I woke up and drove 2 hours south to Freycinet National Park. The drive down the east coast is known as the Great Eastern Drive, passing along many bays, beaches, and beach towns. Being winter, it was pretty quiet on the roads. Freycinet itself is located on a huge peninsula between two bays, Cole’s Bay and Wineglass Bay, both of which are pretty popular. Cole’s Bay faces the mainland and is home to a small community while Wineglass Bay on the other side of the peninsula faces the sea. The entire peninsula and national park
The hike begins with a steep trek (25 min) of stairs up to a lookout of Cole’s Bay, and then another 20min hike that was relatively uphill to the Wineglass Bay lookout. The entire region kind of had that Mediterranean/California-Chaparral type of foliage and environment. It also helped that it was 60 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. After the lookout, it is an hour downhill walk to Wineglass Bay. The bay itself is beautiful: crystal clear blue waters. white sand, orange lichen-covered rocks, and a mountainous backdrop. I stayed there for a while as I had a snack, wrote in my journal, and enjoyed the view. Finally, I continued on my way for 45 minutes, crossing the wooded isthmus. That path led me along hazards beach- which faced the mainland. As I walked along, I noticed an abundance of colorful spiral hermit crab shells. I made sure to collect a few. The beach ended after a couple of kilometers and took me upwards on a cliffside. This was the most fun part because there was a definable path, but there were no markers. It often relied on natural rock formations, very reminiscent of the King’s Canyon path. The path was also right next to steep cliff drops. That part of the track took about two hours.
Although the hike was supposed to take 5 hours, I finished it in 4. Seeing as I still had time, I went and drove to the other side of the isthmus to a short walk around a lighthouse on top of some cliffs and saw some scenic overlooks of Wineglass Bay. From where I was, I was only 1000 Kilometers from New Zealand. While there, I also saw a tour group and thought about how unnecessary it was to see the park that way; and in my opinion, it was a waste of money. I just think people don’t know where to go or what to do, and by doing just a little bit of research they would realize that they don’t need a tour. It would also probably save them a lot of money. I’d understand if they did one because they had no way of getting there but they had to have a car because it’s a remote place to get to anyways. Whatever, it’s their lives.
After leaving the park, I drove 20 minutes to the outskirts of Cole’s Bay and stayed at this secluded campsite by the water. Seeing as they had firepits, I decided to make a fire. It took me about an hour to gather and break up all the wood I could find. However, there wasn’t much around, so the fire I made lasted about two hours. At around 6, having no wood left and it being dark, I called it a night and retired to my van.
At night, every night, it was freezing outside and inside the van. Almost every night I would have to wake up and put a layer on. I end up sleeping in a long sleeve shirt and both my sweaters. As well as my sheet and blanket, and by the last few days the sleeping bag that I used as a sheet on top of my mattress… stay warm kids.