Still on the Road

Thursday, Day Five of our Tour of Tasmania, started at Swansea with a chilly but fine morning. We wanted to explore the Freycinet Peninsula, directly across the bay from Swansea, but access to the area is only available by foot or boat and since we had limited time so we took a third option - a helicopter flight. So a short half hour drive took us to an operator near Coles Bay. 

In clear skies we took off, and cruised along the coast heading towards Wineglass Bay. We passed over the Hazards, a range of low mountains that rise as high at 480 metres and stretch between Coles Bay and Wineglass Bay and circled over the bay. 

Running up the east coast, with Coles Bay visible top centre of the shot.

Wineglass Bay with the Hazards rising beyond

Circling over the bay

Running back up the coast...with more of that lovely fine sand that I am forbidden to touch.

Next we doubled back a bit and drove north to another seaside town, Bicheno, where we visited another wildlife park. This is a great little place with a good number of Tasmanian Devils (about 30 by my count), some wombats (that insisted on hiding in their burrows), and a large number of wallabies and kangaroos, all in very large enclosures. This time we did see an emu up close, but the echidnas still remained elusive. 

 

Two of the wallabies thinking that we might have food...

...and one is certain we had food

A couple of rather timid white wallabies

A cheeky parrot.

After lunch we pointed the car towards Launceston and headed off. After a pleasant drive we arrived at Tasmania's second largest city at around 3:00 PM and settled into our hotel.

Day six was a quiet sort of day. In the morning we headed north to George Town and Low Head at the mouth of the Tamar River. I had hoped this would be a bit of a ramble along the eastern bank of the river, but alas it was relatively short drive up the highway inland from the river. Still George Town was a pleasant enough place and there were nice views across the Tamar mouth from the Low Head light house, despite a sharp breeze.

Looking across the mouth of the Tamar River

Low Head Lighthouse

Looking out into Bass Strait towards Melbourne

The little museum at the Pilot House was also worthwhile. After lunch in George Town we headed back to Launceston to look around the central city and around the dock lands and all if its eateries and bars. I was amused to see the boats in the marina berths locked in mud at low tide - you would have to hope that you got a discount on mooring fees the closer your berth was to the river bank since access would be limited.

Day seven was a full day in Launceston.  First stop was the Cataract Gorge,  a narrow gorge on the western edge of the city through which the South Esk River flows. It is a lovely spot and was like being in the wilderness while still being in the city. As usual we got there early to beat the crowds and once again this proved a successful tactic as the carpark was full when we went to leave. We did the touristy thing and took the chair lift across the basin ant the centre of the gorge and then walked along the banks in both directions. 

For the afternoon we elected to take a cruise on the Tamar. We booked and paid for it but when we got there we were told no that cruise wasn't running. So they refunded our money and put us on a different cruise for free. This took us up the river a bit then up the gorge as far as we could. It was interesting to see the gorge from a different angle.

Day eight saw us leave Launceston and head for Devonport the Northern Coast. Rather than take the main highway we headed up the road towards George Town then turned west across the Tamar via the Batman Bridge. How disappointing - no bat cave, no Batmobile and the bridge was under repair so the structure of this suspension bridge could not even be seen. 

We drove on through narrow country roads through pretty, rolling countryside and beside large fields of vegetables toward the Tasmanian Arboretum, crossing the Rubicon as we went. 

The Arboretum was an interesting place a huge piece of land made into a large park planted with a wide array of trees from around the globe. It is an incredibly peaceful place and remarkably popular. We spent about an hour there, the most of it spent watching a platypus forage along the banks of the lake.

From there we drove on to Devonport the third largest city in Tasmania and the transport hub where the roll on-roll off ferry from the mainland docks. It was Sunday and not much was happening - except for a group of bagpipers playing near the local Irish pub - it was St Patrick's Day of course. We had a quiet afternoon and evening ready for the next phase of the Tour of Tasmania, down the West Coast and into the Central Plateau.