Pottering around Coles Bay

I decided to take a couple of days of leave from work, add them to the long weekend, and drag my parents away to Coles Bay for a bit of a break. We arrived late on Sunday afternoon, which meant that on Monday morning we were already in our comfortable accommodation — with its wonderful view over the bay to the Hazards — and so were able to enjoy the sunrise.

With the weather being surprisingly pleasant for winter, we thought that we should make the most of it and head off for a walk lest the weather be unsuitable for it later. Mum decided that she was game to try to do the walk up to the Wineglass Bay lookout in the saddle over the Hazards, and so we set off for the steady climb. The track has been upgraded relatively recently (not sure when, but certainly since I was last here, which must be heading for over 15 years ago), and has some delightful stonework that is both in keeping with the surrounds and wonderfully creative. It was, however, a fairly dull day, which made for “flat” photographs, and so although Wineglass Bay looked quite spectacular below us when we finally reached the lookout (and could dodge the hordes and the intrusive film crew that had, unfortunately,  picked that particular moment to share our achievement), the view wasn’t quite the spectacular iconic image for which Freycinet Peninsula is famous.

On the way back down, via a different track, there were various interesting bits of flora and geology to enjoy (the Hazards are granite, and there are massive boulders that create interesting formations), and some fascinating “scribbly” markings on the bark of some of the eucalypt trees.

After lunch we headed out to Cape Tourville lighthouse and did the clifftop walk with its great views, and then did another little walk into a place called Sleepy Bay/Little Gravelly Beach, with its tiny beach, chunky gravelly granite sand, small creek, and massive boulders (unfortunately, the overcast conditions make it harder to see what a lovely spot it was).

When we got back to our accommodation, I convinced Mum that rowing wouldn’t be tiring and so we borrowed life jackets and one of the dinghies. As it happens, I didn’t even have to convince Dad to row because he wanted to do so. Now, I’d actually assumed that this was going to be my job, but I think he was regressing to his days in sea cadets … although it took a while for his rowing skills to come back! I’m not going to claim that I would have done any better, but there was no way we would have been able to find out because the little dinghy was fairly full with the three of us, and swapping thwarts was not a sensible option!

We made our way (erratically) half way across to Picnic Island, before the lowering sun’s approach to the horizon sent us heading back before it actually set. Having hauled the dinghy ashore, we then enjoyed a wonderful sunset at the end of an enjoyable day (in the photo of the Hazards below, the Wineglass Bay lookout is at the top of the low saddle between the moundy hill at the right and the four peaks on the left).