Wineglass Bay (Tasmania)

[Kyle]From Fortescue, we had an early start for the long sail to Wineglass Bay. The wind was howling and from behind, so we arrived with hours to spare before dusk. Along the way, we had an almost continuous escort of dolphins, who seemed to enjoy our speed. When one group was finished with us, another would streak in, surfing down the waves toward us. I even spotted a little penguin in there with them.

The Sail to Wineglass Bay
near constant dolphin encounters
And a change of geology

Wineglass is high on lots of “Top Things to See in Tasmania” lists. We had also had several other cruisers insist that we shouldn’t miss it. Tour boats come in daily to anchor in the bay while their guests have lunch. One posh weekly boat even takes guests ashore to walk around or lounge in pre-placed beach chairs and enjoy a seafood and champagne lunch. {Maryanne: I'm not sure why this beach is so very high on the tourist info, it is a nice beach with nice trails - but there are hundreds of others that are at least equal to it in my opinion. Still, we were happy to be there}.

Wineglass IS very pretty. Steep hills made of pink and orange granite bookend both sides of a curving, white sand beach. In the morning, our first order of business was to get a better look at it.

We landed on the far end of the 2km long beach from the trail and started walking towards the crowds on the other end. Most of them had done the 4km walk from the car park on the other side of the Freycinet peninsula (all part of the Freycinet National Park).

Royal Penguin

Wallabies - including one we found foraging and munching on mushrooms

We hadn’t even started getting warmed up when we spotted a penguin standing on the beach. He was a Royal Penguin. He was in the middle of a three-week molt. His pin feathers were no good for trapping the air he needs for buoyancy and insulation while swimming, so he just stood there, looking hungrily at the sea. He was as tame as the ones we saw in Antarctica and let us walk (gently) right up to him. He stayed in the same spot for days and it was fun to watch people walking by when they have that moment when they first see him. Everybody we saw was very respectful and didn’t harass him.

We joined the trail for a 16km loop that took us the long, flat way to the opposite side of the peninsula, and then returned over a saddle between two mountains and past viewpoints of the bays in both directions.

As soon as we left the beach, Maryanne spotted a wallaby feeding in the undergrowth. Other than that, we saw a few lizards, plenty of birds and lots of long views filled with interesting geology.

Nice trails and viewpoints

On the final leg, after topping the saddle and leaving the Wineglass Bay viewpoint, we were confronted with a sign reminding walkers that there were a thousand stairs down to the beach and not to proceed if they thought they weren’t up for the return climb.

It was late in the day. We saw a few stragglers chugging their way up the hill on our way down. We got a few, “You know, it’s uphill on the way back” and, “Make sure you get back to your car before dark” comments. The joke’s on them. We LIVE here, at least for today.

{Maryanne: We so enjoyed the loop that a few days later we did it again (but in the other direction); the pictures are a mix from both our exploring days. We also spent time aboard in the mixed weather days and managed to fix the latest rip in the spinnaker among other chores}.