After last night’s devil adventure, today’s activity was a five-hour boat ride around Freycinet National Park. I waited to book until we confirmed the seas would be reasonably calm, but even with the good forecast there were a number of folks liquidating their assets on the ride back. While we sat on the first deck in the cheap seats, we’re guessing that many of the passengers who paid extra to sit on the upper deck with unlimited wine and oysters may have greatly regretted their choice.
Freycinet was Tasmania’s first national park, and is famous for its rugged and colorful seacliffs, made up of pink granite and covered in orange lichens. As we motored around the Freycinet Peninsula (or “peninshula” as the Australian crew pronounced it) we passed from the protected side out to the Tasman Sea, where the waves got larger and the geography more extreme, with caves and massive rockslides making for a very dramatic journey. Our final destination was Wineglass Bay, home to one of Australia’s most beautiful beaches, where we anchored and ate lunch. After that brief bit of quiet we pulled anchor and headed back home, at which point either the seas had gotten angrier or the currents had changed, and we got a much more exciting trip back that resulted in several passengers developing grave misgivings about their recent dietary decisions.
After the boat trip Audrey was frozen solid from the cold and wind and retired to a hot bath, while I needed some exercise and did an hour-long hike up to the Wineglass Bay Overlook. Tomorrow we’re heading north to the Bay of Fires, then cutting west to spend the night at Beauty Point. When I first booked our lodging there I assumed the town must have been named due to its scenic beauty, but questionable rumors suggest that the town was originally named Ilfracombe and was renamed in 1903 to honor a beloved cow named “Beauty” after she drowned in the river; the same rumors suggest it’s one of only two towns in Australia named after a bovine, the other being (and I am not making this up) Banana in Queensland.
Really appreciate that they love cows/bovine so much that they name towns after them! And such adorable names: Beauty & Banana. Love it. I personally think they should rename cows as “wows”, but that’s just my opinion.
….those wallabies are so darn cute.