Here we go - our detailed itinerary of our 18 day trip!
This post was getting really long so I have split into two smaller ones - this is part one of two :)
Day One:
Arrived in Devonport at 0645, and drove the back roads around La Trobe until the sun came up. Headed to Deloraine via the Christmas Hill Raspberry Farm for breakfast, and then went to Liffey Falls. So beautiful.
Drove through Longford, Perth and Evandale on the way to Launceston. Found a great wholesale meat market in Longford. Visited Cataract Gorge in Launceston, and then headed to Grindelwald, a very bizarre yet super adorable Swiss town.
Had a coffee there before aiming for our campsite for the night, at Lilydale Falls. Made our first meal in the camp oven - beef chilli. Had an early night after dinner - so cold!
Day Two:
Walked to the Falls at Lilydale (2 waterfalls), and then headed into Lilydale for coffee (The Bean Barrow).
Drove to Bridestowe Lavendar Farm; even though the lavendar isn't flowering, it still looks so pretty. Drove through Scottsdale for breakfast, and then saw some amazing tree carvings in Legerwood.
Walked to Ralph Falls, and walked the loop track around Cashs Gorge.
Headed for Pyengana - wanted to go the the
Pub in the Paddock (where you can feed the pig a beer) but it was closed. We went to Pyengana Dairy for lunch instead. Followed the Garibaldi Road Track from Moorina to Pionner, and set up camp on the lake there. Such a fabulous spot.
Day Three:
Left Pioneer early and stopped first at the Little Blue Lake.
Drove through Gladstone to Ansons's Bay and Policeman's Point. Very small towns with not a lot going on, but gorgeous coastline. Drove along the coast to St Helens for breakfast, and then headed to Binalong Bay.
Wandered along the beach - such white sands and blue water! Drove up to the Gardens, stopping at lookout points on the way.
Stocked up on water and firewood before heading to our campsite; Cosy Corner South. Cooked a delicious dinner on the fire, and had our first camp shower.
Day Four:
Headed in the direction of Bicheno, via many detours and lookouts through Scamandar. Stopped at Ironhouse Brewery for a beer tasting (they also make wines, gins and vodka); wound up buying a bottle of grape vodka. Took a detour up Elephant Pass to a cute little pancake house then headed back down and got to Bicheno around lunchtime. Did the coastal walk from the Gulch to the Blowhole, and then watched the blowhole for a while.
Saw sealions! Was such a gorgeous day for a coastal stroll. Wandered along Friendly Beach, before enjoying some oysters at Freycinet Marine Park. So delicious. Took some shots of the Three Peaks from Coles Bay, and then went to the Wineglass Bay walk starting point.
Decided we didn't have enough time to complete the walk before dark, so we headed to River & Rocks campground to chill for the night.
Day Five:
Watched the sunrise, and then drive to Wineglass Bay to do the walk. There was noone else on the walk that early - it was so lovely and peaceful.
Aimed for Port Arthur via Eaglehawk Neck, where we saw the Tessellated Pavement, Tasman Arch (where Mack almost crashed the drone!) and Devil's Kitchen.
Wandered around Port Arthur Historical Site for the afternoon. Tip: if you get there after 3pm, when you only have a couple of hours to wander the site, you can get entry for $20pp. Such an interesting place - not to be missed on your Tassie adventure.
I don't love that they have restored a lot of the buildings; I liked the ruins a whole lot more. The nearest free camp to us without going too far out of our way was Marion Bay Lookout, so we headed there. Spectacular lookout!
Day Six:
Woke to a gorgeous sunrise! Drove in the direction of Hobart, stopping first at Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary. Such gorgeous animals; when you go, don't go expecting a zoo. Go expecting an animal rehab centre. They do amazing work. We got up close with a baby wombat called Maria - SO cute. I love wombats.
Went to Cascade Brewery for lunch and a couple of tasting paddles. Tried to go to MONA and Moo Brew, but it was so busy that we changed our minds. Tip: going to MONA during Dark Mofo is insane haha. From Cascade, we headed to the Lark Distillery, and got the tasting paddle there too. Lark is just so yummy, and they have such a fabulous bar, with so many whiskies from around the world. Hobart was the first place we struggled for a free camp; read about our free camps
here.
Day Seven:
Woke very early, and made it onto the first ferry of the day to Bruny Island. This took about 15 minutes. Drove up to Dennes Point for sunrise (a very windy and cloudy one) and then cruised around North Bruny, stopping at several lookouts. Drove across the neck (the lookout was closed... this tends to happen a lot travelling in Winter!), and checked out one of the few campsites on the Island. This one cost $10pn, and was pretty good. Lovely beach.ocean view. Went to Bruny Island Cheese & Beer Co. - did a little cheese tasting for breakfast and then had a coffee before going to try some honey at the honey place.
Drove down through South Bruny, stopping at the Chocolate Shop; it looked cool, like a little toy store, but was a little underwhelming. Headed to Adventure Bay, stopping at lots of lookouts, which were such pretty coastlines, but super windy. Drove all the way to Captain Cooks landing point, and then took the mountain road across the island to the only free camp on Bruny Island.
This road is listed on the map as a road, but it is a dirt road; isn't hugely difficult, but if you aren't familiar with driving on such roads, drive with caution. We did find a gorgeous lookout off this road. Stopped at Inala Jurassic Garden, and wandered around in the sun. Such a pretty garden, and one hell of a museum of fossils and shells. When we went into the office to thank the lady for letting us in, she asked if we wanted to see the orphans. Turns out they rescue injured animals and nurse them back to health before releasing them. So cool. We met a couple of super cute pademelons!
The free camp spot looked good, so we decided we would stay here. Drove around to the lighthouse - it was SO windy! Such a phenomenal view from up there though. Set up at camp and started a fire; it was so windy there, and it also started to rain so that was challenging.
Day Eight:
Had a little sleep in, and then headed to the 0930 ferry. Drove through Cygnet, and whilst we were doing a little drive by site of a friends property, discovered a lovely river to wander by.
From there, we aimed for the Local, which is a yummy cafe that sells goat horn shaped keep cups, but they are closed on Sundays (at least they are in Winter), so we went to Willie Smith's Apple Shed for lunch instead. This was a delicious choice! Had a cider tasting paddle and a charcuterie board sitting by the fire. From there, drove to the top of Mt Wellington. Whilst we got a nice view of Hobart on the drive up, by the time we got to the top, it was a total whiteout, with snow falling. This was my first snow on this side of the globe!
After wandering around at the top in the freezing cold snowy weather, we headed back down, and stopped for coffee before heading to a family member's house. Had a little catch up because I haven't seen them in about 14 years! Headed into the city for the last night of Dark Mofo. Followed the parade through Hobart, and then watched the huge spider and web effigy burn. The vibes at Dark Mofo are just so lovely! We wandered around and met new people, and hung out with friends at their Submissive Salon, which was a lot of fun. Wound up chatting around a fire pit until midnight!
Day Nine:
This day was a very slow day haha. We had a lovely brekkie and coffee at a cafe in Moonah, and then drove out to Russell Falls. Another gorgeous waterfall :).
From there, we selected a camp for the night - which we thought would be great, but actually turned out to have one hell of a vertical 4WD track into it. Haha. Decided this wasn't for us, and found another one in Ellendale instead, which was awesome.
So that's it - day one through nine of our eighteen day trip!
Join me next Tuesday for
part two.
Hx
