Coles Bay to Port Arthur

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Today dawned cloudy, cool and windy again but I started the day with a walk along the 2km beach and back at Coles Bay. Again, it was a lovely curved, white sandy beach.

At 9am we departed for our journey towards Port Arthur. First we stopped at the Tasmanian Bush Garden established by voluntary labour and opened in 2010. It was set in an old quarry and contained a vast array of native trees, shrubs and grasses. One thing that stands out is that the plants nearly all have small, spikey leaves and do not have a large number of trees – rather shrubs and bushes.

We stopped for a very good coffee at Triabunna then continued onto Sorell to stock up on food (forgot wine) and then had our lunch on the side of the road. There is clearly a lack of picnic and pull off areas on the roads in this area.

At Dunalley we saw a channel dug between east and west to shorten the boating journey from one side of the isthmus to the other. Just before Eaglehawk Neck we went to see the tessellated pavement on the coast. It is essentially straight rock joints in sandstone and mudstone that have been filled in by salt crystals from salt water forcing the joints apart to form strong cracks, making the rocks crack into large blocks.

At the Dog Line at EagleHawk Neck we saw where the constabulary guarded the narrow isthmus against prisoners from Pt Arthur trying to escape by swimming or getting across the isthmus to the mainland. They were deterred or caught by vicious dogs kept hungry in order to sniff out and catch escapees.

We turned off the main road from this location and headed along the coastal route to Pirates Bay where we visited Tasman Blowhole, Tasman Arch and Devils Kitchen. These are all places on the very steep cliffs where the sea has carved into the cliffs to eat out the joints into large chasms forming arches and tunnels. All locations had excellent viewing platforms. Essentially, they were a little like the Punakaiki Rocks and the tunnel/caves at Whararaki Beach back in NZ but in a larger landscape.

Finally we arrived at the Port Arthur Holiday Park where we have a small cabin for the next two days. A little small but adequate. The weather forecast does not seem to be improving so we can continue to look forward to another cool day tomorrow followed by rain on Friday. We’re certainly not having a lot of luck with the weather.

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Photos

Tasman Arch
The Tasman Arch in the Tasman National Park

The tessellated pavement
The tessellated rocks on the foreshore of Tasman NP. Formed by salt crystals expanding the joints in the rocks.