| ABOUT THE ACCOMMODATION ... |
Casuarina Beach Camp and White Gums
Camp each provide twin share accommodation in environmentally
sensitive standing camps built on wooden platforms with canvas
walls. Foam mattresses and pillows are provided, as well as
camp showers and composting toilets. Guests stay in restored
Bernacchi House on the final night.
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| Maria Island Guided Walk ITINERARY ... |
Truly Ref 1303
Departs and ends in Hobart. The four-day trips leave
Hobart on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, from October - May.
Participants meet at
8.00 am at Hobart's Salamanca Arts Centre, with a return to the same
venue by 5 pm on Day 4 of the trip - airport drop off is optional.
The trip departs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from October to
May.
Group size is limited to eight persons,
accompanied by two guides, and light packs of 5-8 kilos are
carried along firm sandy beaches or gentle forest trails.
The walk is graded easy/gentle.
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DAY
1: Hobart - Casuarina Beach Camp
Starting at historic Salamanca Arts Centre in Hobart, drive
through lush east coast farmland to the pioneering coastal town of
Triabunna. Board a charter boat the whet your appetite for
adventure, exploring Mercury Passage en route to the isthmus on
Maria Island where you will land on an untouched beach feeling just
like Robinson Crusoe. Soon you are walking in the footsteps of
French explorer Nicholas Baudin, and recall his enchanting
encounters from 1802 with the Tyredderne Aboriginal people of the
island. After enjoying lunch you can choose to visit dramatic
Haunted Bay with its magnificent granite outcrops and fairy penguins
or alternatively relax wandering along the beautiful beaches or take
a dip at a sheltered bay.
Spend overnight at the delightful Casuarina Beach Camp in an open
forest busy with the sound of Tasmania's native birds.
Distance: 3 km walk - 2 hrs (or with Haunted Bay 12 km walk - 4
hrs).
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DAY
2: Five great beaches - White Gums Camp
East does it - this is 'five beaches day'. Walk across the isthmus
(pictured) to Shoal Bay, where a string of five fabulous beaches unfolds before
you. Add a dash of spice at the convict cells at Point Lesueur,
where you will hear tales of intrigue from the early days of this
outpost. Birds and Kangaroos abound in the vicinity of five natural
freshwater lagoons.
Inspect an ancient Aboriginal ochre pit at Bloodstone Point, then
continue past Gull Nest Point to Soldiers Beach and Return Point. |
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Put your feet up at White Gums Camp where there's plenty of time to
take a swim, observe the resident Cape Barren Goose family with the
new goslings or just relax on the sparkling beach and breathe in
some the worlds cleanest air. Then at night you will relax and drift
into a slumber to the murmur of the lapping waves.
Distance: 13km – 6hrs
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DAY 3:
Gondwana Rainforest - White Gums to Bernacchi House
Leave behind the pristine white beach for the rich green of grand
forests. This is a prime habitat of the endangered 40-spotted
Pardalotes one of our smallest and rarest birds. Take the gentle
inland track through the planet's largest stand of tall Tasmanian
blue gums with its great ferns that are relics of the super
continent of Gondwana.
Emerge from the forest at the Painted Cliffs and Hopgrounds Beach
and after lunch you can climb to either the peak of Mount Maria (as
pictured) or
Bishop and Clerk which is over the eastern side of the island towers 600m straight
out of the ocean. Views to take your breath away!
Explore the restored convict settlement of Darlington and its doomed
silkmaking, winemaking and cement manufacturing industries. Enjoy a
sumptuous banquet and accommodation in the historic home once
occupied by Italian entrepreneur, Diego Bernacchi.
Distance: 8 km - 4 hrs (or 15 km - 7 hrs with Bishop and
Clerk) |
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DAY 4: Relaxed
final day -
Return to Hobart
The final day begins with a hearty breakfast followed by a morning
free for you to drink in the ambiance of this preserved convict
settlement, which pre-dates Port Arthur. Wander through the
Coffee Palace and uncover the artefacts of the island's cultural
heritage or simply sit in the forest shade discovering the hidden
habitats of many native creatures around the Reservoir Circuit.
After a leisurely champagne lunch, overlooking the Freycinet
Peninsula, explore the world class fossil cliffs and fascinating
ruins of the industrial period, as your guides unravel their hidden
secrets.
Relaxed and refreshed, you will catch the Maria 1 ferry back to
Triabunna from the Darlington jetty and enjoy a gentle journey back
to Hobart through the beautiful Coal River Valley and pioneering
Richmond.
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For more information about Maria Island and the Walk, including a Gear
List, click onto General Information
and Facts about Maria Island Walk ...
Please note: Due to weather
conditions, the itinerary may be amended without notice
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Wombat
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Wallaby
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Cape Barren Goose
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Yellow Winged Black Cockatoo |
Green Rosella
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Included in Maria Island Guided Walk
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~ All Transport: Hobart - Maria
Island
- Hobart
~ Three night twin share accommodation and excellent meals
~ Two guides per trip with maximum 8 guests
~ National Park entrance fees
~ Raincoat and pack supplied, together with sleeping bag
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