail to Hazards Beach and around the headland, so we settled for the hike up to the Lookout.
The purple line marks our hike up to the lookout and back.
We hiked up through the weathered granite rocks that gave us vibes of Arizona!
The view of one of the best beaches in the world is stunning! The name ‘wineglass bay’ comes from the whaling days of the 1820’s when so many whales were dragged into the bay to be butchered it stained the water wine red!
After our hike we traveled to the end of the other road in the Park, to the Cape Tourville lighthouse.
from this vantage point you can see the entrance to Wineglass Bay and the strip of white sand beach in the mid-distance!
And finally, as we descended from the lighthouse point we stopped at Sleepy Bay and discovered where “Sedona Meets the Sea!” The red rocks sloping into the deep blue of the Tasman Sea!
We ended up camping at a local restaurant, The Pondering Frog, at the head of the peninsula, for a good night’s sleep!