Take a Hike!

On Thursday, we began to explore the rest of the island of Tasmania, outside of the Hobart area. First we drove to Freycinet National Park. On the drive, we enjoyed some nice mountain scenery and stopped at a few beaches. The weather was absolutely gorgeous - sunshine and in the upper 70s or low 80s. (Apologies to family and friends in Pennsylvania that are currently enduring single digit temps and lots of snow. I'm not trying to gloat. Well, maybe a little :-)










At one point, we stopped to view and take pictures of Spikey Bridge. This historical landmark was built by ex-convicts in the 19th century to provide a road to the eastern part of Tasmania. They used stones from the surrounding fields and laid them without any mortar or cement. Some of the stones were placed in an upright position, giving the spiky appearance. 


When we reached the Freycinet Peninsula, we stopped at a nearby place called Cole's Bay to pick up some snacks to consume before embarking on a little hike. Joe and I each picked out snacks and met up in the check out line only to discover that we had each grabbed a package of Tim Tams! We were thinking alike. Love those Tim Tams! 

After eating our snacks, we walked around and took a few pictures of the Cole's Bay area.


After we left Cole's Bay, we drove to the parking lot at the trail head. The hike was 3 kilometers (about 1.9 miles) round trip, but was up a rugged hill and included over 400 steps. 





Taking a break from the climb

Along the way up, there were beautiful views of the lakes down below and of the rugged mountains above us.


The prize at the end of the hike was a beautiful view of Wineglass Bay. 





It took us 1 hour and 10 minutes to climb to the top, we spent about 15 minutes admiring the view and taking pictures, and then it took about 40 minutes to get back down. There were lots of fellow hikers on the trail. As is typical of the friendly Aussies, we got a lot of  "G'day"s along the way. We played a little bit of tortoise and the hare also. We would sit to take a break and watch others pass by; later we would pass them while they were sitting and taking a break. It was probably the longest 3 kms I've ever walked. It was a very exhausting hike, but worth it for the beautiful views. 

At the bottom of the trail, near the parking lot, a small kangaroo hopped along right in of us. It was our first kangaroo sighting in Australia. We took a few pictures before watching him hop off.


Speaking of kangaroos, we've been seeing this road sign in Australia.



I'm not sure what's going on in the picture but I sure hope we don't encounter this on our trip. We did not purchase the kangaroo insurance with our rental car!

After our grueling hike and fun kangaroo encounter, we drove to the city of Launceston. As we drove along, we enjoyed some more nice scenery and stopped frequently to take pictures. Tasmania is really a land of beauty. 






Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 23, 2025 at 7:19 AM

    Beautiful scenery! Looks Fun but grueling hike!
    Cathy

    ReplyDelete

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