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

Maria Island National Park

 

The best part of Maria Island National Park for us was its sheer natural beauty. One of Tasmania's 60 Great Short Walks, the Painted Cliffs Circuit was high on our list of must-sees and since it's best viewed at low tide, we headed there first.

The sky was a deep cerulean blue and cloudless. The water in the Mercury Passage glistened in the sunlight. As we ascended a gentle slope, we had spectacular views of the anchorage and the historic buildings below.

The path ended at the southern end of Hopground Beach where we could just begin to see the sandstone outcrops known as the Painted Cliffs. As we walked in the white beach sand and edged closer, the exquisite patterns of the sandstone became apparent and were magnificent. Caused by iron oxides in the groundwater that leach through the sandstone, the colors and designs were a work of art. Ragged overhangs eroded by the sea and time formed a canopy of extraordinary natural beauty.

We continued the circuit up rolling hills, through open bush and a eucalypt forest. The air smelled fresh and clean. Birds were singing and butterflies (geitoneura klugi) numbered in the hundreds.. The island is considered to be one of the key places in Tasmania to observe forest birds. We picnicked and birdwatched, hoping to observe a rare forty-spotted pardalote, but no luck We did see native green rosellas, fantails and robins. Tasmanian native hens and Cape Barren geese seemed to be everywhere.

The island has become a sanctuary for endangered animals. Healthy Tasmanian devils were released here in November 2012. Bennett's wallabies, eastern grey kangaroos, potoroos, bandicoots, wombats, Tasmanian pademelons, echidnas and possum all wander and thrive here in relative peace.

We saw only wallabies on our hike. They seemed unbothered with our presence for the most part. We stared at them and took photos...they stared back. Dawn and dusk are the best times for observing most of these critters and being here at mid-day did nothing to improve our chances of spotting wildlife.

As usual, we ran out of time before we ran out of things to do. Between photographing vistas, butterflies and wallabies, strolling, birdwatching and picnicking, we whiled away the entire day. No regrets. The forecast is calling for a couple of days of light easterlies and we'll return to Chinaman's Bay for some exploration of the southern part 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.

Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day

Pop a few and while you play your kazoo.

Kazoo 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