Day 23 Freycinet

I generally do not like to use hyperboles but our hike today was possibly the best hike ever! It was long but not too long (11km).  It had challenging sections, but unbelievably well groomed trails.  It had stunning views nearly the whole route.  It had pristine beaches and mountains. It had wildlife.  And the weather was perfect with bright blue skies and temperatures in the high 70’s and low 80’s. All in all a perfect day.

The hike started at the parking lot and climbed steeply to the Wineglass Bay Lookout at around 700 feet.
                                       

                                       
  From here we were met with amazing views of the iconic Wineglass Bay on the Tasman Sea. The water had several shades of blue and sand along the sweeping arc of beach was bright white.  The isthmus across the peninsulas narrowest point and Hazards beach on the Great Oyster Bay side of the peninsula could also be seen.  

We descended from here to the beach itself, about 2 ½ km away.  The beach was wide and clean with fine white sand.  Some people were feeding a wallaby (which is a big no-no) which was very content to have his photo taken and showed no fear of us.






                       

We pressed onward across the Isthmus Track to Hazard Beach.  Somewhere along this jungle track Jeri lost her watch.  She had it about ten minutes earlier because she had checked it at that point. We went back to try to find it, and fortunately, at about the 10 minute point, we met a couple who had just picked it up.

Of greater interest, though, we finally came across a snake, one of the last animals we (me) had not yet seen.  It just happened to be a black tiger snake, a venomous viper with one of the most deadly bites in Australia if not in the world.  I was able to get close enough to get a couple of shots but not close enough to not be able to write this.  It reminded us of the green mamba that John, Karen, Jeri and I saw in Tanzania a few years ago that we were told was harmless.
       

                                         

 The Isthmus Track brought us to Hazard Beach, another wide arced beach that was begging me to try out.  I took off my shoes and walked along the shore in the water and cooled off my feet.  The beach was littered with beautiful shells.  We stopped here for a picnic under the shade of some eucalyptus trees. Rejuvenated after lunch of PB and banana sandwiches and apples and oranges (the alternative was to have the lodge pack a lunch of food we wouldn’t eat for $55), we pushed onward for the last 1/3 of the hike along the Great Oyster Bay side of the peninsula past several small secluded beaches with again, great views.

  The temperature was fairly high at this point, but we were exposed enough to get some refreshing sea breezes. Though we were pretty tired when we reached the parking lot, we were all sad to have the hike end.  After a bite to eat at the lodge, we did some laundry and then crashed finally getting to sleep before 11:30.