Tasmania - the East Coast

This year’s Tasmania trip took in the East Coast of Tasmania. I am a native “Taswegian“ and I try to get back there as much as possible. I might be biased, but Tasmania is an amazing holiday destination.

Anson’s Bay, which is a remote beachside paradise is where we started our journey. My partner and I own a property in this amazing part of the world. Ansons Bay is a place where people go to relax and mostly to fish. There are no shops or service stations in Ansons. The closest shop is 27km away in Gladstone or 40 km away in St Helens. Ansons Bay is only accessed by gravel roads and it has little to no mobile coverage apart from a phone tower that was placed a couple of kilometres short of the town.

The bay is idyllic and is set on an inlet. Access to the ocean and the Bay of Fires is via Policeman’s Point where there is a popular camping area. There are many walking tracks as well as coastal hikes in this area. A beautiful part of the world.

St Helens is a fantastic little town that has just started to see the advantages of having a world class mountain bike track on it’s doorstep. With the opening of the latest Blue Tier to Binalong Bay track (a 40km ride) has come more bike shops and facilities for mountain bike riders. The town has bike washing stations and shower blocks. There is even a funky craft beer bar “The Social” and a new Wharf side restaurant that has just opened since my last visit.

While staying at Ansons Bay we popped into St Helens for Op shopping, coffee and groceries. We had lunch at the “Wharf Bar and Kitchen”. The food was so good, oysters and fish were fresh and local.

After chilling out at Ansons Bay for two nights we set off and drove back through St Helens and made our way down the coast making a quick detour across the Elephant Pass to check out the quaint town of St Mary’s and the amazing views of the ocean from the top of the pass.

A coffee stop in Scamander at a cool coffee shop in a sea container overlooking the beach and the aqua blue water. “Swims East Coast Coffee” gave us great coffee and a delicious toasted cheese and tomato on sourdough for breakfast.

From Scamander we meandered down the coast stopping at Bicheno, a place I have faint childhood memories about as my family had a holiday house there when I was very small. Bicheno is a very pretty seaside town with an impressive coastline. Penguins are sighted here regularly at nightfall and the town is well-known to tourists for this fact. We shopped in the local craft market, “Makers Creators” and checked out a local artist in residence Anita Bacic’s Camera Obscura she had set up in a caravan by the sea.

Next stop was Freycinet Peninsula and a 2.5 hour hike into Wine Glass Bay, just recently voted one of the worlds top ten beaches. This region never fails to impress. The hike up to the look out is manageable for most people and the view from the top is incredible. We continued down to the beach so we could put our toes in the blue ocean and experience the white sands. Just stunning! There were people swimming and a wallaby or two on the sand, yachts floating in the bay made for beautiful photos and viewing opportunities. The walk down onto the beach was fairly easy but of course once you go down you must then head back up at some point! Great cardio work out on the way back. I counted 840 steps!

When we had recovered and rehydrated from our amazing hike we set off on the final part of our journey for that day to Triabunna where we were staying the night before heading to Maria Island in the morning. Triabunna is a crayfishing town and it is also the place where the Maria Island ferry departs from. We stayed in a Deluxe cabin at the Triabunna Caravan Park. Very comfortable after roughing it at Ansons for a couple of nights. We had fish and chips from the “Fish Van” on the jetty. A bustling and busy business with delicious food!

The following morning We had the 9.00 am ferry to Maria Island on the Encounter Maria Ferry. A very comfortable boat with all the mod cons. The night before we had shopped for lunch items and snacks as there is nothing available on the island aside from some fresh water. The boat sold coffee and tea and snacks.

Maria Island is well known for being a penal settlement and there are many old buildings and artefacts to be explored on the island. The other fact about Maria Island is that it is a wildlife sanctuary. The wombats and Tasmanian devils on the island are disease-free unlike their mainland counterparts.

The following morning We had the 9.00 am ferry to Maria Island on the Encounter Maria Ferry. A very comfortable boat with all the mod cons. The night before we had shopped for lunch items and snacks as there is nothing available on the island aside from some fresh water. The boat sold coffee and tea and snacks.

You can camp on the island but there is no provision for shops or electricity and limited fresh water for showers. There is also a dormitory style accomodation , once again , without electricity. The ferry crosses a number of times a day and the cost is $45 for an adult return trip.

We hired bikes and found this form of transport perfect for a day trip. Most roads and tracks were easily accessible for the bikes. The bike hire was $35 for the day and the bikes were mountain bikes in great condition and they were easy to ride.

Before you leave for the island you are asked to take “the Maria Island pledge” and pledge not to touch or unnecessarily disturb the wildlife, in particular, the wombats. The wombats really did not give a hoot about us, they grazed very close to where we watched them and trusted us to be near their babies. We saw mothers with babies in their pouches, babies laying beside their mothers, lone wombats, wallabies, Cape Barren Geese, Tasmanian Native Hens, roos and echidnas. I feel very privileged to have experienced this and I hope it remains a sanctuary for ever.