The Freycinet Peninsula

Our first stop in Tasmania was Coles Bay, a beautiful but comatose coastal town at the doorway to the Freycinet National Park. We'd arrived on the Tassie Link Bus, a service similar to but probably not as complete as the Greyhound. They dropped us at the Coles Bay Turn Off, about 20 km from the town. Fortunately another bus company rocked up so we managed to make it the rest of the way. We hadn't bargained on zero public transport so hitching became our only means of getting from A to B and provided some entertainment at the same time. An elderly couple from Melbourne picked us up late one afternoon and decided to adopt us for an hour, taking us on a guided tour of Cape Tourville.

The area has some fantastic beaches, the most famous one named Wineglass Bay, not only because of it's shape but also because it was once home to a whaling station and when the poor creatures were butchered the bay would fill up with their blood. We spent most of our time walking in the National Park, up and over to Wineglass Bay (with the crowds), along Hazards beach and up to the top of Mt Amos. This was all good but the highlight was simply sipping on a cold Boags watching the way the last rays of the day illuminate the red granite of the rocky peaks and coastline.