Freycinet and Maria Island

After staying in Geeveston for over a week and seeing the sights, we had to contend with a few days of inclement rainy weather. On Wednesday, April 2, we headed north along the Huon Highway towards Kingston and through Hobart.

The drive through the Huon Valley was easy as we descended into Hobart and crossed the Tasman Bridge. Although traffic was busy on Macquarie Street through the city, we stayed in the middle lane without any issues. 

We continued along the A3 Tasman Highway as far as Sorell before turning off toward Buckland, where we initially planned to stay behind the hotel. However, since we were making good time, we decided to keep going, passing through Orford and on to Triabunna. We thought it was early enough to secure a spot at the RV Park across the road from the Spring Bay Hotel and the boat harbor. The fees are $10 per night, paid at the local takeaway shop. There are no facilities—just a piece of ground. Currently, there are ten vans here, with probably room for another five.

We booked a boat cruise to circumnavigate Maria Island (pronounced Muh-rye-uh). The tour lasts eight hours and includes a two-hour guided walk of the Darlighton UNESCO World Heritage-listed convict precinct.

After waking up the following day and checking the weather forecast for our boat trip on Saturday, we saw that wind speeds were expected to exceed forty kilometres per hour. Considering that Ros is prone to seasickness, we decided to cancel the trip even though she has medication from the doctor. We then booked the ferry to Maria Island on Friday.

On Thursday, April 3, we drove the 112km to Freycinet National Park to hike to the Wineglass Bay Lookout. Although the weather forecast predicted some showers, we had a lovely day with no rain and scattered clouds. We left later than planned and didn't reach the car park for the walk until 11 a.m.
The walk is a 3.1 km round trip, including approximately 400 steps, and is 1.6 km to the lookout. Unfortunately, our photos cannot truly capture the beauty of the view below.

After the walk, we drove to the lighthouse and walking platform at Cape Tourville before heading into Coles Bay to refuel. 

The 226-km drive and the 5-km walk left me quite tired, so we turned in early that night, as we had an early start the following morning.
Maria Island is a thirty-minute boat trip from the harbour at Triabunna. We departed at 8:30 a.m. and took the return ferry at 2:30 p.m. During the day, we walked over 10 kilometres to explore several sites, including Historic Darlington, the convict station established in 1842, the convict-built reservoir circuit, the Painted Cliffs, the Oast House, and the cemetery containing the first burial from 1825.
The Commissariat Store was built by convicts in 1825 as the penal store.

Sitting above the bay is the Darlington Probation Station. Built in 1830, the penitentiary is one of the few buildings remaining from the first convict period, which occurred between 1825 and 1832.

The Oast House was used to dry hops for beer—even convicts were allowed to drink beer.

In 1886, a Parliamentary party visited the Island. The Island had been leased to an Italian, Diego Bernacchi, for 10 cents per year provided he established specific industries. One of his enterprises was to build The Grand Hotel, which opened in 1888 and was advertised as the 'Riviera of Australia'.

The remains of The Grand Hotel:

The remains of the hospital site from 1843.

The cemetery's first burial was in 1825.

We were surprised to only see a  few Cape Barren Geese and no wombats. When we first arrived, the overcast weather may have caused the wombats to stay in their burrows.

We decided not to cook that night and went to The Fish Van in Triabunna. Ros ordered a hamburger with the lot while I thoroughly enjoyed my Blue Grenadier, which I had never tried before. The panko-crumbed scallops and calamari were simply divine.

We left Triabunna just after 9 a.m. on our way to the Pondering Frog, 84 km away. This café serves delicious Chinese food, and we enjoyed lunch there on our first day. We planned to stay two nights, exploring Bicheno and visiting the Devil's Corner winery for lunch on Sunday. 

The Pondering Frog allows camping for up to seven days at $10 per night. According to Wiki Camps, potable water is available. However, it looked fine after checking the water quality in a bucket. Even though I used an inline filter, I was surprised later when filling our bathroom sink to find the water was slightly coffee-colored. Thankfully, I only filled one and a half tanks for showering.

During the night, the forecasted gale-force winds arrived, shaking the van with the stronger gusts, even though we were tucked away behind some shrubs. Rain also began as predicted just after lunch, but thankfully, the winds have decreased.