Sunday 17th December – Freycinet National Park, Wineglass Bay and Platypus spotting

On the East coast of Tasmania there is a peninsula consisting entirely of the Freycinet National Park. Within the park is one of the most photographed locations on the entire Island – Wineglass Bay.  This was our first destination today, but before we even reached there we had an impromptu stop by the roadside where I was delighted to see one of these…. 

A rare echidna, Tasmania’s version of the hedgehog, right by the road.  A couple of Australians passing by said they'd lived here for 6 months without seeing one, so a totally unexpected treat.  Meanwhile, the hunt for a wild Tasmanian Devil continues…..

The car park for the hike to the viewpoint for Wineglass Bay was rammed.  We joined the rest of the crowds up the trail which was only 3km long but was described on the signs as ‘maybe the hardest walk you’ll do in Tasmania’! 

Wineglass Bay from the viewpoint.

The view was great but it didn’t end there.  We took our time stopping at some of the other scenic spots in the NP, including the viewpoint at Cape Tourville Lighthouse where we had lunch whilst being able to spot birds and seals on a nearby island. 

Our lunchtime view from Cape Tourville Lighthouse

At another cove we noticed a swarm of large jellyfish in the water:

Giant pink Jellyfis

We saw as much as we could cram into the time we had.  We needed to reach the middle of the island tonight for our visit to Cradle Mountain tomorrow and we had discovered that driving around Tasmania takes longer than you might expect. In some ways this is a bonus – the roads are great fun!  The boys at Top Gear or The Grand Tour as its now called should come and test flashy cars out here, it’s great fun when you’re not driving your own motor. 

We made some enquiries online whilst we still had phone reception and booked another cabin for the night, this time at Mole Creek. Whilst booking we became aware that this central area of Tasmania is home to the platypus.  Another chance for a rare wildlife spot!  We took advice from our hosts and headed down to a nearby river where we were ‘guaranteed’ some platypus action.  With the help of a couple of locals, one who was mastering the controls of his new drone, we managed to see a couple of platypus swimming as sunset approached.  This is the best photograph I managed to get from the distance we were working with.  You will just have to believe me – this IS a platypus!

Platypus swimming.... honest!

Even if we hadn't seen a platypus, the view of the river was beautiful