Maria Island - a quite magical island - is off the East Coast of Tasmania. With quite a history of convict holding, this island is now a National Park and a haven for all the Australian creatures to roam free - wombats, wallabies, kangaroos, and Tasmanian devils just to name a few. No cars. Just bikes. On the bucket list to explore, I gave this a go as my first solo bikepacking trip... what's the worse that would happen? A wombat sniffs out cookie crumbs in my beloved bivvy? I caught the ferry and landed on... paradise...
Making a dash from Hobart, I managed to make the 3:15pm ferry just in time to view the painted cliffs at sunset... and what an outstanding view it was... Embracing the moment as the sun dipped behind the horizon, I thought about life, the universe and everything... then meander back to the campsite to curl up in my own mini cave... my bivvy!
My 5 year old self was so, so happy ... seeing all the wombats and roos... camping in my bivvy-fort under a tree... with all the awesome Australian creatures... as the rain pitter-pattered outside...
Bright and early, I packed up and set off to the southern points of the Island... Haunted Bay and Robey's Farm.... but first had to ride down the sandy isthmus with Riedle Bay to the left and Shoal Bay to the right... hard to not take endless pictures!
Curious to explore what's under the sea surface, the best I could get was a quick dip just to have a peak...
First stop... Haunted Bay. Haunted? No, however, this bay has a history as a whaler site in the 1800's and is now home to fairy penguins...
Next, Robey's Farm... an old home of John Robey, according to the internets, a South African who farmed the land...
The last bit was meandering middle-earth of the island surrounded by ferns and moss... felt like Humboldt especially with my Revolution waterbottle at my bars...
Interestingly enough I did not see a single soul the whole time except returning close to Darlington - the ferry port.
Interestingly enough I did not see a single soul the whole time except returning close to Darlington - the ferry port.
I was lucky enough to see wombats living their wombat lives, Forester kangaroos, pademelons, potoroos, Cape Barren geese, yellow-tailed black cockatoos, Tasmanian native hens, pied oystercatcher, swift parrots, some kind of pardalotes, and best of all I saw a Wedge Tailed Sea Eagle! Did not see any devils but that was quite alright! Did not paparazzi many of these creatures as respecting the 2m wildlife rule, my gopro is not a zoom lense and my phone lost all my pictures... all the more reason to have another visit! Despite these pictures, they do not match the magic of the experience!
Ferried back to the mainland to continue my solo venture up the coast for the next day or so and what a grand time it was... My phone decided to decease forever - lucky to follow the arrows on the wahoo and have a telstra free payphone in Scamander. Certainly enjoyed the last beach bivvy night under the milky way and red moon as the Tassie winter slowly and sneakily starts settling in...
Thanks for reading and I hope the pictures are great! Cheers
Until the next adventure, back to el worko to fund el adventureos! :D
All photos complements of fancy GoPro Hero 9 :D
Thanks for reading and I hope the pictures are great! Cheers
Until the next adventure, back to el worko to fund el adventureos! :D
All photos complements of fancy GoPro Hero 9 :D