Czeching Out Tasmania

Well that was a beautiful weekend! Went for a road trip up the East Coast of Tasmania to Coles Bay with the main objective being to climb Mount Amos to see THAT view of Wineglass Bay. Mission accomplished. However, like any good road trip there’s always so many side trips and amazing sights to see along the way.

We took the scenic Great Eastern Drive up through Buckland, Orford, Triabunna, Swansea and onwards to Coles Bay. It’s a really lovely drive with gentle winding roads through beautiful golden pastures and forests of eucalyptus and gum trees that takes you up the East coast to some of Tasmania’s most beautiful sights.

Our first “Oooooh this looks like a nice place to stop and dip our feet in the water” was Raspins Beach at Orford which offers beautiful views of Maria Island on the horizon and lovely soft sand to stroll barefoot on.

The next lovely spot to go for a soothing beach stroll was Mayfield Bay Beach which has a nice little camping spot which was full of happy campers chilling out by the seashore just off the main road. It gives you great views of the Freycinet Peninsula in the distance.

As we approached Swansea we made another stop-off at Spiky Bridge, an interesting construction built by convicts in 1843 with rumours that the spiky stones were placed to prevent cattle falling off the bridge (silly moos)

Before you get to Swansea there’s an absolute must-visit spot, Kate’s Berry Farm! If you like berries and ice-cream (who doesn’t), you’ll be in absolute heaven at this beautiful place. NUMS!

So we still hadn’t got to our final destination and had already had the most amazing day! This is what Tassie road trips are all about, filled to the brim with stunning sights, tastes and experiences. The first truly epic sight came as we approached Coles Bay and were passing Devils Corner Winery. Before you come down the hill and pass the entrance to the winery there’s an amazing view looking out towards the Hazards at Coles Bay and the Freycinet Peninsula beyond.

With the sun setting fast, we pressed on to our destination at River and Rocks Campground, where after a slight panic of getting stuck in the sand (thanks French dudes who helped push the car out of a rut!) we set up camp for the night and sat under the stars (sooooooo many stars!!) and tried not to stand on any of the thousands of cute little crabs having a rave on the beach.

We had intended on getting up at the crack of dawn to scale Mount Amos and even set our alarms for 5am. However after hitting the snooze button for the millionth time we gave in to tiredness and dozed back to sleep. Awaking nice and refreshed at a more reasonable hour, we packed up and made our way to the Wineglass Bay car-park in Freycinet National Park. There’s yet another epic view of the Hazards to be had here at the last resort before you head into the park itself.

The climb up Mount Amos is not for the faint-hearted, nor those with an aversion to heights and slipping to your doom. Some of the sections are rather unnerving but we saw people of all ages attempting it so if you’re desperate to see that view then I say go for it! You certainly won’t regret it and I had yet another expletive filled outburst to enjoy when I finally scaled the last of the rocky outcrops and saw Wineglass Bay below.

I have to run out of amazing places to see in Tasmania eventually but for now they just keep on coming! I say it every single blog post but damn it Tasmania, you are just other worldly.