Tasmania Part 2

We spent about 4 days with home base in Freycinet National Park. Nestled on a gorgeous strip of the north-eastern coastline it boasts world-famous hikes, breathtaking landscapes and beaches to die for. The crazy thing about Tasmania, and Australia for that matter, is that being an island there are mile upon mile of beaches and exotic coastlines - so many that there aren't even enough people to frequent them. Often we found ourselves on the most exquisite white sand beaches without another soul in sight. It's not that they're so remote, it's just that they're everywhere. I wish I could include pics of each one - we were continually amazed.

We spent a day enjoying the famous Wineglass Bay, named not for its shape, but more gruesomely for the color of its waters back in those whaling heydays.

A 3 hour round trip hike, it was a pleasure to spend a refreshing afternoon in its now crystal waters (and to run halfway back for his glasses he left on a rock...)

Kids were super tough troopers.

Bicheno is a cool town just north where we hung out at their blowhole before witnessing the nightly "penguin parade." Couldn't take pics, but we sat in the dark and watched them waddle up out of the sea in groups of 10-20, and up around our feet into their burrows in the sandy vegetation. They were adorable and noisy and awesome.

We spent another day enjoying the many sights in the park.

Thought we'd just do the overlook, but couldn't resist meandering through the undergrowth to get down to Friendly Beach.

Check out that water!

 The unsheltered coastline made this beach quite windy, but the kids could've jumped off the ridgey sand dunes all day.

And we were fascinated by these funny looking things - they were scattered about all over many of the beaches. Summer picked up a few. Learned later they're the infamous blue bottle jellyfish with a stinging tail that packs a punch.

Cape Tourville lighthouse was used for years and years and is a great whale-sighting post apparently.

Then down to watch some snorkelers and mussel harvesters in this enchanting green stoned bay.

always glad to have our trusty 4x4 to extend our adventures a bit

There's always funny food situations with camping and on-the-go meals during travel. Nearest grocery was 2 hours away and convenience store prices were through the roof so we got creative. Enjoyed a fine meal atop the car after our lighthouse walk and the pigeons were attacking us all day afterwards. Kids also tried their first oysters. You can bet this was NOT Kenna's face after the experience.

 Finally a mega day trip north to the famous Bay of Fires. First we wound our way through Elephant Pass for their famous "pancakes" (they're crepes, people) and weren't amused by this "cute" but serious note on the menu.

Visited a tasty cheese factory and dairy farm in a gorgeous rural valley near Pyengana and discovered a tropical rainforest hike that ended in waterfall bliss. (Skipped their third attraction: the bar with an actual beer-drinking pig. Ha!)

  Look at the size of those ferns! It was wet and raw and lush and other-worldly.

We were entranced by our own private Jurassic Park up in the mountains. Pics just don't do it justice.

This is #1 of maybe 3 (?) family photos during the trip - lame.

Then finally we reached the famed Bay of Fires... with a titch of daylight left. The weather treated us to some funky skies and awesome light all evening.

I thought these rocks were made glorious by rich mineral deposits but according to my Tasmanian friend, Odette, it's a lichen. She even left this link on my FB pic - she was our virtual tour guide extraordinaire.

loved all these natural sand hill slides

Can you imagine living in that little dream spot?

never did figure out why the sand turned green when disturbed, and it squeaked too

 Made a scramble to find Summer's lost sneaker in the waning light and with a few prayers, SUCCESS! Then back to camp to collapse into deep slumber - no whinging at bedtime on days like these. :)