Tasmanian Update

Well, it's been too long.  Yikes!!!  We actually returned from Tassie a few months ago.....before our trip to Europe.  So we thought we'd take this opportunity, while waiting for a weather window to head to New Caledonia, to share a bit of our Tasmanian travels.  We left Sydney on a beautiful day, heading south on a perfect spinnaker run down the coast.


With 3+ knots of current with us, the miles flew by




Finally, after a surprisingly mellow four day crossing of the Tasman Sea, we made landfall at Wineglass Bay at dawn...what a treat to drop the pick in Tasmania and watch the sun come up before anchor beers and a good sleep!!!

We were anchored at the little spit across the bay from here to try to get some protection from the swells...didn't happen!

We'd been to Tasmania a year before with our trusty old land cruiser, but this was our first sail down here.  Wineglass, though gorgeous, was a rolly anchorage, and we didn't spend too much time there.  Besides, we were eager to sail to Hobart, to meet up with good Seattle mates David and Diana, veterans of several joint Bravo adventures.











We rented a couple of camper vans and hit the road to do some fantastic backpacking and hiking around this terrific southern Australian state.  Some we had hit the previous year, other spots were new to all of us, but all were a great time.  In no particular order, here are some highlights:


Freycinet Peninsula

With its beautiful beaches, and Wineglass Bay hiking, this is just a fantastic intro to Tasmania.

Walls of Jerusalem

We saddled up the rigs and headed to Walls of Jerusalem, a fantastic national park, with terrific alpine hiking.  We did a three day backpack into the park.  Perfect weather (rare) made this an exceptional hike.  The only mishap except for sore knees and blistered feet was the night that a possum chewed his way into our tent and pushed his front feet and head in before we chased the rascal out.....got a bit of adrenalin pumping, and left a nice hole in the tent!!!  Most animals in Australia, we've learned, will kill you if they get half a chance, so I guess the little bastard let us off easy!!!

Summit ridge rock hopping.  Much of the hiking was above tree line this far south

Bay of Fires

We drove around the north east coast, camping in some sweet beach camps along the way.

Into the World of Opium...

We couldn't visit Tasmania without seeing our Tasmanian mates Merve and Trudy who live in Longford.  Had a fun couple of days with them.  Merve just retired from the opium business, where he ran his harvester when the poppies were ready to pick.  (Trivia bonus question:  Where is the world's largest crop of legal opium poppies grown?  Tasmania, of course!!!). We had a fun visit to a field being harvested, and learned a lot of the inside story of opium, Tassie style!

Tbe men and their machine!

Mt. Fields National Park


Heading west, we paid a visit to Mt. Fields.  Though the weather was a bit more Tasmania-like, we got in some good hiking in the mist around the old ski fields.

We came across an old ski cabin.  It was a club cabin, and all the old gear had been left intact, like an old leather boot and climbing skin time capsule...Very cool to poke around

It was a bit of a soggy hike!

Corinna, the Tasmanian Rainforest

Our final exploration with David and Diana was back in the Hobart area, on the coast near Port Arthur.  There was some dramatic coast hiking to be found at Cape Raoul!

South Bruny Island lighthouse

After a few weeks of land exploring, we sadly said our good byes to D&D, and loaded Bravo back up to check out more of Tasmania by water.  It really reminds us of our home turf, the US and Canadian Pacific Northwest.  Beautiful cruising grounds, with lots of little bays and gunk holes to discover.

That about wraps up our Tasmanian junket earlier this year.  We had a good sail back north to Sydney.    Took a bit longer due to that East Australian current on the nose.  We enjoyed Pittwater in the off season, much more laid back than at Christmas and New Years.  Then hopped up to Yamba for a wonderful visit with cruising mates Lionel and Irene from s/y Kiapa.  They've bought a really outstanding B&B, (https://www.stayz.com.au/accommodation/nsw/northern-rivers-byron-bay/yamba/4937325). If you're looking for an Aussie getaway, you can't do better!

We've just completed a quick haul out here on the Gold Coast for anti foul and a few other odds and ends.  Now in Southport, we're looking good to clear out and sail to New Caledonia tomorrow.  Looks like a decent weather window, and we should arrive in about a week.  We plan to spend about three months in New Cal, supposed to be some beautiful diving.  Then "lather, rinse, repeat".....(sail back to Australia before cyclone season arrives). Cheers!