Thursday 9th April 2009

Greetings from Swansea - as unlike it's South Wales namesake as can be and not a sign of a little brown fish (League of Gentlemen fans will know what I mean! We obviously need more fibre). We are on the east coast of Tasmania, the seaside holiday destination for Tasmanians and with beautful unspoilt beaches, with sand the colour of vanilla sugar and clear azure sea we can see why. The Freycinet Peninsula is the highlight with the added attraction of mountains and bushwalks, the Peninsular walk is a Tasman 'Great Walk', 30k long over two days. We did it in one! For once we had wonderful weather and set off at 8am; enjoying the easy bush walk and the views of the coast. We had the company of gulls as we traversed the length of Hazards beach and then into bush again where we surprised a couple of wallabies. The ascent of Mt. Graham gave us wonderful views of the peninsula and the coast but the scenic highlight was to come. Wineglass Bay (photo) is a perfectly shaped curve of brilliant white sand, fringed by bush lapped by clear blue waves. It appears on all tourist literature but has one drawback as far as your average 'sights' bagger is concerned; it can only be reached by boat or by an hours walk over a saddle. Tens of thousand of tourists every year walk up from the car park (the start & end point of our walk) to a look-out at the top of the saddle to take a photo, a few of these hardy souls go down to the beach but very few get further. It is a rude return to civilisation when you get there. And yes, there were coachloads of Japanese tourists!