Watch Out For The Hazards

Manda writes:

It was time to leave Port Arthur today and continue our journey up the East coast. We were heading to a place featured in many of the postcards and guidebooks - a place called Wineglass Bay in the Freycinet (pronounced 'Frays-nay') National Park.

We arrived mid-afternoon and were welcomed with the view of the spectacular pink granite mountains, known as The Hazards, which tower over the township of Coles Bay. They shone beautifully in the sunlight - at 300m, this range may not be the highest in Tasmania, but they sure looked pretty in pink!

There are plenty of walks available in the area for the avid trekker. We are not that avid, though, and so opted for the easy 1-hour (return) walk to Wineglass Bay lookout. The 3-hour (return) trek to the summit of Mt Amos sounded good too but with the limited daylight, we decided that it was probably not a wise idea. Well, that's our excuse anyway.

The track starts off quite flat but soon turns into a more-or-less uphill slog, all the way to the 200m-high lookout point. We passed a few walkers who had given up, found a spot to sit in the sun, whilst the rest of their party carried on.

The further we went, the more people we spotted who were now on the (presumably) easier return journey, each one assuring us that we were nearly there. The second-from-last guy joked, "You're half way there now!" Thankfully, it was only another 5 minutes, the cheeky scamp.

Manda at Wineglass Bay.

The view over Wineglass Bay is indeed stunning and well worth the effort. What would add to the experience is a complimentary glass of wine for those who made it to the top (maybe one for the suggestions book then?)! This might make the descent a little more tricky, though. From up here, the bay looks more like a golf club or a sock rather than a wineglass - an L-shape - but I guess neither 'Golf Club Bay' or 'Sock Bay' would exactly sell the place. The journey down was a lot easier, but both our legs were shaking nonetheless - it may not have been a long walk, but it sure was a steep one!

The sun was getting very low so we headed straight over to Oyster Bay to see Coles Bay and The Hazards before sunset. On the journey up the road, we noticed a Japanese girl sitting by the roadside with her bike upturned next to her. Had she had an accident? "Are you OK?" Ian asked, pulling over. She looked up, displaying cuts and grazes on her face and arms. "Yes, I'm fine," she said. We stopped anyway and went to help out. She'd apparently tumbled straight off her bike head-first into the ditch while her friends were riding on ahead, unaware of what had happened. We got the first aid kit out and she started to clean herself up with antiseptic wipes, but wasn't making a great job of it (probably something to do with the shock). She managed to calm down by the time her friends returned, wondering where their missing friend had got to. One of them rode back to lodge to bring the car over and we left them to it shortly afterwards.

We then carried on to Oyster Bay, parked up and hurried over to the beach. The Hazards were still looking golden - two out of three of the mountains were bathed in the weakening sunlight. Another minute or so later, the sun had set leaving the range in a dull, grey-ish light. This was compensated for by the wonderful pink and purple coloured sky as we drove out of town. 'Red sky at night': maybe we're in for some good weather tomorrow?

The Hazards at Coles Bay, Freycinet National Park.