Tasmania- Wineglass bay

On the day we were going to drive from Hobart to Launceston we had planned on taking the long way and driving up the east coast of the island so we could stop at Wineglass Bay. Located in Freycinet National Park it is consistently ranked among one of the world's best beaches. Can't pass that up right?

I presume that one of the reasons for its rankings, aside from the amazing scenery is that Wineglass Bay isn't accessible by car. There's a carpark, but that's a good hour hike from the beach. And it is a hike, taking you up and down very rocky terrain. We got our stair workout that day, and I think it came out to about an 11 kilometer round trip.  This picture is from along the trail and a cool rock outcropping that we envisioned as a particularly good hiding spot for a monster. Beware!

Also along the trail was this funky bench, which seemed an ideal spot for a badly needed water break. It was near the top of the hill at the lookout point. They call that the easy hike, where you don't actually go to the beach but you can get a great view at it. Lame. We didn't come this far to say we got within eyeshot of one of the World's Greatest Beaches. Press on!

That's a lot rocks.

This is the view from the lookout point. Beautiful, huh? As we were walking up we heard an older man coming down complaining about how crowded it was up there. What he meant was Australia crowded. So there were maybe 15 people up there, and plenty of space to sit and enjoy the view.

After that we descended down to the beach and started to have a sense of dread. Not because we were concerned we wouldn't like the beach, oh no. It was because for the entirety of the thirty minute hike we did nothing but descend down "stairs" (more like uneven, unstable rocks trying to pass as stairs). To get back, we were going to have to go up all those stairs. Uh oh. Nothing we had to worry about yet though, so best to enjoy Wineglass Bay. Here it is from the sand-level view.

Absolutely breathtaking, and as you can see from this picture hardly anyone else was there. Amazing.

As we were getting ready to leave the beach we saw two wallbies had made their way down from the trees to the edge of the beach. This little guy was particularly interested in one hiker's backpack. Actually managed to stuff most of his face in it trying to get at whatever food was in there.

Laurel and the wallaby are friends. She apparently smelled nice.



This sign we saw on the drive to Wineglass Bay. We have absolutely no idea what it means? Beware of aerial bombing? The best part is that we saw it right after the sign telling us we were approaching "Friendly Beach."