We drove from the Bay of Fires along the Great Eastern Drive south towards Freycinet National Park. Here Tasmania becomes quite touristy. The campsites within the National Park have to be booked in advance at the visitor centre. We were lucky again and could get a spot for our first day.
Freycinet National Park’s campground
At the Freycinet National Park’s campground we spent our first and third night. In between the campsite was unfortunately fully booked. But we were happy to come back for a campsite with power and warm showers ?. The nice employee at the visitor centre recommended a campground at a golf club a bit outside of the national park, so we were covered for the second day, too.
The Freycinet National Park’s campground is located directly at a protected bay with a great view of Mount Amos and the adjacent hiking region. The whole complex is very clean and at dusk some animals come to visit. So I finally saw our first Wombat and also some possums. Considering the great location and the services offered, we think that $16 (good 10 €) this campground has one of the best value for money ratio.
Amenities block
Freycinet Golf Club Campsite
We spent the second night at the Freycinet Golf Club and supported the local community. You pay $10 (about 6,35 €) for a site and the possibility to use the toilets. Attached to the golf club is a bar (the regular, thirsty golfer needs to have a soft drink after their round ?). And also we were hungry and thirsty and took the opportunity to eat something and drink a cold beer (or two, or three…).
Freycinet Golf Club campsite
Mount Amos
To get to Mount Amos, you have to climb a lot. The 450 meters in altitude difference are quite steep. Unfortunately, Christiane was not very enthusiastic about this climbing adventure and so she stayed at the parking lot and worked on our blog.
Quite a steep climb
I started shortly after 8:00 in the morning. In the beginning, I went through denser forest before the trees slowly retreated and opened the view to the bay on the west side of the peninsula.
This view is really beautiful, but not the reason why one would try to climb the mountain (partly on all fours). Only on the summit one is really rewarded for all the efforts and has a fantastic view of Wineglass Bay. Here I took a break for about half an hour and enjoyed the moment. Afterwards I went back the same way. This hike should really only be tackled in absolutely dry weather, as otherwise the stones can become slippery very quickly and therefore dangerous.
Wineglass Bay
Wineglass Bay and Hazards Beach Circuit
If you want to take it a bit easy, but still want to see the Wineglass Bay, you can alternatively walk to the Wineglass Bay lookout. From there you can either walk back the same way or visit Wineglass Bay directly. We used the opportunity and walked back to the car park via Hazards Beach on the other side of the peninsula. That was about 11 km in total.
View from Wineglass Bay lookout (unfortunately a bit misty due to bushfires)
Honeymoon Bay
We probably wouldn’t have stopped at Honeymoon Bay at all. But exactly on the day we wanted to do the 11 km circuit at Wineglass Bay described above, all tracks within the Freycinet National Park were closed due to the danger of a bushfires. Beach visits were still allowed and so we spent a day relaxing, reading, and putting our feet into the water ?.
Honeymoon Bay
Cape Tourville
We also found this short walk in our book Tasmania’s 60 Great Short Walks. The starting point is easy to access by car. Cape Tourville is located on the east coast and offers a lighthouse, a beautiful view over the steep coast, parts of Wineglass Bay and some offshore islands.
Cape Tourville lighthouse
Friendly Beaches
Another Great Short Walk is a walk along the Friendly Beaches. Here you just decide for yourself how far or how long you want to walk along the very shallow beach. We quickly took off our shoes and enjoyed the deserted beach. For a long time we didn’t see anyone in either direction. The beach is just super white and on the right side there are green sand dunes which are a great contrast.
Directly at Friendly Beaches there is a great, free campsite bearing the same name. There are very clean toilets and you can’t or don’t have to book in advance. For this reason, the good 20 pitches are occupied relatively quickly every evening (at least in the high season). We were really lucky and found a spot sheltered from the wind. And because we liked it so much we stayed one more day ?.
Wolly at Friendly Beaches campsite
Very friendly wallaby
