How to Spend 6 Days in Tasmania

I know I haven’t posted in a while, but my Tasmania road trip is an adventure I must share! I’m writing this post from my phone because living in a van makes it difficult to charge a computer. Since I’ve got a 10+ hour drive back to Sydney might as well be productive. Juices are flowing a bit and my mom said she wouldn’t send me any birthday money until I posted in my blog again. So here it goes, dusting off the cob webs and bringing you all the details of my EPIC Tasmania road trip!

Tasmania. The unknown, mysterious, island state hanging off the mainland of Australia. The name itself is exotic and excites interest as to what one can actually find down there. Those who have visited rave about it, but most mainland Australians have never even been. Some don’t seem to even recognize it as part of Australia, and when I discussed my plans to visit Tassie I was often met with some interesting glares. These conversations only peaked me and my friends curiosity and inspired us to send it to the unknown.

Day 1: The Tasmania Road Trip Adventure Begins

As we picked up our rental car from the Hobart airport following our brief flight from Melbourne we still had very little idea what this trip was going to entail. With 6 days to tackle Tassie, me and my friends, LuRay and Rick eagerly set off on our adventure. LuRay had arrived in Tassie before us so we picked her up from her hostel in Hobart and got a quick taste of the city before heading off to the MONA. Luckily, we were able to snag a lot of free camping gear that previous backpackers had left behind, avoiding a Kmart run, but also leaving us lacking a few items that would’ve increased the comfort over the week (will go into this later).

I’m usually not one for Museums, but anyone who had visited Tasmania raves about the MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) for its bizarre, thought provoking, and exciting exhibits. The reviews didn’t disappoint, and we all enjoyed the afternoon exploring the different installations at the museum and soaking in the beautiful views from the grounds. My favorite installations included a mechanical digestive system that literally consumes a human meal and excretes a poo at 2 pm everyday, a ceiling of light bulbs that you control with your heart rate, a panel of drawers that when opened each have a different voice saying “I love You” and of course the infamous Great Wall of Vagina. There were so many more cool aspects of the museum but they would be impossible to describe here accurately. You’ll just have to see them for yourself!

After the museum it was time to begin a short segment of the road trip and find a camp spot that would enable us to start our first leg of the journey up the East Coast of Tasmania, ultimately planning to make a decent loop of the island. Using CamperMate, we were able to find a cool looking spot not to far outside of Hobart and perfectly positioned to explore the Tasman Peninsula the next day. We made a quick grocery/alcohol run and snagged some Maccas before rolling up to our home for the night in Dunalley. We were pleasantly surprised by the views. Positioned on a grass field overlooking the bay, we had an epic view of the sun setting over the hills in the distance and enjoyed drinking some beers on the shoreline. We were also happy that our neighbors included a huge herd of sheep fenced off next to the car. We all sat under the stars drinking our wine bottles and enjoying the nature. We met a local Tassie Legend, Rick later in the night. He told us of a couple must see places, and also detailed an epic account of catching a huge shark off the coast of Tassie. The best part was he called our Rick out on being a fake Rick because his real name is technically Richard. It was a great way to end the night and head to bed excited to see what we would come across the rest of our trip.

Day 2: Our First Australia Day

First stop was the Tasman Peninsula. We got an early start on the day and our first stop was at a cute little coffee shack over looking pirates bay. We enjoyed the views and cute pillow set up. There are a lot of things to see on the Tasman peninsula but we just scratched the surface by checking out the Tasman Arch. Crazy how some of these structures formed on the coast over time.

Our main goal for the day was to get a Tassie Pie and do a little bit of celebrating for Aussie Day. Rick from the night before told us about a famous pie shop in Orford that we needed to try. This town actually ended up being really neat. The pies were incredible – tassie pies are filled with curried scallops. The town itself was very small but has a cool river jetty where everyone chills on the beach. We scoped out a spot of drink some Coronas. My favorite part was running out to the end of the jetty which was made of this weird balloon like mounds with a carpet texture. Some of them you could jump between and others you had to swim through the water to get to the next one. Rick and I made it all the way to the end and had a nice view of the bay.

After some beers and a nice cool off it was time to keep going. Our next stop was to Freycinet National Park. Rick told us about the Friendly beaches and we also knew we wanted to check out Wine Glass Bay. It had been a full day already so we all passed out in the sand once we got to the beach. It had gotten colder out so we weren’t as inclined to jump in the water but the perfectly white sand made a nice place for tuna sandwiches and nap time. We were so secluded and no one else was around. Originally we wanted to camp in the area but all the spots had been grabbed by the time we arrived. Once we awoke from our slumbers we decided to go check out wine glass bay and then head up the coast a bit more to Bay of Lagoons campground. Thank goodness the sun doesn’t set in Tasmania until like 9 pm because we needed all the time to pack in loads of adventures each day. Honestly make myself tired going over what we accomplished each day on this trip.

Wineglass Bay was worth all the hype. It’s a quick 3 km hike to the lookout point. We ran most of the way up for some reason. When you reach the top you’re met with stunning views of the bay below. We got some good photos and even captured one that looked like we were holding wine glasses.

After seeing a bit of Freycinet we headed a bit further up the coast to our camping destination. We got there as the sun was setting and enjoyed walking along the beach. After some tuna and wine we were all ready to pass out for the night.

Day 3: Heaps of Beauty all in one Day

We definitely covered a lot of ground on this day, but it was worth it because we saw so many amazing places. Most mornings began with us searching out a place to get some pies for breakfast. This brought us into the cute town of St. Helens. It was the Saturday of the holiday weekend so there were a lot of festivities going on in the town. After we ate our delicious pies, we wandered over to the fair. This is where we stumbled upon the sport of Wood Chopping. We were very intrigued by what was going on so we stood by to watch the next competition. I’ve never seen anything like it! We were so enthralled that we ended up watching for almost 2 hours haha. Eventually we had to peel ourselves away because we knew we had heaps of ground to cover.

The first stop was a quick drive to Bay of Fires. This place is known for the bright Orange algae that grows on the rocks. The contrast of the crystal blue water surrounding the orange rocks is incredible. The weather was a bit colder today, but we still enjoyed a little swim.

The next place we wanted to get to was called Little Blue Lake. I was the spear header on this adventure because I had seen some Instagram photos of the place and thought it looked amazing to check out. However, I was nervous that it wouldn’t live up to my expectations because who knows what filters those people could’ve used on their photos. The road from Bay of Fires to Little Blue Lake consisted of at least an hour drive on a gravel road. We were really in the middle of no where. At one point we stopped in the middle of the road to eat PB&J and check out some cows (Rick really likes trying to talk to animals haha). We didn’t even need to worry about another car coming up the road. By the end of it I was excited to get there but not sure if it would be worth the detour, I guess that’s what adventuring is all about though.

My nerves were immediately erased upon pulling up to the lake. Tucked into a little canyon was the most tourquoise blue lake I have ever seen. We had the place pretty much to ourselves. The water was refreshing and we even found a cliff jump! Little Blue Lake was definitely worth the journey.

Next stop, Launceston. This is the second biggest town in Hobart and LuRay had really wanted to check it out. It’s a cute town, and the water front is beautiful. We arrived a little after 5 and it felt like a ghost town. Almost every store was closed already. We were trying to find some Oysters, but were unsuccessful we did enjoy a great meal at one of the water front restaurants.

Our destination for the night was Liffey Falls Campground. We had the most amazing drive to get to the campground. The sun was setting over the mountains as we were cruising through all the open fields and farms. The lighting was incredible and made the drive a lot more interesting. We rolled up to a beautiful campground in the forest with great camping spots and a pretty little creek to jump in. We finally got to use our firewood and even made some friends with some local Tassies who were staying next to us. It was the perfect end to an awesome day!

Day 4: The Best Waterfall in Tasmania

We woke up in the morning to the light filtering through the giant trees that surrounded us in the campground. A refreshing dip in the stream got the day rolling. Today we wanted to hike to Liffey falls which was a 3 km return trip from the campground. The hike to the falls was very beautiful and pretty easy. We were surrounded by giant ferns, towering trees and the stream to guide us most of the way. When we reached the falls all of us were amazed! A heavy rush of water falls from above into a small pool. We were stoked to have the place to ourselves and spent almost an hour cooling off in the water.

After we returned to the campsite, we packed up our stuff and hit the road again. We wanted to make it all the way to the west coast of Tasmania to a town called Strahan. We were all hungry from the hike so we hit the road with the hope of finding a pie shop. Turns out we were very much in the middle of no where and it took a lot longer to reach food than we expected. We did have a nice detour onto the Big Blue Lake. The water levels were really low so We were able to take the car off roading to the edge of the water.

Thankfully we found a little hotel restaurant that was like an oasis in the middle of no where to eat lunch. Rick and I tried kangaroo for the first time. It was delicious!

We definitely crushed some Kilometers on this day, but the beauty that we drove by made the long drive very entertaining. We would get out often to take photos and enjoy the views. The landscape transforms drastically as you drive across Tasmania, and with each turn you’re presented with a completely different scene.

We reached Strahan a little before the sun was supposed to set. Oysters had been on our minds for a couple days now so we finally hunted some down and had a celebratory oyster each. They were pretty expensive so we could only afford 1 each.

The campground we headed to this night was called Macquarie Headlands. It only cost $7 and we were right on the corner of where the bay and the ocean meet. We were just in time to enjoy some ciders while the sun went down. It was an amazing sunset, one of the best I’ve seen in Australia.

Remember how I mentioned in the beginning that our camping gear was a little inadequate? Well this night was the first time it really hit us. Up until this point we were using the wine bottle method to make up for the less than par sleeping situations. Basically, would drink at least a bottle of wine each before going to bed and would sleep like a baby. Tonight, we tried to take a break from drinking heaps and we greeted in the middle of the night by a wild thunderstorm. Turns out $12 Kmart tents are not very water proof. We were pretty wet and cold through the morning hours.

Day 5: The Storm Arrived

We survived and the rain had stopped by the time we woke up. We went and explored more of the beach and walked out to get a view of the whole coastline. Strahan is truly a beautiful place. Before heading out of town we made our daily pie stop. This is worth mentioning because I had the BEST pie thus far. A magnificent beef pie overflowing with Potato and bacon bits. It was incredible! My mouth is watering just writing about it.

The weather was very foggy today as we made our way towards Hobart. There was a mountain side hike we had seen driving in the day before that we stopped to check out. Because of the fogginess it felt like we were walking to no where and everywhere you looked it was just white. We couldn’t see the waterfall at the end but it was trippy to be in such thick fog.

This was our last day in Tassie and we were all pretty exhausted from the week of crazy adventure. We decided it would be nice to get to our camping spot for the night in the afternoon so we could all just chill out. There was a good camping spot in Ouse which is only about an hour from Hobart positioning us well to catch our flights the next day. It was set on a hill overlooking a nice lake. We explored a little bit but mostly just relaxed. For dinner we went to a small restaurant in town and treated ourselves to a nice feast! Then we made a massive fire at our camp and drank copious amounts of wine (we learned our lesson the night before).

Unfortunately no amount of wine could prepare us for the weather we were gonna face. While luray was sleeping cozy in the car Rick and I braved the elements. I have never had a more uncomfortable night of sleep. The rain soaked us, there was so much mud in the tent, everything was wet and we were so cold. I definitely did not get more than a couple hours that night and I was so thankful once it was time to wake up. Was really missing my van at this point because it is quite luxurious compared to the ground.

Day 6: So Sad to say Goodbye

We made a quick stop at Russell Falls before heading to Hobart. The falls were beautiful but nothing compared to Liffey falls. There are a lot more people there as it is a main attraction of Tasmania.

After the falls we went into Hobart to see a little more of the town and do our laundry before catching our flights. I felt bad for whoever was going to sit next to us on the plane since none of us had showered the whole time.

Everyone Should Visit Tasmania, Especially Backpackers

Overall, Tasmania blew away my expectations and I had the most amazing time. The nature and beauty that we saw was unreal. It is such an unpopulated place so you have most of the views all to your self. It’s also incredibly suitable for backpackers as you can easily find free camp spots all around the island. It’s size also makes it possible to see most of the island in only a week or two. I definitely wish we had a bit more time to spend but I am glad I got a good taste of what Tasmania had to offer. I hope to make it back someday!