Day-1 Coles Bay – Cooks Beach (waypoints)

We headed off for a few nights doing the Freycinet circuit walk and then a bit of exploring in the camper up the coast on the way home from Coles Bay to St Helens. We drove down to Coles Bay and started the walk over the Hazards to Wineglass Bay. No rush today as it was an easy walk of  about 12km to the Cooks Beach camping area via the Hazards. We arrived at camp before 6PM and found a nice secluded spot away from the others in the area. There was water in the tanks and a few creeks flowing at this time of the year.

NOTE: Possums are a real problem here and have no fear due to continual feeding by campers. They have become a pest and will readily come into your tent and try to steal items as large as your pack. You can not leave any food around or it will be gone.

Day-2 – Mt Freycinet Summit

Rough plan for today was to summit Mt Freycinet and see how we go from there. I new there was a small campsite hidden away at the base of Mt Freycinet we could use if we chose to stop there. Next stop would be Wineglass Bay campsite if we chose to go over Mt Graham today. We did not go down to Bryans Beach this trip as I had done it last trip. The slog from the northern end of Cooks Beach up behind Mt Freycinet was draining in the heat but we reached the plateau area by 11AM. The turn off to Mt Freycinet was reached around lunch time. After eating and enjoying the sun we left our pack and headed for the summit. It is my second time here but Sharon's first. It's a short steep climb to the top but well worth the effort.

It was a bit hazy on top so no stunning photo's today but still great views. We found the Gauntlet Geocache after my and Shane's failure to locate it last time. It was so obvious and easy to find this time around! We enjoyed the views for ages before dropping back down to our packs. After spending so long on top we decided to camp at the base of Mt Freycinet and enjoy the possum and people less campsite!

Day-3 Mt Graham / Wineglass Bay

Packed up and off after a great and peaceful night's sleep we headed up the steep eroded granite slopes to the summit of Mt Graham by around 11AM. More great views and the start of a wet button grass type plateau that is quite surprising in this area. You pass Graham Creek (very little flow this trip!) and start your decent down to Wineglass Bay area. You get some fantastic views north looking up the peninsular if you take some of the side tracks. One tent only at Wineglass and we spent quite a bit of time here reminiscing about the time we camped here in the 1980's as students. We were going to spend another night here but decided to move on as we are so close to the truck in the car park only a short walk out from here.

Walking along the beach around 16:30 in the afternoon the gully along the surf line was full of salmon schools and there was nobody but us on the beach. Out came the rod I had carried for the whole trip, on with a wobbler and we caught fish after fish after fish, it was so easy! Sharon and I eventually got bored catching them. Sharon miss timed running from a wave and went down getting quite wet just before we decided to leave, or was that why we did leave?

We walked out eventually after heaps of fun late in the day. We met a couple watching the sunset and enjoying quite a bit of wine near the saddle. I hope they did not drive after getting back. We got in the truck and headed off to look for a camp for the night. We investigated several spots but ended up at the Friendly Beach campsites (Isaacs Point) on a site high up to see the sunrise. Not many people about here and protected camps. We had the truck setup by 19:15 and settled in for a clear night with just the waves crashing onto the beach as the only sounds. No camper this trip, we just bunked down in the truck canopy with our bags and mats. It's quite cosy and we have used it like this a few times.

Day-4 East Coast wanderings

A cool start at this time of the year. Our plan was to explore a few campsites and features of the East Coast as far as St Helens and then return to Launceston. We stopped at a few places to look at future camp sites and attractions and got into Bicheno around 10:30AM. We headed up the short trail to the top of the Whalers Lookout. Nice views out across the Gulch and north or south. You can see why the whalers setup here in the past. We checked out more sites and camps along the coast before getting towards St Helens where we did some 4WD tracks in the forests on the Loila Tier and Flagstaff Track to eventually arrive at Flagstaff Lookout after a couple of doggy wash outs and views mostly blocked by forests. Flagstaff had a new tower just built on it and some clearing had taken place allowing some views and a nicely graded road back out to the Tasman Highway. After lunch we headed out the back way to Pyengana to pick up some cheese and headed back home via Welborough, Moorina, Derby and Branxholm making many stops to check out possible future trips and attractions. We arrived home late on day four of a great few days away.

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