Tasmania Mania: Freycinet National Park

So it seems like this past weekend was the ideal weekend for the Graff sisters to go camping, even though one was doing it in her fall, and the other in her spring!

This last thursday I woke up to a text that said "We're going camping, you me jack eddy for three days." I rolled out of bed, and immediately began to wonder who's sleeping bag I could borrow for the long trip. Thankfully my friend Patrick offered to help me out, not only with a really warm sleeping bag, but a camping backpack and head lamp! I had no idea how handy all three would be!

We hit the road on Friday morning, since none of us had school. We took the bus about four hours north from hobart to Freycinet National Park, home of the infamous Wine Glass Bay.

This was taken when during a stop just outside of a town called Swansea. These sheep refused to stop staring at us and I had the feeling we were the most interesting thing they had to watch for a long time. The east coast of Tassie is sheep country, and I could ride through the countryside and do nothing but watch sheep for hours. Especially with it being spring, there were lambs everywhere!

Tasmanian road sign: 80 km per hour = 50 mph

Looking down the road.

We were so lucky to have sunshine this weekend, because this has been the wettest winter/spring that Tassie has seen in over 30 years. People kept telling us that it was really rare to see everything be so green, and that normally the hillsides would have dried up by now. Of course this isn't necessarily a good thing, because now farmers in Tasmania are having a hard time harvesting their crops, since their equipment gets bogged down in mud more easily.

When we got to the national park it was already 4, so we had to hurry to our first campsite. I didn't take many pictures on the way because my camera was packed in my backpack and I didn't want to hold up the other three. But the walk was about two hours long on a winding, beautiful trail that gave us a spectacular view. Freycinet is on a peninsula that connects at the north and runs south. We were doing a three day circuit, going counter clockwise, so this first hike lead us along the mainland side. We had a really good view of the country we had just driven through, and after the walk on the trail we finally hit Hazards Beach right as the sun set.

This is Georgia, stopping for some dinner before we continued our hike along the beach.

This is Jack, using his backpack as a makeshift tripod. After the sunset, we walked another hour along the beach to the first campsite. It was really beautiful because it was nearly a full moon, and we took off our shoes so that they wouldn't get wet. It was tiring to hike through sand for so long, but it was easier with shoes off, and we walked right near the tide like where the sand was firmer, and the water coming in could sooth our already sore feet. We found the campsite and set up our tents immediately, having a short snack before we went to bed. While we were eating, a huge possum, about as big as our old dog Pepper, came up to our campsite. I heard Jack go "Look at this guy!" and I turned around and there the possum was, checking out our campsite. At first I was really surprised and pleased, and moved slowly around him to not scare him. After about 3 minutes we realized nothing could scare him, and he was definitely going to be hanging out for awhile, hoping to snag some food. We secured everything edible inside our tents though, and he didn't bug us for the rest of the night.

The next morning we got up at 5:30, an eight hour hike ahead of us. We got up to see the sunrise, but it was too cloudy to see anything! So after a quick breakfast we packed up and started on the trail, just as rain started to fall. Luckily when I borrowed gear from Patrick, he through in a bag cover, so I through on this huge orange tarp over my bag, zipped up my rain jacket and started going. The first leg of the trail led us to Cooks beach, and was a pretty easy walk. The most exciting thing we saw was Wombat poop, which is squarish so that it won't roll off of rocks. I was really hoping to see a Wombat, but no such luck on this trip.

At Cooks Beach, we stopped for a little break before beginning the hardest part of the trek: a 900 meter ascent up two mountains! Georgia got a little playful in the rocks while I dug around my pack for my cell phone, which was going off from the previous day's alarm.

This is looking down Cooks Beach, which we assume was named for Captain Cook, a famous explorer and navigator.

Looking back the other way, at granite rocks covered in orange lichen.

Georgia, taking in the sea breeze.

A Eucalyptus tree. I wish I could be better at identifying which of the 29 different species it could be, but I'll have to figure it out later.

One of my favorite past times is shouting "Candid!" and taking pictures of people when they least expect it. You get some pretty interesting shots.

And now we started the huge, long, uphill hike. I had no idea how hard it would be! The other three were pretty expert hikers, and had gone on very strenuous hikes before. Georgia once spent 2 solid months on the Appalachian trail, and all three of them are planning on hiking for 7 days after school finishes on a the Overland Trek, up in North-West Tasmania. But then invited me along because they knew I could do it, and I'm so glad they did. Even Eddy said this was the highest he'd climbed in one day. We left the Cooks beach at around 8, and made it up one huge ascent to the Freycinet saddle, a flattish part of the track that circled around the tallest peak, Mount Freycinet. We were able to leave our packs at the bottom of the trail before hiking it up this part of the mountain. It didn't take us long to realize that it would have been impossible to take our packs, because after a half hour the trail was pure boulders, and we had to use our hand's, legs, and each other to inch up the mountain. It was worth it though, because at the top, this is what we saw:

Unfortunately, it still wasn't sunny outside for pictures, but we were all sweating up a storm anyways, so we were thankful that it wasn't! And it wasn't raining, otherwise the boulders would have been much slipperier and scarier. We sat at the top for awhile, wandering around all the boulders and taking pictures, taking in the spectacular view!

This is Eddy, who's from the Netherlands. He came to Tasmania for the fantastic hiking, and boy did he get it! The highest elevation in the Netherlands is 200 meters, and here he is at 620.

That tiny figure is Jack, checking out the view of both Hazards bay and Wine Glass Bay, and the peninsula behind them!

Georgia, looking down on Hazards beach, where we walked the previous night. It looks pretty far down huh?

Not everybody hikes all the way up Mount Freycinet, since it's out of the way of the normal track to get to the next campsite. But it was so worth it to be able to see both beautiful beaches in one view. Hazards beach is on the left, and then there's a fresh water lake, and Wine Glass Bay is on the right.

Jack.

Me, framing Wine Glass Bay. A picture of this bay was on the front cover to the study abroad booklet for the University of Tasmania, so I gotta say, it was a big pull for me to come to the school.

Eddy, holding the bay like a Wine Glass. Clever.

We scrambled back down the mountain, excited for lunch one we got back to our bags. Downhill wasn't nearly as bad as going up hill, so we made good time. However it was still a pretty rough descent for our knees and ankles, and by the time we got to our packs I was ready for a good break.

After our break we braced ourselves for the steepest climb of the day up Mount Grahm. It was very intimidating to look up it, because it was nearly the height of Mount Freycinet, except this time we would be doing it with our packs. We all went at our own pace though, and while Eddy hauled his way up in the Mountain in record time, Georgia got into a steady, fast pace, making her way up pretty quickly too. Jack could've been faster than all three of us probably, but he took plenty of time on the ascent to take pictures of the view, both with a film and digital camera. I was the caboose, working my way up slowly but steadily. I didn't take any pictures on the way up, because I didn't want the other three to have to wait for me longer than they already were. I kept my camera in my bag, and it was quite a process to get it out, so I kept it nice and safe until I got to the top.

When I crested the next to last big ascent, all three of them were smiling and waiting for me, and we rested for a couple minutes before finishing the hike, just as many hours and meters, but all the way downhill, over a plateau, and down some more.

Eddy.

Jack. Georgia was several meters off, taking pictures.

I had panted my way up the hill, reminding myself that 'what goes up must go down' and that it would all get easier from there. It was partly true, but the trip down was still very rough, being on a very wild and untamed track. Thankfully I had borrowed good hiking shoes from Georgia, because I needed all the traction I could get on the granite boulders that made up much of the track down. We were able to stay closer together for the descent, but I still didn't take many pictures, wanting so badly to get to wine glass bay. After another couple hours, we were there.

It was more beautiful than I ever could have imagined. On Outside Magazine's list of the top beaches in the world, this one breaks the top ten. And we had it all to ourselves! Again, I was a little behind the other three, but when I caught up with them at the beach, I found them just sitting, not being able to really express anything about how beautiful it was. Eddy had taught us what 'Beautiful' was in Dutch, but having forgot it and having it still be an understatement, we just stared out across the bay for a good couple hours until the sun set. The sand was white and "squeaky clean" (literally, no pollution or contaminants) and we wriggled our aching toes in it. Georgia calculated that we had hiked 9.3 miles that day, and a total of 900 meters up and down, from bay to bay.

Georgia and Jack

The water was a beautiful turquoise blue, and very, very still. Had it been warmer, we would have all been soothing our aching limbs in the water, enjoying the mild waves, but all we could do was laugh about it.

Our only sign of civilization was this boat. We hoped the owners would take their little fishing boat over to the shore so that we could ask to bum a ride back to Hobart. But they never did, so instead we spent the time fantasizing about what type of people were on it, and how cool it would be to retire on a sail boat, park it in this beautiful bay, and laugh at the weary hikers who show up at the end of the day to flop down on the sands and remain motionless for hours.

I guess I shouldn't say that all of us were motionless, because Eddy was bopping around taking pictures. You'll notice that all of mine are from about a meter up: the height that I was sitting.

Georgia, again taken from the ground.

Once the sun had finally set over the peninsula, we could hurried to set up our camp and fall into bed, or rather, into our sleeping bags. It was probably a bad decision to sit for so long after such a long hike, because we were so stiff that setting up our tents was a rather hilarious affair that took us about twice as long as it should have. We had a delicious dinner of hiking food (Nam bread, banana chips, and a pear for me) and crawled into our sleeping bags. We shared a couple of our scariest stories before falling asleep and I slept really soundly. I don't need to go into detail about how much the tent smelled after a night of three sweaty hikers in their sweaty sleeping bags, but when we woke up to the fresh air we had some visitors:

Wallabies! The cousin of the Kangaroo! One of them even had a little joey in her pouch! At first we crept outside and spoke softly, but then when we realized that they were just as used to humans as the possum was, we were tromping around them and talking in normal voices, just as if they were household pets.

All four of us only had the goal of getting back out to the beach, so 30 seconds later we were eating breakfast right here. I got pretty much the exact same pictures as the day previously, but with different lighting. All of our calves, feet, back, shoulders, and thighs we so sore, we were happy to take another couple hours to sit on the beach and be bums.

It was still a bit chilly but sunny, so I was reserving energy on the beach for the last hike of our trip up to the car park. The other three though...

Went swimming! Eddy came down to the beach, with his towel and swimming clothes on, and the other two stripped down to join him before you could say "Cold." I had just enough time to grab my camera and get a couple shots of their shocked faces before they dashed back out again. Eddy later gave me grief for staying on the beach, but I told him I wouldn't have even had the time to unzip my rain jacket before they were out again. As much fun as it would have been to say I'd been swimming in the Tasman sea in October, I decided it wouldn't be fun to have to be carried up the last mountain after an exhausting run into the sea. Plus I have some awesome blackmail pictures of them screaming in the cold water if any of them decides to run for public office.

Jack did go back in for a couple minute's swim, and we tried to convince him to swim all the way to the boat and ask for a ride.

While the other three finished packing and drying off, I decided to get to know the wallabies a little bit better. It's sad that they're not scared of humans, because it means that they've been fed by them. I tried to see how close I could get, and I got right up next to it. I wondered "Will it really let me pet it?" It did, and made the rounds to all the other campers, enjoying a good scratch on the ears the way a domesticated dog would.

It was beyond cute, and I fell in love with this one in particular. It had the longest eyelashes but refused to look me in the camera, being much more interested in rooting around for natural onions. We had some good times though, and I was sad to say goodbye when it was time to go.

The walk along the beach was beautiful, as we circled around the beautiful bay. At the other end was the trailhead back up another mountain to the car park, and people were already starting to come down it. A group of elderly gentlemen were in very small bathing suits, preparing to dive into the sea for a swim. I admired their guts, because despite the sunshine there was still a pretty chilling breeze.

The very last leg of our hike was up a pass between two mountains, Mount Amos and Mount something else. This was still about 400 meters up, and a very steep ascent. It being the third day, it was a very arduous trek, up steep stone stairs with my big bulky pack, only slightly lighter without all the water I had drank. This was the day hike that most people do though, so on the hike I met many people who would either exclaim "Wow, I can't imagine doing this with a pack!" and I would pant "Yeah, day three too." And of course the many kids that zipped past me, red faced but determined, inspired me to not take as many breaks as I would have. The other three again beat me to the top, but waited for me while I set my bag down with them and hiked another 5 minutes to a lookout.

And here's Wine Glass Bay again. I suggest google image searching it again for some better shots of the entire circumference, because it really is so beautiful and perfectly round!