Up the East Coast of Tasmania

Posted on by patevans

This post takes us up the scenic east coast of Tasmania, starting on the 4th of March 2024.  Our first stop was in Freycinet National Park (NP), where all the NP campsites were booked out.  We found a free camp, Rivers and Rocks, which was nice but overcrowded.

This was the view near our campspot, so it was worth it camping there.
This was the crowded, free campsite where we got blocked in both nights.

There is so much to see in Freycinet – great scenery and lots of walks.  We made the most of our day there, starting with Wineglass Bay.  Sometimes, especially in Tassie, one has a day with ao much beautiful scenery its almost overwhelming and certainly its stunning and inspiring.  The 5th of March in Freycinet was one such day.

It was a nice walk to the Wine Glass Bay lookout with lots of stunning views.. We decided to skip the 1000 steps down to the beach and back!

We did the boardwalk up to the lighthouse – great vistas.

The main street of Coles Bay with more fabulous views. We ended our scenic day with an ice cream stop here. 7 k’s walked, lots of stairs and perfect weather. What’s not to like!
The Friendly Beaches – our final stop as we were leaving the Freycinet Peninsula. We did a 2.5k walk on that beautiful beach.
Next stop was Bicheno where we saw the blow hole in action and enjoyed a lobster lunch. Doesn’t Dick look happy here!
Stayed at Chain of Lagoons free camp. Most free camps here are very crowded, so the swans made the best photo.

We went through the town of St Helens, left the coast and started to head up to the northernmost corner on the east coast.

On the way to the cheese factory, where we stopped for tasty cheese and fudge, we saw heaps of cows. That whole day of driving north we saw over 2000 cows, some sheep and horses, as we passed through forests and farms.
St Columba Falls were impressive and one of the highest in Tassie with a 90 m drop.  It was worth the walk to see them.
We made it to Cape Portland, top north east corner, where we camped at Petal Point. Finished the day with a walk on the beach and playing our ukes (a 6.5 km walking day).
Our next stop was the Tebrakunna Wind Farm, in the middle of nowhere at Cape Portland, They had a geat display centre with lots of interesting information about the build and operation of the Wind Farm, which is 75% OWNED BY SHENHUA GROUP IN CHINA.  They also displayed good information on the original inhabitants of the land there.

Now I found learning about the wind farm VERY INTERESTING.  If that does not interest you, I suggest you skip this paragraph.  The wind farm is spread over the 5500 hectare property of Cape Portland.  They had to build 70 km of tracks to provide access to the sites of the 56 turbines.  64 km of underground cable connects the turbines to the control building.  In this area the average wind speed is 33 km/hr.  Turbines turn at 12 km/hr and they stop turning at 90 km/hr.  To build the foundation of each turbine requires 80 truckloads of concrete, 64 tonnes of reinforcing steel and 9 tonnes of anchor bolts.  Each foundation weighs more than 1250 tonnes.  Each of the 56 turbines was transported to the site in pieces.  In February 2013 the first turbines were erected by two cranes (one was a 500 tonne crane and the other was a 1200 tonne crane).  Both were brought to Tasmania for this job.  The towers are 80 m high.  Each turbine generates 3 Megawatts.  There are 3 blades per turbine.  The blades are 44 m long and weigh 7 tonnes each.  They were made in China and Italy.  Sounds like the Chinese believe in renewable energy.  Too bad they own 75% of this wind farm.

These next two slides were displayed on the wall inside the display centre at the Tebrakunna Wind Farm and outline the history of the local people who originally inhabited Trouwunna, Tasmania.  It makes sobering reading.

From the wind farm we drove across the peninsula to Mt William NP and camped at Stumpy’s 3 campground, right near this lovely beach.
Great place for exploring along the beach, more black swans and the lovely red rocks; so a good 4.5km walk.
Our campsite at Stumpy 3 campground with our friendly visitor
We enjoyed the Mt William Summit Walk (45 minute trek to the top) and the panoramic views.
It was a lovely spot to camp, mostly locals not tourists in that area, lots of good walks and we finished off with a beautiful sunset.

We returned south back to St Helens to resupply before camping at Seatons Cove in the Bay of Fires.

Our campsite overlooked the picturesque Seatons Cove. This is classic Bay of Fires scenery with those stunning red rocks.

The Explorer Motorhome (MH) Rally at Cozy Corner South was our next stop and it was a 4 minute drive.  Actually it was a very casual get together of 12 Explorer MHs/20 people.  Lots of chatting and a great group photo on the beach.

Group photos, happy hour and a sign made of seaweed on the sand.
This is what we looked like from the air (or from the drone).
More great rocks to clamber over.
Binalong Bay, near St Helens, marks the start of the Bay of Fires and gives a taste of the great scenery to come as you go north.

After the rally we checked out Binalong Bay and then treated ourselves to a night in St Helens and dinner out. We made sure to get another lobster and salad lunch before leaving the coast.

This map outlines the route we took in this blog post.

Next stop on the 15/3/24 was JACOBS LADDER and that heralds the next blog, which will cover the last two weeks of this trip.

2 thoughts on “Up the East Coast of Tasmania”

  1. Sounds like a great trip Pat and Dick. I was very interested in the windfarm section – it amazes me how big they are. It’s a pity, as you say, that we don’t own the while thing though.
    I loved the photo of Binalong Bay- what a gorgeous little cove!

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  2. Great post Pat. Really interesting information. You’re quite right about China being committed to sustainable energy. The massive city that is Beijing has 75% of its energy coming from solar and wind power.
    I see Dick has installed a wind turbine on the top of Belle. I don’t know about that – you can’t drive faster than 90km/hr and you’d have to be a bit careful with overhead bridges. Still, think how high he can hoist the internet cable.
    Love your map! Great to see exactly where you’re talking about.
    The photos are beautiful, as usual. Such great memories.

    Reply

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