F r e y c i n e t

If you browse the travel guide books of Tasmania, one of the must-visit places is Freycinet National Park. The park has rugged mountains surrounded by beautiful white beaches. It offers plenty of hiking trails ranging from a short 3 hour return to trekking that takes days to complete its entire length. For the adventurers, there are five summits in the Hazards and two peaks South of Freycinet to challenge. Our group of not-so-adventurers decided to scale the least tedious but popular trial, to the Wineglass Bay Lookout.

The route has proper track with well-layed stone path to the lookout. All able bodies will have no issues trekking up. 

Things you see on the way, and potentially slowing others down. Stone shelter that looks like Pacman. Waka waka waka waka....

View of Coles Bay.

Admirer of Coles Bay.

The bay offers plenty of water activities with families flocking there to spend their summer vacation. Unlike now in winter, you can have the whole waterway to yourself. 

Spanning across is the ridge of Mount Mayson, one of five peaks in the Hazards.

The granite rocks that seem to glow from the morning sun.

The reason why we spent 3 sweating hours of our morning - to view the emerald water and white sandy beach of Wineglass Bay. We could get down to the beach in another hour, but hey, why push it?

Where the sea and mountains meet. Isn't it beautiful?

We moved on to Cape Tourville, which offers a wider scenery of the coast.

Broken isles that probably were once connected. 

Seals and birds make these islands their home. From where we stood, we could hear their calls. 

The placid bay outside Freycinet Lodge, where we stayed. 

Cormorants taking in the morning sun at the jetty. Too bad we could not join them as the jetty is closed.

Vertical drop. Looking at the cliff surface, one would think that Zorro has left his mark there.

This is how clear the water in the bay is. 

The glittering reflection of the water surface. This picture does not do justice to the actual moment, where the natural light source and beautiful setting become one. 

Cape Tourville Lighthouse. Unfortunately, the lighthouse is closed to the public, so a long lens is needed here. 

Marsupials are common sighting in the park. This one came up to us without any hesitant.

One happy birdy posing for me.

This bushtail possum visited our lodge at night. Although there is an advice that we should not feed the wild, but if we really have to, we could offer only fresh fruits or vegetables. And that's what we did. This lucky guy chomped down some apples in quick time.

Here's us chomping down the most expensive meal of the trip.

As I was saying, I never thought food would be so expensive in Tasmania, if you dine out. I know there are expensive meals in hotels and restaurants, but generally, each simple meal here cost more than what I would pay for a decent meal back home. I am not one who stinch on food, but dining out in Tasmania is exorbitant, really! A good thing is, my aunties love to cook. So we visited the supermarkets often, and cook meals to our own delights.

And another travel trip awaiting....