Wineglass Bay Sail Walk with the Tasmanian Walking Company
WE set sail for a hiking cruise along Tasmania’s scenic East Coast at Wineglass Bay that is all about wining and dining — and walking.
TAS
Don't miss out on the headlines from TAS. Followed categories will be added to My News.
OUR group of eight gathers at 7.30am in a Hobart hotel, where we meet guides Kia and Sarah then drive 90 minutes northeast to the town of Orford, by the mouth of the Prosser River on Tasmania’s East Coast.
Five hundred metres offshore, Lady Eugenie, the 23m luxury ketch that will be home for the next three nights, lies at anchor. Skipper Steve ferries us across in the yacht’s tender, we stow our gear then motor-sail an hour to the north end of Maria Island. Under grey skies and in a stiff April southerly, we start our first hike on Tasmanian Walking Company’s four-day Wineglass Bay Sail Walk.
THIS IS THE BEST ACCOMODATION IN TASMANIA
TASMANIA NAMED BEST ISLAND IN REGION
“The trail up to Bishop and Clerk gets steep and scramble-y near the top, so please don’t
feel that you have to keep climbing beyond where you’re comfortable. There’s also an easy coastal route Sarah will be happy to take you along,” Kia says.
We’re all up for the five-hour return hike to the clump of boulders 600m above sea level, though when we reach the final set of switchbacks littered with dolerite scree, passenger Robin thinks better of it and waits while the rest of us tackle it for the view north to Schouten Island and Freycinet Peninsula.
By the time we hike down to the cluster of buildings that comprise the former convict settlement of Darlington, it’s nearing sunset. Swathes of feathery grass are alive with Cape Barren geese, Forester kangaroos and Maria Island’s remarkably blonde-furred wombats.
Overnight anchorages on this trip vary according to wind and wave conditions, and tonight we’ll be at Crockett’s Beach on the north side of Schouten Island. Due to a hitch in Lady Eugenie’s sailing schedule, there are two skippers on board to wrangle our passenger mix of Victorians and Sydneysiders. Skipper Chris has turned out to be an enthusiast for 1970s rock ’n’ roll, and while the evening’s aperitifs are genteel, epicurean Tasmanian cheeses and wines, they’re accompanied by middle-aged grooving to familiar songs and hilarity over Chris’s unrestrained vocal contributions.
With the yacht’s limited galley space, there’s minimal cooking on board and we’re served lots of quiches, terrines and salads, along with Tasmanian tempters such as Barilla Bay oysters, salmon fillets and platters of sizzling prawns. Being a wine drinker marooned on a luxury yacht in Tasmania is no bad thing, and Chris has catered for everyone with local selections of sav blanc, cab merlot, pinot noir and riesling. Refreshments on the Wineglass Bay Sail Walk.
Next morning, my fellow passenger Lenny and I pester Steve for the chance to bait a hook and throw a line in. Before we go ashore, we spend a companionable 40 minutes dangling bacon bits over the sandy bottom, but sadly the flathead are away. Then it’s into the tender and across to Schouten Island, where we embark on a two-hour, up-and-back hike along a creek-side trail. As on Maria Island, there’s a fair bit of clambering and rock-hopping — it’s worth noting that some hikers on this trip keep a trekking pole handy to keep pressure off dodgy knees.
The north side of Schouten is still the best place out of the southerly, so we remain anchored at Crockett’s Beach though in better conditions Lady Eugenie would overnight at Wineglass Bay. Dropped at Hazards Beach on Freycinet Peninsula next morning, only passenger Renee, Kia and I fancy the hike to the 579m peak of Mt Graham. The Peninsula Track is a gentle climb through a forest of giant gums and bottlebrushes dotted with orange fungi and tiny purple orchids. Towards the summit the trail turns to boggy button grass, then we’re among Freycinet’s distinctive lichen-spotted pink granite boulders. At the top we share with some French backpackers the view north over Hazards Beach and Wineglass Bay, the pair separated by a 2km-wide isthmus.
Furthest from us are the Hazards — four absurdly picturesque mountain peaks that stand sentinel over the northerly rim of Wineglass. The loop trail then turns marshy again for a kilometre or so, before plunging back into the forest and on down to the coast, where we emerge an hour before sunset on the most beautiful beach in the world.
After crossing back from Wineglass to Hazards Beach for a lift to the yacht, we climb aboard for well-earned tea, coffee and carrot cake. By the time we’ve showered, Chris has bottles of Spring Vale Tassie pinot noir at the ready, together with a gloriously pungent blue cheese, some pepper cheddar and a delicate crab mousse. I’m still on my post-hike exertion high (and now indulging in mousse and pinot), when Chris flicks through his iPod and fires up The Best of Elvis Costello — so now I can’t think of a single thing about this day that isn’t absolutely perfect.
On our last morning, Lenny persuades Chris and Steve to strap him in the bosun’s chair and winch him up the mast for a few photos. Then, carrying all our gear, we’re ferried one last time to Hazards Beach where we farewell our two skippers.
The rest of the group, together with Sarah and Kia, traipse back across the isthmus to Wineglass Bay.
Lots of mostly useless words are spent trying to describe Wineglass Bay. Suffice it to say, it should be the birthright of every Australian to take a swim here.
After lacing boots and shouldering packs, we hoof it up the 1.5km Freycinet Trail to be collected at the carpark for the run back to Hobart. Stopping at Darlington Vineyard, we meet owner and vigneron Paul who’s set up a wine tasting for us. It’s a cheery way to break the
2 ½ -hour drive, and it allows those of us being dropped at the airport to sort hiking gear and repack suitcases.
“We’re not quite done yet,” Sarah says with a grin, as Paul reappears with a tray of Tassie smoked mussels and salmon, cheeses and spicy dips.
In between spearing mussels and savouring one last glass of pinot, Lenny and I swap email addresses so he can send me his bird’s-eye yacht photo. A great memento, but one that I’m sure I won’t need — my first visit to Wineglass Bay has left memories that will be a long time fading.
The writer was a guest of Tasmanian Walking Company.
Originally published as Wineglass Bay Sail Walk with the Tasmanian Walking Company
Where to go to see the Southern Lights
Everyone knows about the northern lights — but what about the southern version? Tasmania offers the perfect perspective for when particles collide in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Only in Tasmania: 14 things you need to know
From MONA to the markets, you'll get the inside track on how best to see the city's hot spots with our travel cheat sheet.