Finding peace at the bottom of a wineglass

by Angela Razzell (United Kingdom (Great Britain))

I didn't expect to find Australia

Sitting on the beach of Wineglass Bay, I’m as close to an idyll as possible. I’m comfortable with the breeze, which encourages me to cover up and be safe in the sun. I’m finally in a place where the sea is as blue as it looks in the photographs, the bright sand is not littered and green mountain hills surround the land. There’s not a man-made structure in my sight and the tourist numbers are sparse. It seems that a lot of people turn around after the lookout point – we have been rewarded for the 1-hour hike it took to get here! I’m amazed to be able to eat my sandwich without seagulls surrounding us. Oh wait, there they are, but they are more interested in other people today. I walk along the curve of the wineglass to the end of the beach and with each footstep I gain more seclusion. I paddle amongst schools of fish in the shallow clear, cold water. The visiting boat tour however disturbs my peace with its noise pollution and overstays its welcome, but the boat doesn’t dock, so I can at least bask in the fact that they can only admire the sand from a distance. Alas, I hesitate to leave without braving a swim, compromising to leave enough time to continue our planned loop, expected to take another four hours. Exiting the beach, a hip high wallaby is hiding in the shade, the cutest member of the kangaroo family I have seen so far, bashful but not jittery. An Australian we meet comments that he has noticed wallabies starting to dig holes in beaches this summer (to cool off?). Sadly, it isn’t long before we see some other tourists throwing a whole hot cross bun at it to lure the wallaby into a photo. Freycinet National Park has signs up saying “Please do not feed the wildlife, it can kill them” that I saw at the start of the hike and I find it hard to understand how people could disregard this notice, but sadly they are not the only people we see doing this. We continue on Isthmus Track towards Hazards beach, keeping an eye out for snakes (we don’t see any). We arrive at beautiful but slightly more rugged beach, I’m slightly less tempted to take my shoes off for a dip here so we rest before continuing on to Hazards Beach Track. Finding even more peace on the trail, we pass only a few people and a great deal of trees. We completed the hike, sweating and sufficiently worn out with shoes full of sand. We have just enough energy to visit a couple of easy to reach bays – Sleepy Bay and Honeymoon Bay – on our way out of the national park. We realize that the beaches have progressively become redder in hue as the day has gone on, as the rocks are encrusted with orange lichens. I start to regret that we only have time to spend one day in this area. The wildlife, the world’s cleanest air and the occasional smell of eucalyptus from the trees have won me over, and the locals exceeded expectations. The local who sold us coffee from her van this morning told us about the strange magnetism Tasmania has – even Tassies who move away seem to return eventually. I completely get it; I’ve never felt the urge to live anywhere, until today.