Freycinet National Park: Wineglass Bay Lookout

Back in 2017, during one of my jaunts around Tasmania, I spent a whopping 1.5/2 days at Freycinet National Park, which is situated on the Freycinet Peninsula along the East coast of Tasmania. While I am still bummed that I didn’t have more time there, I’m so grateful for the 36-48(ish) hours I took to explore another stunning corner of Tasmania (at this point, I’m pretty sure that all the corners of Tassie are stunning…it’s just stupid). During my stop in Freycinet, I completed the Wineglass Bay Lookout track twice (if I lived there and could, I’d make the track a daily activity). The rest of this post will walk you through my experiences on the trail. You are welcome. Enjoy!

WINEGLASS BAY LOOKOUT TRACK: THE FAILED PLAN

The initial plan for my time at Freycinet National Park was as follows:

After arriving at Freycinet National Park in the afternoon of Day 1, I hike Wineglass Bay Lookout to enjoy a snack and the sunset
The morning of Day 2, I get up really early and hike the Mount Amos track, so I can enjoy the sunrise from the top of the trail

Prior to my first visit to Tasmania, I’d read a blog post where a hiker had written about their time at Freycinet National Park. In reading the post, for whatever reason, I really latched onto a section where the hiker detailed their trek up to the top of Mount Amos to catch the sunrise. The blogger’s rationale for completing the pre-sunrise hike was to take in the views, including those of Wineglass Bay, from a higher-up vantage point (another option for viewing Wineglass Bay is Wineglass Bay Lookout). The blogger strongly advised that hikers should only attempt hiking Mount Amos with the utmost caution, describing slick surfaces and sparsely located markers. Naturally, I thought that this sounded like a brilliant hike and that I’d be A-Okay to give it a go really early in the morning…as a non-morning person…in the dark…having never hiked it before….on my own. Based on this rock-solid thinking, my initial plan was created and I was set on hiking Mount Amos for my own sunrise hike on Day 2 of my time there. However, after consulting the parks staff, I was strongly advised to not make my first attempt at Mount Amos before sunrise the next day, since rain was in the forecast that night, which would make the slick surfaces and sections requiring some shimmying pretty sketchy. Despite how stubborn I can be, I decided to heed this advice and rejig my plans.

WINEGLASS BAY LOOKOUT TRACK: THE NEW PLAN

Hike Mount Amos the afternoon of Day 1 (post is forthcoming)
After hiking Mount Amos, do an evening trial run of the Wineglass Bay Lookout track
Re-hike the Wineglass Bay Lookout track for sunrise on Day 2

After completing my hike of Mount Amos, I sped over to the trailhead for the Wineglass Bay Lookout track. That evening, I learned that it’s a great little trail! Wineglass Bay Lookout track is a really well-defined path. It isn’t too long and there are endless opportunities to soak in views, nature, and the sight of wildlife. As a FYI for anyone thinking of hiking it, there are a few stone staircases, so if you’ve got a stroller or anything with wheels, just keep that in-mind. The Parks Tasmania site says it’s about 2.6 km round-trip and suggests allotting 1.5-2 hours to enjoy the path at a leisurely pace. That evening, I took about an hour to finish the return trip. The culminating/turnaround spot is, you guessed it, the Wineglass Bay Lookout, where I spent about 30 minutes that evening. Seeing the view that night had me feeling extra pumped about my ‘new plan’ for sunrise and I was all too excited to head back to my room at the Coles Bay Esplanade YHA to download and gawk at the footage and photos I’d taken that day.

The next morning, I dragged my butt out of bed, hopped in my car, and scooted over to the Wineglass Bay Lookout parking lot/trailhead for my sunrise hike. Let me be the first to state (although it wouldn’t take you long to find another person to echo this sentiment) that I am not a morning person. Ergo, it should come as no surprise to anyone, let alone myself, that I got going a bit later than I’d intended that morning. To top it off, I stopped a few times on the drive to obsess over wallabies I spotted along the road. Each time I stopped, they stared at me with what was either resentment at my presence or astonishment at my level of excitement to see them. Ultimately, I ended up getting to the start of my magical sunrise hike a bit late; this resulted in me having to intermittently sprint most of the bloody track. So, despite the recommended time budget of taking 30-45 minutes to walk the trail one-way, thanks to my tardiness, I had to run up it like an idiot in about 25 minutes.

As previously stated, the track is really user-friendly (thus, it made for a humane jog). It’s a gradual climb from the trailhead to the lookout. As you go along, you are likely to spot wallabies and birds. The trail meanders through wooded areas, more open patches, and next to rock faces. I did take a couple quick 4-second breaks to stop and look around, but I’d recommend leaving yourself time to properly appreciate your surroundings if you ever end up on this track.

Once I arrived at my destination (Wineglass Bay Lookout), I could see that the sun was preparing for its final ascent over the mountain line in the distance. Sensing the limited time I had until proper ‘sunrise’, I set my GoPro up on a rock, in an attempt to capture a timelapse of the sunrise (sadly, that footage was wiped from a previous computer, so I’ve resorted to saved Snapchat clips at the end of this post). Meanwhile, I set off on the endeavour of inflating my NuvoCloud chair, which I’d received from my parents prior to departing for this particular stint in Australia. For those of you who don’t know what a NuvoCloud chair is (like me, before I received it), it’s a chair that’s made out of a canvas-like material, that requires you to fill it with air, and is shaped kind of like an ellipse. Okay, terrible description. I’ll include a photo in the gallery at the bottom. To inflate it, you wave it back and forth, trying to capture air, before rolling the end to seal it.

A fun fact for you all: the lookout is relatively well-sheltered from wind…meaning there is very little airflow. Typically, this would be a great thing, as it means that you aren’t about to be battered with gale-force winds when you step out into the lookout area. However, on this particular morning, with me attempting to catch a breeze to inflate my little chair, it wasn’t exactly ideal.

I do wish that I’d had a second GoPro, simply so I could’ve recorded myself running back and forth, spinning in circles, jumping up and down, and repeatedly leaping off of the 2 or 3-foot-high viewing ledge in an attempt to inflate the frigging thing. I can honestly say that I spent at least 10 minutes in this circuit, trying to get as much air into this chair as possible. I finally decided that the sun was about to make its proper appearance and that I’d settle for a 75% inflated chair. I suspect the sight of me running around and attempting to inflate my chair would have been an entertaining one. As such, I was grateful that I was, miraculously, the only one at the lookout for a good hour, or so.

WINEGLASS BAY LOOKOUT TRACK: BARB

After settling for the level of inflation I’d achieved with my chair, I enjoyed watching the sunrise. After the sun made its final ascent, I stayed in my chair for a while to appreciate the view, the peacefulness, and my ‘tea with a view’. After a while, as I sat sipping said tea, a woman emerged from the trail on my right.

She spotted me perched on the ledge, atop my NuvoCloud, and waved while calling out a “good morning”. She commented on what beautiful weather it was, particularly after the rainstorm the night before, using the phrase “the calm after the storm” to describe it. She wandered over to the railing and paused to soak in the sight. As she was enjoying the view, I wiggled around in my chair, trying to sit in an upright position that would be more conducive to conversing. The woman made her way over and sat on the ledge of the elevated area where I was hanging out. She introduced herself as Barb. Barb looked to be in her mid-60s. She was a bit shorter than me, had grey hair that was bluntly cut just above the shoulders, and she wore thick gold-rimmed glasses. She was dressed all in black and had a blue backpack. Barb noted my “accent” and asked if I was Canadian. I laughed and told her she’d guessed right, while musing that she was likely venturing a guess between two possibilities. She chuckled and said “yes…the thing you’re sitting on gave me a bit of a clue, as well”. Apparently, I hadn’t remembered that the chair I was on was styled as a massive Canadian flag. Great job, Linds.

Barb then launched us into a conversation about Canada , her perspective that Aussies and Canadians are very similar from a cultural perspective, and how she’d visited Canada about ten years prior with her husband. I learned that Barb was retired and that she had been a middle school teacher. She told me that she hikes the Wineglass Bay Lookout trail at least once a week, so she can appreciate the natural beauty and peacefulness. Barb discussed how much she missed teaching and that she now volunteered at her local community centre, teaching art to kids. Barb asked me about my trip through Tassie and offered her opinions on what I still had lined up in my agenda. She praised my decision to stop at Wineglass Bay Lookout and the overall inclusion of Freycinet National Park on my hiking itinerary. When I stated that I was heading to Hobart that afternoon, she told me that I had to come back to Freycinet again because there were too many trails I needed to hike. To be honest, I fully agreed with her; there was too much to do and, as always, too little time. Eventually, our conversation slowed down and Barb headed out. I stayed a little longer to drink my tea and eat my breakfast of an apple and cheese and crackers (I’m pretty fancy). Finally, the time came for me to reluctantly pack up my chair and tupperware, before hiking back to the parking lot at a normal pace. As I did, I reflected on what a beautiful day it was, how great my tea had tasted, how much I enjoyed meeting and chatting with Barb, and what a perfect morning it had been.

IN CONCLUSION

To sum things up, here’s what I took away from my time along the Wineglass Bay Lookout track:

The Wineglass Bay Lookout track is a well-defined, user-friendly trail that is suitable for hikers and trailwalkers of most levels
One can technically run this trail for a good workout, though I wouldn’t advise doing that if you’re on the clock and trying to catch a sunrise
Barb was a lovely woman who was very passionate about teaching
My chat with Barb further bolstered my belief that having a ‘traveller’s mindset’ and an openness to learning about others can transform an already-great experience into one that also involves learning about a fellow human and gaining a new perspective on the place you’re enjoying (in this case, I got to briefly appreciate Wineglass Bay Lookout from the perspective of a local, who frequented the trail)
It was another stunning, memorable hiking experience for the books