Eaglehawk Neck

[Kyle]Our next stop was just south of the southerly 43rd parallel at the pinch point between the Forestier and Tasman Peninsulas. Once again, we had a big storm on the way, but we did have time before it arrived for an excursion day to explore the area sights.

Our trip ashore started with tea and cake at the Blue Seal cafe

We rowed ashore early to make the most of the daylight. The rain hadn’t quite finished yet, so we had a cold slog from our anchorage over the intervening ridge to Doo Town. Doo Town was so named when, in 1935, Hobart architect Eric Round placed the nameplate “Doo I 99” on his weekend shack. After that, most of the residents in the area have managed to somehow incorporate ‘Doo’ in the names of their houses; Da Doo Ron Run, Doo Nothing, Humpty Doo, etc, eventually they just named the whole conglomoration "Doo Town".

We enjoyed the silliness of Doo Town

We then continued to the Tasman Blowhole and Tasman Arch tracks. This is where things got really really nice. High cliffs punctuated with narrow inlets dominate the whole coast along here. There are caves, arches and blowholes galore.

Tasman Blowhole

Some great scenery on the deserted coastal trail (most visitors drive between scenic spots and miss the scenery inbetween)

Devil's Kitchen, and the Tasman Arch were tourist hotspots

Kelp Gulls were all along the cliffs

From the tops of the cliffs, we could watch graceful Kelp Gulls as they deftly maneuvered themselves to tiny little nesting shelves with impossibly difficult spot landings. We spent ages watching them practicing their skills. They would take off and hover in the gusty updrafts, learning how to stay in perfect control: A gust hits, fold your wings. A lull; spread ‘em wide. Weight forward, weight back. Hold it. Hold it! Then they would drop down and sidle sideways up to a tuft of grass in a little crevice, land, and fold their wings without a beat. Maude (as in the character from the movie “Harold and Maude”) was right. They were really just seagulls, but to her, they will always be ‘Excellent Birds’.

Maryanne and I pushed our way south to one cliff-top view after another. Eventually, we conceded that it was time to head back home and turned around.

The Superb Fairy-Wren, scarlet robin, and Green Rosella were just a few of the birds we spied

Back at Doo Town, we decided to leave the road and take our chances on the beach of Pirates Bay (we weren’t certain it would go all of the way through as the tide was rising). We found lots of beautiful rock formations and interesting tide pools. We even got to watch a couple of hang gliders take off.

The shore walk along Pirates Bay was refreshing

A handful of hang-gliders were enjoying the breeze too

Back on the opposite side of the dunes from Begonia, we crossed to the Officers' Quarters Museum. There, we learned about the Dogline. Begonia’s spot in Eaglehawk Bay is only separated from the open Pacific by a narrow sand spit called Eaglehawk Neck. This tiny sliver of land separates the Tasman and Forestier Peninsulas. The Tasman Peninsula housed the convict colony at Port Arthur and Eaglehawk Neck was the pinch point where all escaped prisoners from there would have to traverse to make it to freedom.

Eaglehawk Neck - dogline and the offiers' quarters (the oldest wooden military building in Australia)

A large swath was cleared across the neck, on which were placed several vicious dogs chained at intervals to ensure no gaps. It seems pretty ingenious (and terribly frightening). To this day, it is the only instance of a prison system employing dogs as guards.

It was so good to be within sight of the boat, but there was another attraction just 1km further – the Tessellated Pavements. This is a place where geological processes formed large areas of regularly shaped ‘tiles’. It’s a lot cooler than it sounds. Plus, the adjacent bay is filled with all sorts of photogenic beauty. We were even lucky enough to see three fluffy little Kelp Gull chicks in their fuzzy down.

Tesselated (tiled) Pavement - so much amazing geology in this tiny area

How nice that there happened to be a pub on the walk home

Okay, maybe the extra credit part of the walk was a bit too much. We had walked well over 20km for the day and were in need of some respite. Luckily, the Lufra Hotel sits right atop the cliffs above the Tesselated Pavements AND they have a pub! We’d recommend it even if we hadn’t been ravenous to begin with anyway. It was good food, a lovely atmosphere and a first-class view. That made the last little bit to the dinghy seem like a little side trip. Time to hunker down for the storm.