Since the Orford Campsite had a great kitchen we cooked up bacon rolls for breakfast to set us up for our active day ahead. Last night was our last night in a tent for this trip and it was dripping with condensation this morning so it will have to be hung out to dry when we get to Hobart.
By 9 am we were on the ferry to Maria Island. There was so little literature available in books or online about Maria island, it was hard to know what to expect and I can’t help but think that in this age of information overload the locals are keeping this place a secret to stop it being spoiled.
Because we had no expectations, we were very pleasantly surprised – it’s a magical place and I’d love to come back and camp for a night or two in the future.
The beaches were pristine; fine white sand with the cleanest, bluest water I’ve seen in Tasmania. It was forecast to be chilly and windy today so we had our down jackets and waterproofs but it was in fact glorious and we’d have been better off packing our swimmies.
Like Port Arthur, after the colonial era Maria Island was a convict settlement and penitentiary but has also seen lots of industry and farming including a cement works and vineyards.
There were fascinating historic ruins and lots of wildlife; Cape Barren geese, wallabies, kangaroos lying down in the shade of trees which were so well camouflaged against the dry grass you could barely notice them but once you knew where to look, they seemed to be everywhere and of course the stars of the show…the wombats!
There was evidence of these cuddly waddling marsupials everywhere in the form of their unusual square poop but up until we were about to head back to the ferry we hadn’t been lucky enough to spot one. And then….was it a rock in the distance? No, it was definitely moving…could it be…? YES! It was a WOMBAT! Mission accomplished! So, rather than a wisdom of wombats we saw just one, but that is so much better than none and we boarded the 3:30 pm ferry with big smiles and full hearts.
We’d walked 10 miles on Maria Island so we were quite happy to sit in the car for a couple of hours for our drive to Hobart. We arrived at our Heritage Cottage AirBnB at Battery Point at 6 pm. We’d booked it primarily for its proximity to Jackman and McRoss Bakery but also because Battery Point is our favorite neighborhood in Hobart.
After a much needed cuppa we went for a stroll through Battery Point, down to Salamanca and along the waterfront and stopped for dinner in the very swanky Peacock and Jones located in the Henry Jones Art Hotel. You know you’re not in San Francisco when you can walk into one of the best restaurants in town and get a table without having made a reservation.
Dinner was fabulous – lots of lovely flavors; trout crudo with buba-ganoush and chickpea crisps to start, roasted duck breast for main and a passionfruit pannacotta to finish, all helped along with a nice local cab sauv called The Bend.
Full and happy after a good day, we strolled back through a very quiet waterfront area. I guess last time we were here it was a rowdy Friday night in springtime so the locals had their drinking hats on back then!
Our cottage had a lovely comfy bed and it was so quiet (I guess the 3ft stone walls helped with that). So, a comfy bed, relative silence, 10 miles of walking, a 3 course meal and wine…all conducive to a good nights sleep!