The Ultimate Tassie Travel Guide - Part 3

Our Travels

18 Apr

Written By Seaustravl

East Coast Explorer

We must say the East Coast of Tasmania was our favourite, we found ourselves diverting back to the East Coast every chance we got! It’s easy to see why with fresh seafood, insane hiking, picturesque beaches, incredible free camps and rich history.

After finishing our wild west adventure we headed for the beautiful, lush Mount Field National Park to recharge for a couple of days before heading to the state's capital- Hobart.

Recommended time 7-9 days.

**Hobart** is a lively city teaming with rich early settlement history, creativity, world-class food and impressive Salamanca markets. Hobart is an easy city to explore in a few days, we spent our time wandering the streets of Salamanca and Battery Point where we admired the early settlement cottages, beautiful boutiques and galleries and sampled the many wonderful local produce at the markets. We spent a day at the world-famous MONA, Hobart Botanical Gardens and took a scenic drive up Mount Wellington. There are limited affordable camping options around the city so we decided to base ourselves at the Lea Scout Centre. It was fantastic as you can camp where you like and was much quieter as it is roughly ten minutes south of the city centre.

After spending some time in Hobart we travelled south to spend a few quiet nights beachside at Cockle Creek, which is a fantastic free camp at the southernmost point of Tasmania. Following this, we travelled back north to Kettering to catch the ferry to Bruny Island. When planning on visiting Bruny Island we would recommend at least three days. The Sealink ferry departs every 15-20 minutes, we did not pre-book our tickets, instead, we decided to buy them at the terminal. The journey takes roughly 15-20 minutes to reach the north island.

Things to do on Bruny Island:

Hiking

Cape Bruny Lighthouse

The Neck (stay for sunset and watch the penguins come to shore)

Adventure Bay

Sample all the delicious local produce, our favourites are:

Get Shucked Oysters
Tasting plate at Bruny Island Cheese Company
Lunch or Dinner at the Bruny hotel
A fresh loaf from the Bruny Baker

**Tasman Peninsula**

After Bruny Island, we spent some time exploring the Tasman Peninsula which was absolutely breathtaking. With so much to explore, we would recommend three to four days here. First, we called into Port Arthur and spent a full day taking in all the history of the Historic Site and learning about early Australian Settlement. Tickets are $47.00 per adult and can be purchased online or on arrival. You will need a full day here, however your ticket allows you entrance for two consecutive days.

The Tasman Peninsula has so many spectacular hiking trails, some of which you can complete in a day and other longer walks- most notably the Three Capes Track. We set out to complete the last day of the three capes track - Cape Hauy. The day hike starts from the Fortescue Bay camping ground and is roughly 10km return. Once you reach the headland you are greeted with breathtaking views of the Peninsula where the cliffs fall away at the ocean.

Following the coast further north we spent a night at a beachside free camp, **Mayfield Bay**.
The following day we made our way to the famous **Freycinet National Park** where we spent two incredible nights by the beach. We woke at 4:00 am and tackled **Mount Amos** for sunrise. This hike was extremely taxing but the views that greeted us at the top made it all worthwhile.

Continuing north make sure to stop at Coles Bay, Bichino and St Helens as they all have small shops, cafes and restaurants worth visiting. We decided to base ourselves in Cosy Corner North, which is a short 10 minute drive out of St Helens. This free camp turned out to be our favourite in all of Tassie, tucked away amongst trees, right next to a pristine calm beach. It is the perfect location for exploring the famous Bay of Fires. This free camp is extremely popular and if there are not spots available there are many more free camping areas up and down the coast from here, which all cater for different types of set ups.

From the **Bay of Fires** you can choose to continue north to the beautiful area of **Mount William National Park** or divert inland to St **Columbus Falls** and the mountain biking mad town of **Derby.**

Fortunately, we had ample time which allowed us to explore both options. Mount William National Park is a beautiful camping area surrounded by trees and wildlife right next to a private beach. We were lucky enough to get our first wombat sighting, which was an absolute highlight to our time in Tasmania.

We spent two full days exploring Derby, we hired mountain bikes from Bark Off Biking and hit the trails. Derby is a fantastic operation for mountain biking with many different trails for all abilities. The small main street is dotted with shops where you can hire mountain bikes, helmets and clothing. You can also buy shuttles passes which we cannot recommend enough, they shuttle you to the start of the trail avoiding all the hard work. Allowing you can focus on the fun part of all down hill. If mountain biking does not interest you there is a relaxing floating sauna and lake to enjoy. You can also do multiple day trips from Derby for example the Little Blue Lake, Pyengana Dairy and St Columbus Falls.