Having experienced a couple of really great kayaking trips recently at St. George's Basin and Milford Sound, we were keen to flex our triceps yet again in Tasmania and paddle around the idyllic coastal shores of Freycinet National Park in eastern Tasmania.
This area is famously known for its postcard view of Wineglass Bay, but alas when kayaking, you can't easily paddle round to the eastern (open ocean) side to land on this beach. You could walk across from Hazards Beach which is about 2km, but it doesn't make any sense when you're surrounded by beautiful scenery and can paddle across to more inaccessible beaches by kayak.
The weather was absolutely idyllic, but we did get caught out a couple of times with the wind. The final day paddle back was a character-defining moment for the both of us. Paddling into a 25kmph headwind, waves getting more rambunctious by the hour, opposing tidal movement and over 10 kilometres of distance to cover. At times we would be paddling like crazy whilst trying to stay balanced on the rising and dropping of the waves and I'd look across to the shore to track our movement. Five more minutes of this frenetic activity and I'd glance across again to realise in horror that we'd hardly made any forward progress! At this point, maintaining stamina and psychological strength was paramount. We got there in the end and only a beer could console us.
Overall a very enjoyable trip. The difficulty can be planned to suit your personal taste and the views all around are stunning.
By Darrell Grundy - visited on 25 January 2010