Top Things to See and Do in Tasmania - A Circumnavigation

As we sailed into the south end of the Murray Channel and into Deal Island's East Cove, we completed our circumnavigation of Tasmania. It took a year, almost to the day, but hey, we're slow sailors. It gave us cause to sit back one evening, while sipping our congratulatory cups of Tasmanian wine, and reflect on the highlights of our time in and around this very special island. We readily admit we missed a lot...like most of the interior (no car) and all the north coast (no time). We would have loved to linger in the Furneaux Island Group and explore Flinders Island (bad weather). Though we try, we just can't do it all. These are our picks of the top things to see and do in Tasmania.  

Strahan

Our first port of call along Tassie's wild west coast the entry through the infamous Hell's Gate into Macquarie Harbour. The tiny town of Strahan was picturesque and a calm respite from the west coast's churning waters. We sailed up the Gordon River, explored the convict ruins at Sarah Island and traipsed around the bush at Kelly's Basin. It was spectacular. You can reach Strahan by car and take tours of the harbor and the river.

Port Davey

Approaching Breaksea Island, knowing we needed to skirt behind it to find the calm waters of the Bathurst Channel took a leap of faith. Rollers crashed and the craggy shore looked uninviting and ominous. But the chart and hundreds of mariners before us assured us there was peace behind those ragged spires...and there was. We hiked to tops of hills and mountains for glorious views and took the dinghy up the Melaleuca River to areas originally inhabited by Aborigines and rarely seen or visited by modern man. Part of Southwest Wilderness National Park, this area is only accessible by boat, on foot or by small plane. It's unbelievably and wonderfully remote.

Bruny Island

A world unto itself, the island offers history, spectacular vistas, beaches and diverse flora and fauna including rare, endangered birds and white wallabies. Reach the island via a tour, your own boat or the car/passenger ferry at Kettering.

Cygnet

This was our favorite little port on the east coast. It's friendly, tiny and a bit Bohemian with a cafe and boutique-lined main street. Drive there or sail there. It's worth the trip.

Hobart Town

An historic, must-see seaport with so much to do and explore. See our Top Things to See and Do in Hobart for specifics.

Port Arthur

Re-live history here while meandering through the remains of this substantial, well-preserved convict site. Take a tour, drive there or sail there.

Maria Island

Another of Tasmania's national parks and historic convict sites. View remnants of the convict colony and the past settlement at Darlington or hike for miles enjoying the natural beauty of the Painted Cliffs, sharing the experience with kangaroos, wombats, wallabies and hundreds of birds. Access via passenger ferry from Triabunna or your own boat, of course.

Deal Island

Magic in the middle of the Bass Strait. Climb the steep hill to the small complex of historic lightkeeper's buildings, visit the tiny museum, hike the path to the lighthouse and climb its spiral stairs to the top viewing platform for unsurpassed views of the Strait. Cape Barren geese, wallabies, butterflies and birds galore keep you company. Part of the Kent Group National Park and accessible only by boat.

People

Get to know the locals. They're warm, friendly and knowledgeable. Thanks to Ian & Wendy, Craig, Marcia & John, Tony & Mary Anne, Reg, Anne & Phil, Gerry, Jack & Jude, Jim & Anne, Bob the octogenarian kayaker, Jackie, Mary & David and Tom, Maree & Floyd. If we've missed some of the many people who showed us kindness and friendship, we humbly apologize. As always, it is the people who enhance our lives and give us a better appreciation of the places we visit.

Days and Ways to Celebrate

A daily list of mostly obscure holidays and fun ways to celebrate them.

National Lox and Bagel Day

Bagels are not as easy to come by in Australia as they are in the US. We can find them, but it's not like Einsteins or Brueggers or a good deli in New York City. Revel in bagelry today. Schmear on the cream cheese. My mouth is watering!

National Read in the Bathtub Day

Hmmm...IF I had a bathtub, I'd consider this.

Return to Chinaman's Bay - Maria Island

 

When we were in Chinaman's Bay on the southwest side of Maria Island the other day, the winds were not conducive to going ashore and exploring. Today, however, the light easterlies were perfect for heading in to see what we could see. The bay is actually called Shoal Bay, but was nicknamed Chinaman's Bay for the Chinese men who fished for abalone in this shallow bay in the 1860-1870s and the name stuck. It's quite popular with yachties.

We were up at 0600 and the anchorage was millpond calm. We headed ashore in the dinghy and beached it. There's a sandy track just 50m (~50yds) off the beach. We crossed the tombolo to Riedle's Bay on the other side of the island. It's only a .5km (.2 miles) walk across at this point.

We could hear the surf crashing before we climbed a small sandy hill and saw a large crescent beach spread before us, totally deserted except for some oystercatchers dodging the waves and looking for breakfast.

We were hoping to see more wildlife and birdlife today by coming in early. The track was thick and sandy as we followed it north towards French's Farm, a campsite we'd noted on the island map. Dense bush, ferns and banksias formed the undergrowth for the eucalypt forests that cover the island.  When we crossed a wooden bridge, it was obvious that we had exited the tombolo because the track immediately became dirt and gravel. There's not much at French's Farm although it looked like a great place for camping. We saw the remnants of French's woolshed, a cottage and a few other outbuildings from the 1930's.

Birds were particularly noticeable this morning. Squawks, peeps, chirps, caws … everybody had something to add to the morning symphony. We saw curawongs, yellow-tailed black cockatoos, eastern rosellas, yellow wattlebirds, black-headed honeyeaters and one obliging scarlet robin. There were lots of different animal prints on the beach and along the sandy track, but apart from one kangaroo and a few wallabies, we didn't spot any other animals.

We had hoped to see wombats which are supposedly numerous here. Some areas were rife with wombat holes and it was hard to avoid stepping in them.

We spotted lots of wombat scat, very distinctive by its square shape. I was hoping to be able to do a “Wombat Bob, Square Poo” blog post, but alas, Wombat Bob never showed up. Maybe another time. Forgive the poo pic, but it's so unique I had to share it with you.

Days and Ways to Celebrate

A daily list of mostly obscure holidays and fun ways to celebrate them.

Backwards Day

Wear your clothes backwards today. You can also try eating your dessert first and your salad last. Somewhere in between you need to eat some Brussel Sprouts because it's...yup, you guessed it

Eat Brussel Sprouts Day

Darlington Historic Convict Site and Probation Station - Maria Island

darlington_view

Maria Island (pronounced Ma-RYE-ah) was named in 1642 by Dutch explorer, Abel Tasman, after Maria van Diemen, wife of the Governor General of the Dutch East Indies. This mountainous little island has served as a penal colony, a probation station, a limestone quarry and farmland and it's now a Tasmanian National Park in its entirety.

Maria Island can be “toured” in two distinct ways: from an historical perspective and/or for its natural beauty, flora and fauna. The Darlington Probation Station is one of the eleven properties which forms the World Heritage Australian Convict Sites as is Port Arthur. Had we visited Darlington first, it would have been more awe-inspiring perhaps, but after visiting Port Arthur, it wasn't particularly impressive by comparison.

darlington maria_welcome sign

The island is split into two (north and south) by a tombolo, a new word for us ... a sandbar(s) which connects two land masses or islands. I love it when we learn something new and obscure … or did you already know what a tombolo was? We put on our walking shoes and packed a picnic lunch to take ashore. The day was warm and brilliantly sunny as we checked in with the park ranger and consulted the island map for trails. Historic Darlington is on the northern part of the island and we chose day walks in that vicinity.

darlington_comissariat

The island was originally inhabited by Aborigines ~28,000BC and perhaps earlier. It didn't take long after the Brits arrived to decide that Maria might make a good site for a penal colony and in 1825, 50 convicts and a military escort arrived to establish a station. The oldest extant building on the island is the Commissariat Store built in 1825 and used for storage. It now houses the ranger station and some orientation displays.

darlington_penitentiary

The convict site was short-lived and closed in 1831. A decade later, it was reopened and housed among others William Smith O'Brien, the Irish political prisoner whose cottage we'd seen in Port Arthur. Several Maori convicts from New Zealand, charged with “open rebellion against the Queen”, were also incarcerated here. The white-washed penitentiary built in 1828 which housed convicts nearly two centuries ago is now used to provide overnight accommodation for guests.

darlington_windblown cottage

As we walked the well-marked dirt paths and cart roads, the remains of buildings and old foundations could be seen ranging from cottages to kilns to brickworks to cement silos. In 1884, entrepreneur and silk merchant, Diego Bernacchi, began a cement works harvesting the limestone from the island. Darlington township bustled for awhile, but the company went defunct, leaving the island and its buildings to fall into disrepair. In 1971, Maria Island was declared a wildlife sanctuary and in 1972 was proclaimed a national park.

Tomorrow we'll explore the natural beauty of the island.

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Days and Ways to Celebrate

A daily list of mostly obscure holidays and fun ways to celebrate them.

Mozart's Birthday

Play a little Eine Kleine Nachtmusik for a quick pick-me-up.

Howl at the Moon

Full moon tonight