TASMANIA – ON THE ROAD

NOVEMBER 4 – 13, 2025

We spent a great deal of time driving. Tasmania is not big, but the roads are winding so progress is slower than usual. GPS took us down some shortcuts that had us wondering where in the hell we were.

Some roads did not give the mileage to the next town, it showed how much time it would take. The time was very deceiving to the kilometers, because of the crooked roads.

There was a lot more farm land than I was expecting to see.

Some farmers got very creative with their tree stumps.

We saw lots of beautiful, lush forests.

There are beautiful flowers growing along the roads.

We did not eat out often, but one of our favorite snacks were these delicious meat pies. They were chunky, hearty and tasty. They were available at nearly every service station.

Now that’s a chocolate chip cookie!

We noticed that men and women both had an abundance of tattoos on their arms and legs.

Some trees looked like the wrinkle of skin.

As with the mainland of Australia, we slept in the back of our rental SUV. The campsites varied from amazing to fair.

A lot of places we stopped were basically a photo op. The weather was mostly rainy, so we were not up to taking long hikes. The weather changed on a dime. One minute it was warm and sunny, the next was cold and wet. And I do mean in a single minute!

REMARKABLE CAVE is more of a tunnel and just a short walk from MAIGNON BAY LOOKOUT. The cave was formed from years of crashing waves causing a wall of sandstone to collapse and create the tunnel that we see today. Apparently, when the sea is rough enough, the waves rush through and create a great sight!

Off in the distance from the lookout I could make out CAPE RAOUL and its spectacular dolerite cliffs.

TASMANS ARCH is similar to Remarkable Cave, in that the waves pounded out a hollow.

Near Tasmans Arch was DEVILS KITCHEN. It started out like Tasmans Arch, but the relentless sea finally won out leaving a 60 m (197 ft) chasm. It is called Devils Kitchen because of the churning of the water looking like a giant cooking pot, and of the occasional appearance of a mist on the water.

We did go for a hike at WINEGLASS BAY, despite the rain.

We climbed all 700 steps to reach a lookout,

The Bay was shrouded in mist.

It did not matter, the hike was amazing. We saw some unusual rock formations

and colours.

We saw some strange coloured trees.

And strange benches

The BAY OF FIRES had hurricane force winds. It is called Bay of Fires because when the sailors first saw it, the Aboriginies had fires lit all along the bay. Also, the rocks are red, like fire.

We stopped in ST. HELEN’S at a small, but interesting museum. They had some stuffed animals, artifacts, and items made from seaweed by the native people. Such as these shoes.

The main part of the museum was talking about the TIN INDUSTRY that went on here in the late 1800s. Hundreds of Chinese migrant miners were instrumental in the industry’s operations and still have a significant cultural impact on the area.

We stopped in PENGUIN, but did not stay until evening, when the little penguins come out of their dens.

In SHEFFIELD we looked at the winners in the recent MURALS FESTIVAL. They were all amazing, but I had a few favorites.

The murals were not just for the festival, they are all over town, painted on the sides of buildings.

Also in Sheffield, we stopped at a HONEY STORE. Tasmania is known for its Manuka and Leatherwood honey. They each have a very unique taste. We bought some Honey Tea concentrate, Honey Mead, and a regular jar of honey. The tea did not make it past two days, it was delicious.

We stopped at Derwent Bridge specifically to see THE WALL IN THE WILDERNESS. This incredible work of art is hand carved out of Huron Pine by artist Greg Duncan. It is 100 metres (328 ft) long.

The artist carved the history of the area onto 50 double sided panels 1 metres (3.28 ft) wide and 3 metres (9.84 ft) tall. The detail of the carvings is breathtaking. The figures come alive with every nuance of their clothing, facial expressions, muscular structure. The animals are carved with the same detail. You can almost see the horses sweat. There are many parts that are not finished. We could see the drawing of where the artist intended to carve, but did not. When I asked about it, I was told the artist purposely left parts unfinished so the audience could see and more appreciate how he did worked. I cannot say enough on how beautiful it was!

We were not allowed to take pictures. I got this one off the internet. I did, however, buy a book with all of the carvings displayed in it. This display was worth the trip to Tasmania in itself!

TARRALEAH had a huge hydro electric plant that was fed by massive water pipelines.

As mentioned in the MOLE CREEK blog, the weather took a horrible turn with Tasmania seeing the coldest weather in 80 years. We even ran into snow. Evening temperatures dropped to near zero. It was no longer fun. Even the locals were not happy.

Campsites were few and far between around Cradle Mountain. The weather made sleeping in the back of the car was not an option anymore; and Pierre had caught a bad cold. We headed back to Hobart and caught a flight to Denpasar in Bali, Indonesia.