Tasmania Road Trip
Three French, a Belgium, and an American. Two cars, a notebook with an outline of a plan, and many ideas for the direction of the trip. 14 days and 1325 kilometers. LITTLE FAMILY!
Days 1 & 2: Maria Island
An early morning wake up turned into a delayed departure as we made sandwiches for the next two days, repacked the cars, and switched gear into smaller backpacks. The island can only be accessed via passenger ferry, so no cars and no facilities; you need to bring everything with you - all food, drinking water, tents, and sleeping bags.
We rented bikes to explore as much as we could in our two days. Two minutes into our ride, we saw our first wombat. Of course, we had to stop for a photoshoot! This was the first of many wildlife sightings as the island is full of wombats, wallabies, and Tasmanian devils (which we had the pleasure of seeing that night!)
The island is an animal sanctuary and the only place that Tasmanian devils currently are free of the Devil Facial Tumor Disease, a transmissable cancer. In 2012, 28 disease-free devils were brought over with the hopes of natural repopulation. At last headcount, over 105 devils now live on the island.
My favorite spots included the Painted Cliffs, Fossil Cliffs, and our hike up the Bishop & Clerk track. We saw the summit cliffs from below with crashing waves and then from high up in the mountains, providing a bird’s eye view of the island. The Painted Cliffs were a welcome midway point on our bike ride and are beautiful patterned sandstone rocks, full of swirling colors.
Day 3 Frecyinet National Park
If you’ve seen pictures of Tasmania, it’s most likely been Wine Glass Bay in Frecyinet National Park. The landmark spot. We decided to take on Mt. Amos - while only 4km up, it’s an intense hike with rock scrambling and parts where you need to boulder up. I was a bit nervous as this is not my favorite type of walk, and you can bet I took the way down very slowly. But I made it!
Unfortunately at the top, my backpack tipped over and my phone fell into a rock crevice. Don’t worry - the bag of trail mix and one lone carrot landed safely on the top but the iPhone slid right out of view in between two rocks. We attempted to retrieve it for 20-30 minutes before admitting defeat…not the year for phones for me. Good thing I have travel insurance!
We spent the afternoon picnicking at Honeymoon bay, playing volleyball at Richardson Beach, and drinking wine at the lodge before heading back to camp.
Day 4: Bicheno & St Helens
The sound of rain dripping on my tent and the wind racing through the trees woke me. We had a slow start, hoping the rain might stop so we could hike the Wine Glass Bay loop, but eventually decided we should move camp and use the rainy day to restock, refuel, and drive to our next spot.
We stopped at Bicheno Blowholes where we were grateful for the rain, as the waves were gigantic crashing into the rocks. The early arrival at camp turned into a party night - where as the American expert on drinking games, I introduced some card classics in King’s Cup and Run the River.
Day 5: Waterfalls & Bay of Fires
Needless to say, the party night turned into a slower morning. We spent the morning relaxing on the beach before venturing out to see nearby waterfalls, St Columba, Ralphs, and Halls Falls. The first one, St Columba, was everyone’s favorite but all of the walks took us through fern gullies and peaceful woods.
The bright red rocks at Bay of Fires beckoned to us in the afternoon. The rocks are orange lichen-covered granite boulders and the area is known for white sandy beaches and clear waters.
Day 6: Mt Williams, Little Blue Lake, Lavender Farm
Here, we weren’t sure what to expect from Mt Williams National Park. The summit hike initially led us through flat woods before a quick upward walk to the top, where we could see the beach and flatlands around us. Our next stop, Little Blue Lake, gets its color from the tin mining. Unfortunately, we missed the summer bloom of the Lavender Farm but decided to reward ourselves with fresh bread from a local bakery to make up for it.
Day 7: Launceston
Intended to be another refresh day - lots of errands to do with groceries, laundry, and a new phone - but we ended up loving the town. As we arrived on a Saturday, we headed to the local Harvest Market to buy our fresh veggies. We split up to optimise our time doing errands, then met at the Cataract Gorge. An afternoon spent relaxing in the sun by the pool (while I set up my new phone and checked emails/messages), with a short walk around the gorge.
Our camping spot took us through the countryside to Lilley Falls, a small mountain campground with bright skies full of stars at night.
Day 8: Burnie Beach Day
Deciding to delay our journey to Cradle Mountain another day in order to enjoy the nice weather, we headed to the coast. We spent the morning and afternoon at the beach in Burnie and stopped to explore the rocks at Boat Harbour Beach.
Marina wanted to show us the farm she’s been living and working on the last 3 months (and a free hot shower!), so the girls made a quick stop to cuddle with cows before heading to camp.
Day 9 & 10 Cradle Mountain National Park
The debate the whole trip so far had been if we should camp in the mountains while at Cradle. The boys voted yes and the girls voted no. Based on the gear we had carried to Maria Island and just our general lack of preparedness to backpack overnight, we opted to camp at the Discovery Park in town.
The first day, we split up in hikes. The guys headed up a peak hike while the girls did a low key walk around the Dove Lake Circuit, where we could also take our time and have Instagram photoshoots. With an actual BBQ and kitchen at the campground, we grilled burgers for dinner.
An early bedtime for an even earlier wake up call to prepare for our 7.5 hour, 20km hiking day. We got on the trail at 8am and headed up from Ronny car park, to Horse Track, to Cradle Summit, and back down via Marion’s Lookout. Everything felt very much out of the Lord of the Ring’s to me. The sweeping landscapes, the rocky paths leading to craggly mountains...and the extreme fear of getting to the top. To reach the summit, you have about an hour and a half of rock scrambling and climbing, which of course you have to climb back down. Again, not my favourite type of hike. But luckily the little family pushed my limits, and we all made it to the top.
Day 11: Strahan & Western Tassie
Our West Coast Tasmania journey began with pouring rain. Honestly not bad for two weeks of camping to only have 2-3 days of rain. The wind broke the guy’s canopy, so with no good shelter from the rain and hail, we headed into Strahan for coffee and lunch at the railway station cafe. The drive through Queenstown and towards Lake St Clair brought us through stunning mountain passes, waterfalls, and rainbow valleys.
Day 12: Lake St Clair
Temperatures got down to freezing at 1°C (32°F). With another rainy night, we cooked dinner inside the guy’s tent...although this ended up collapsing in the middle of the night and they slept in the car. Not our best camping experience.
The National Park didn’t have many trails that interested us, so we took free hot showers, washed dishes, refilled water, and headed to our last campsite.
Where we met Kelsey. The dream dog. Yes please. A welcome afternoon of relaxing in the sun, drinking, and playing games.
Day 13: Mt Fields National Park
Our last day! We hiked the Three Falls walk, taking us through lush wilderness and past, you guessed it, three waterfalls. We drove into the eastern part of the park to Lake Dobson, where luckily there was enclosed shelter to eat lunch as the cold wind was brutal.
And then, off to Hobart! We went our separate ways in the afternoon, me to my hostel to do laundry and relax, the guys to get a new battery for their fridge, the girls to relax in town.
We said our final goodbye dinner at Street Eats @ Franco’s, the weekly Friday night food truck event. Bon voyage Little Family!
