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10 days in Tasmania wasn’t enough. We could have easily spent at least a couple more weeks to exploring this lovely island but we only had a short time left on our Australian visas. It remains one of our favorite places… even though we landed during a massive rainstorm and spent the day hunkered down in the van. 🙂
Hobart Area
We arrived here quite early and went to get our next van from Tassie Motor Shacks. Even though it was the weekend, the owner (Rob) was nice enough to pick us up from the airport in the pouring rain. We named this older van “Tassie” because it was tough like a Tasmanian Devil and got us through some sketchy roads… thanks to Google and its preference to take us on undeveloped roads. We spent a cold, wet night in the camp kitchen at the 7 Mile Beach campground before heading off to Port Arthur. Luckily, the van had power and a space heater, and Rob had given us extra blankets and towels, so we were nice and cozy.
A special mention should go to Paul for trying to start a fire with extremely wet wood for the kitchen. He saw two older ladies who were struggling to light the fire so he stepped in to help. His usual “one match” status was sorely tested and he managed to get a fire started, but the wood was so wet it quickly went out. Another mention should go to Helen for not causing an international incident when someone used our knife without asking. Long story short, we had washed some dishes and piled them up on our bag to go back to the van before finishing the rest. When we were getting ready to head back to the van, the knife wasn’t there. There were some other people in the kitchen and I noticed one girl was using our knife. I asked her if she had gotten that knife from the pile of clean dishes that obviously belonged to someone and not to the kitchen. Thankfully, she must have seen the look on my face and was quick to wash it and return it with an apology. A note about kitchens – they usually have shared dishes and such, but most people bring their own from the vans. Luckily, this was pretty much our one and only camp kitchen incident.
Port Arthur
This is an area that is totally worth exploring. On the way there, you can see Pirates Bay Beach, the blowhole, Tasmans Arch, Devil’s Kitchen, Remarkable Cave, and a hike up to the Maingon Blowhole. Someone may have climbed over the fence and explored the Remarkable Cave… If you guessed that was Paul, you are correct. The funniest bit was when he was climbing back up – he was rushing because some people were coming and he didn’t want to get caught. He ended up wiping out while coming over the railing, so everyone noticed!
After exploring all day, we checked in at NRMA Port Arthur Holiday Park. We had a great night, sitting around a campfire and having a few bevvies with a Tasmanian couple we met. They just harvested a ton of broad beans from their yard and gave us a big bag—they were awesome! The next day, we headed off to do some hiking. The area here is lovely, but the roads are a bit rough getting out to the trailheads for the Capes. It’s still totally worth the effort to get there.
Cape Raoul
This is an awesome hike—a bit of a slog at 14 km there and back, but so worth it! The weather was perfect for hiking, as it wasn’t too hot, and we were lucky enough to see humpback whales from the top of the cliffs. We had just gotten to the tip of the cape when we heard a voice. There was a lady up there having lunch, and once we recovered from our fright, we had a lovely visit for over an hour sharing stories of travel.
The trail starts off in the forest and heads up to the cliffs, then goes back through forest, flat lands, and cliff edges. It was a great hike, and we were very happy we took the time to complete it. There were plenty of viewpoints along the way to keep you moving!
Cape Hauy
After a night of rest, we decided to head off on the next part of our journey, but first we had to hike Cape Hauy (9km return). We were warned there were a lot of stairs, but we thought we could handle it. We did it—it hurt, but the views were totally worth it! There were a lot of ups and downs rather than just a steady uphill or downhill.
When you get to the platform at the end, it’s a crazy, vertigo-inducing view, especially if you look down over the railing. There is a stone pillar called the Totem Pole that people climb and sometimes even highline back to the main area… crazy!"
From here, we headed to the north part of the island. We decided not to go to Cradle Mountain in the north of Tasmania due to the crappy weather. There was still quite a bit of snow in the area, so we headed to Freycinet National Park and Wineglass Bay instead. We had a nice day, we did the hike and headed back down to Orford after a lunch of fresh scallops and mussels.
Maria Island
We hesitated about doing our day trip to Maria Island, as it was very expensive ($50 per person with Encounter Maria Island), but in the end, we were so glad we went. It was a great day and we really enjoyed wandering around the island and seeing the sights and the animals. The Painted Cliffs are amazing; the photos don’t do them justice. The island is covered in ruins and has quite the history. It was originally inhabited by Aboriginal people, then frequented by sealers and whalers, before becoming a British convict settlement. Now it’s a national park inhabited by wombats (we weren’t allowed to take one home) and roos.
The next day, the weather wasn’t cooperating, so we headed back down south to Mt Field National Park. We did a nice hike along the Three Falls Circuit (and Tall Trees Walk), seeing lots of ducks along the way. They even had a setup where you could see if you could figure out the height of the trees—Paul got it, no problem! After that, we headed to Mt Wellington just outside Hobart, braving the twisty road (thanks, Google) and the crowds.
Huonville & Area
We decided to spend our last days in Tasmania in this area. The place we stayed, Huon Valley Caravan Park, was a small working farm and Tasmanian devil rescue site. They hosted some of the remaining breeding devils on the island as part of the conservation efforts, as wild sightings are becoming rare. There were ducks galore, calves, cows, chicks, and a spot on the river for platypus watching. We never saw a platypus, but Paul was itching for his fly-fishing gear whenever we were down by the creek!
We spent the day exploring the area, and the next day we headed up to Hartz Mountains National Park for a hike. Unfortunately, it rained. It wasn’t even raining—pouring would be a better description, and we got soaked. Paul was soaked from the waist down, and Helen was wet through all over when we discovered her rain jacket (from Decathlon in Chiang Mai) wasn’t waterproof! It was weird because Paul has the same jacket in the men’s version, and water beaded right off it. It also made us think about getting rain kilts for future hikes (which we now have: 3F UL rain skirts). We didn’t get to do the longer hike to Hartz Pass that we wanted to, but we did make it to Lake Osborne. After changing into some warm, dry clothes back at the van, we grabbed a couple of Cup-a-Soups and brewed up some warm drinks in the shelter.
MONA
We had some time before heading to the land of Hobbits, so we decided to go see the highly recommended Museum of Old and New Art (MONA). People we met kept telling us, ‘It’s spectacular!’ They weren’t wrong—they just didn’t specify that it’s spectacularly weird. I know art is subjective, but we were done before we were halfway through. A guy sitting there showing off a tattoo on his back, a room full of ceramic vagina casts, and a poop machine? I can see tattooed backs on any beach; the vagina room, well… use your imagination; and who isn’t a poop machine, really? If you want to see all our MONA pictures and videos, check out our album here. Next stop, New Zealand!!
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