Freycinet National Park – Day 3 and Tasman National Park – Day 1

Out of one park today and into the next. The second day of my Freycinet walk took me over the summit of Mt. Graham and down around to Cooks and then Hazard’s Beach. It was an 8-hour walk in the rain, mist, cloud, and wind. I’m told that the views from the top are amazing, but there just weren’t any views up there for me yesterday. Camped last night at Hazard’s Beach, all said about 20 people there in total. Possums and field mice accosted my tent all night. Was up early this morning and was walking by 7:45am for the 2.5-hour walk out to the carpark. Somehow I forgot to pick up the Shellite camp fuel that I hid there before my walk, so if anyone needs some, there’s a bottle hidden behind the women’s toilet black. I started the 45-minute walk down the road to the visitor’s center, and luckily got picked up by a nice couple from Victoria on their way out. From there I got a ride with another couple from Victoria, and by then it was extremely windy and starting to rain, so I decided to bypass my plan to get to Mt. Field National Park and take the ride with them for as far as they were going. And I was really lucky to get that ride because they (Graham and Michelle) were really nice people. We stopped at Swansea and had lunch which they provided – a cheese sandwich, minnestrone soup, and a banana! We all ate in the car in the rain at the beach carpark. After lunch we kept driving south towards Sorell, stopping at a few lookouts along the way. From Sorell, they went off towards Hobart and I continued south to the Tasman Peninsula. But first I stopped to have a coffee, check my email, and recharge my mobile phone in Sorell.

I was back on the road at 3:30pm to try for a ride for the final 70-odd km. I got lucky again and got a ride all the way to where I needed to go! A Tasmanian man from the little town of Eaglehawk Neck (pop. 50) picked me up, and not only stopped to show me all the lookouts along the way, but also took me an extra 5km up a dirt road to the trailhead! I was very grateful for that.

So by then it was 4:45pm and I only had to walk in about 30 minutes to get to the campsite. And I am the only person here in Waterfall Bay tonight – a much different experience than at Freycinet last night! I am also lucky because I didn’t have to spend any money on accommodation in between walks and I still have plenty of food for the next 2 days. It’s only 7pm now and it’s dark – that is the daylight savings kicking in finally. The wind is still blowing and the trees are creaking, but it is supposed to be a nice day tomorrow.

Wind swept beach at Freycinet

Cliffs over the Tasman Sea

Thats a big possum!

Add comment April 1st, 2004