Day 16: Freycinet national park is the jewel of the Tasmanian national park system located on the east coast of the island. It’s a mix of mountains, undisturbed beaches, rugged shore cliffs and forest. We planned to do the Hazard Beach – wine glass bay circuit which consisted of climbing a small mountain, descending on a deserted beach, crossing the peninsula through a forest and emerging on another undisturbed beach. Unfortunately, Bryce was sick that morning (completely stuffed up and quite irritable) so we passed on my 7 miles hike and settled for the wine glass bay viewpoint and Cape Tourville Lighthouse and Sleepy Bay. I have already started a list for the next time I’m in Tasmania.
BTW, there are Wallabies all over…
Day 17: We departed Launy (what the locals call Launceston) early and drove to Cradle Mountain National Park. There are many attractive day hikes around Cradle Mountain. We choose the Crater Lake, Wombat Pool, Marion’s Lookout combo hike. The hike began around Dove Lake, the tourist stop, then quickly ascended past 2 alpine lakes before a final steep climb to Marion’s Lookout. The second we got off the shuttle bus, the wind was howling and we were concerned for Bryce who was still stuffy. After some Davis Family debate, we wrapped Bryce and the pack in one of my hoodies so he was completely enclosed then gave him my phone and a new 1 hours Super Simple Songs movie. The hike was amazing and Bryce only maked a peep when he wanted us to restart the movie. I don’t know how prior generations did it without the “emergency screen.”
We were scheduled to fly to Melbourne the next morning, but pulled an audible. It was going to be 106 degrees in Melbourne and we didn’t have a change to explore the Tamar valley, an emerging wine/sparking wine region with a great food scene. So we picked up an extra day in Tasy.
Day 18: After 4 intense days, we slowed down for our last day in Tasmania. We took a run along the river, made a proper breakfast and then drove to the sparkling wine vineyard that exports to the US. We then dropped the car back at the hotel and took an Uber to a vineyard that had a great restaurant and beautiful views. We relaxed tasted some wines, ate some great food and drank a bottle in perfect sunshine. We finished the day at an outdoor concert and some local craft beers/ciders on the river.
