Bill got quite excited in the morning after our first night in the camper van. There were wrens in the campground. At first he thought they had the sparse, almost ragged tails of an emu-wren, but closer inspection showed they were fairy-wrens. In Tasmania that means they must be Superb Fairy-wrens. In Spring the males would have been decked with intense blue feathers on the head and back, but March is well past the breeding season and there were no remnants of their courting finery.
There were plenty of other birds, filling the campground with morning song. But these generally avoided detection and, if detected, identification.
You can spend a lot of time at the Port Arthur Historic Site. In fact, the admission is for two days if you want them. We didn't walk around all the buildings. We elected to go on the “Convict Tour”. The guide pointed out all we wanted to know about the buildings and grounds, and told us about the treatment of the prisoners. The rations for men expected to do heavy labouring were not nearly adequate.
The main building was a flour mill before it was part of the prison. Many of the buildings have been demolished or renovated since the convicts left, so it is hard to get an accurate picture of what the settlement was like.
The admission includes a boat trip around the harbour, with a good commentary and a close-up view of the island used as a cemetery.
The sunset was even more gorgeous on our second evening at the White Beach Campground.
The Unzoo
What is an unzoo? The definition on its website is, “A place where the public learns about wild animals, plants and ecosystems through interaction with and immersion in natural habitats.” One person described it to us as a place where the animals are wild and the humans are in a cage, but that is a bit fanciful. The website is here.
The Tasmanian Devils and Kangaroos are captive. Like Bonorong, the Unzoo breeds disease-free devils. Other animals and birds are indeed wild and are attracted by encouraging them to forage in the grounds. In other words, they are fed!
We managed to time our visit for a lecture on Tasmanian Devils. We learned that, for their weight, they have the strongest bite of any animal. One of them willingly demonstrated this at feeding time. Another factoid: a female devil can give birth to 40 infants at a time, but they are marsupials and the pouch only has 4 teats. What a way to treat 36 of your kids!
After the lecture there was bird feeding. Banging on a metal frame told the local avians that lunch would shortly be served and we all sat down on tiered seats. The guide poured seeds into our hands and Green Rosellas flocked to accept the handout.
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The other feeding sites were not spectacular. There were two Cape Barren Geese and one pademelon when the feed pellets were scattered.
Tasmanian Native Hens do not need encouragement. They just turn up. They run very fast and are known locally as turbo chooks.
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It was becoming apparent that fairy-wrens are really quite common.
At the water it was a case of, “You should have been here yesterday.” We were buffeted by strong winds, which would put off any bird. The previous day there had been sea-eagles. Well, you can't win 'em all.
Eaglehawk Neck
The Tasman Peninsula is only just attached to mainland Tasmania. The neck really is very narrow and explains why there was a coast-to-coast fence guarded by fierce dogs in the convict days. The only way to get past it was to swim!
Around the neck there are some interesting rock formations and very picturesque scenery. There is also Doo Town. What started off as a collection of fishing cribs has grown to a village with some impressive homes between the holiday cottages and almost all of them have “Doo” somewhere in the name. Examples are Doo Not Disturb, Doo Nothing, and Doo Drop In.
After 2 nights at the lovely White Beach we enjoyed our first free camp. Ye Olde Buckland Inn has a large, level-ish field behind the buildings and allows free camping. There are public toilets adjacent, although we used the onboard cassette rather than making a midnight march to the concrete closets.
As a 'thank you' we decided to sample some local drinks at the inn. It wasn't what you would call elegant, but nor was it sawdust-on-the-floor-and-no-women-in-the-public-bar. The Tasmanian beer was very nice. Eve requested cider. Now Tasmania has many orchards and plenty of them advertise that they make cider. The inn's cider on tap was Monteiths from New Zealand! The explanation was that no Tasmanian cidery still offers its product in a keg. It's all bottled.
Other campers had the same idea, and I think we outnumbered locals in the bar. Eventually all six of us opted for a bar meal. The very limited menu was all something-and-chips, but I don't think anyone was disappointed with their food.
Freycinet National Park
If you were hoping for a description of Maria Island and its fauna you will be disappointed. We didn't go there. We didn't set out with the idea of going everywhere and doing everything and this was one of the spots we missed. Sorry.
The road to Freycinet goes past, not over, the Spiky Bridge. The bridge was part of the convict built coach road that connected Swansea with Little Swanport. Why it was decorated with these spiky pieces of rock is unknown.
At first glance it looks as though the road to Freycinet NP takes a large and unnecessary detour, but the land behind Nine Mile Beach doesn't quite reach the other side of Great Oyster Bay. The extensive waterways North of Nine Mile Beach (Pelican Bay, Moulting Lagoon, etc.) push you to the quirkily named Pondering Frog Cafe before you can turn right and head for the park.
The star attraction is Wineglass Bay, sometimes described as one of the top 10 beaches in the world. There is a full day walk that takes in the classic view of the bay, goes down to the beach itelf and returns via Hazards Beach. While some reviews rate the walk as “easy” they must be super-fit young people. The official rating is moderate, but our interpretation of the detail is “too bloody hard.” However, the walk to the lookout seemed do-able.
We checked with the information centre. There are 400 steps on the track uphill to the lookout (and at least 800 on the way down to the beach). Before setting off on the holiday we had both made an attempt to get fitter, but Eve's hips, especially the metal one, had been giving trouble that mere fitness could not overcome.
Behind the information centre is a short track to a pretty beach. On the way back we saw a small black and white bird with a bright red chest, a Scarlet Robin. The Nikon with the telephoto lens was back in the van. The picture we have confirms the ID, but it's too blurry to be worth including here. We saw another one a couple of days later but couldn't put our hands on any camera before it flew away. Curses!
Many people hike the tracks to and around Wineglass Bay so there is a large car park, with room for camper vans. We set off, both with our hiking poles. The track is well signposted, with estimated times to reach the lookout. Unfortunately, Eve's hip began to protest and she reluctantly made the sensible decision to turn back. Just around the next corner was the first 'flight' of steps.
Bill carried on, with a few rests along the way. Clearly, he should get fitter! But he made it to the lookout in about the signposted time.
Proof that he made it! Bill at the lookout.
The view that makes it all worthwhile.
There was a much easier little walk around the Cape Tourville lighthouse.
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The visitor centre had information about the local campgrounds. The national park campground and the Big 4 commercial one were fully booked. There was a free campground at River and Rocks Road, but it is very small and was probably full. The Freycinet Golf Club allowed camping by the road and charged $10. That was our best bet.
We did have a hopeful look at River and Rocks Road, but it was indeed full. The golf club ground was a self check-in; they were very efficient about the money. Sites were numbered. There were no toilets or other facilities, but it was level ground, legal and other campers provided safety. All that we needed for a comfortable night.
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