Maria Island Maria Island (pronounced “Ma-rye-ah”), a small island located off the east coast of Tasmania, 13 km at its widest and 20 km long, is probably one of my favourite places in all of Australia, never mind Tasmania. But if you were thinking of skipping this little slice of paradise, don’t! The island is best known for its convict history and scores of animals, Cape Barren Geese, Tasmanian devils and wombats that live there, making it known as Tasmania’s ‘Noah’s Ark’. The minute we stepped off the ferry, we stopped wombats and Cape Barren Geese. Wildlife is just everywhere here! The water is some the clearest and cleaner I’ve ever seen, beaches so inviting to run onto and dive into the water. There are no cars on the island so everyone gets around on foot or two wheels and it is a slower pace of life with little reception so it ensures you are really off the grid. We unfortunately didn’t have the time to stay overnight and most people come for a day trip but if you have the time it is definitely worth spending 2-3 days here…
I decided to write a separate blog on Cradle Mountain to my complete guide to the lap of Tasmania (click here) on how to get to Cradle Mountain, what to expect, where to stay and eat and most importantly, what hikes to do for the time you have. Cradle mountain is a hikers dream, it is where the Overland Track, a 80 km multi day hiking trial starts from and ends the other side of the National Park in Lake St Clair. If the Overland Track isn’t for you and you like the comforts of a hot shower and comfy bed at the end of a days hiking, Cradle Mountain has so much to offer. You could spend a week here between both sides of the park. There are a plethora of day walks ranging from 19 km to a cruise 2km loop. Cradle Mountain is a huge National Park and unless you are planning on doing the Overland Track (6 days), you will have to visit the Cradle Mountain side of the park and then drive to the Lake St Clair side of the park to explore this. If you are big into your hiking…
Tasmania is a bit of Australia that is well known but few chose to come and explore. I am going to try change your mind about that! Tasmania is a state of Australia located 240 km off the Southern part of the mainland and is about the same size as Ireland or Switzerland. From top to bottom is is 364 km long and about 300 east to west making it very accessible for a self driving road trip. The longest day of driving we did was about 3 hours in total so no mammoth drives like the mainland means you can see so much in a relatively short time frame. Tasmania’s beauty is like no other and its landscape is so diverse; from the lichen covered rocks and white sandy beach of the east to the bleak alpine plateaus of Cradle Mountain National Park. It is steeped in convict history and has some tragic stories of the islands indigenous history, which makes it for such an interesting place to visit. The food and wine scene is just as epic and the landscape, with some of the countries best wine, cheese and local produces. The best way to see…