Maria Island, Tasmania – Day 2 | Dave and Fiona's Travels

Saturday 11th Mary 2019
Today we were to climb the highest peak on Maria Island, Mt Maria. We had intended starting early but after a freezing shower i headed back to bed to warm up and David went to explore down the beach. We finally got on our way about 9.30am. A little late as the expected time frame is 5-8 hours.
The start was by bike along the gravel road which was quite nice. This was followed by an uphill bush ride over Rocky terrain with a few creeks for good measure. A lot challenging for me but i made it the 4km required and 100m elevation to get us to the start of the hike. The hike to Mt Maria was a 4km uphill hike track. The last section was a rock scramble up about 400m in elevation. It was a challenge to say the least. A rewarding one but quite difficult. I am either very unfit, the challenges are getting harder our i am just getting old. I have really felt all the uphill climbs this holidays. Anyway once at the top we had a magic view of the Isthmas across to the south part of the island. The sun even came out for a glimpse for us. We had a 45 minute lunch break up there as the majority of the hike there was no view. So we made sure we enjoyed it for a while before heading back down. So it was 4km back down then we rode to Oust House which was a hops drying building in the day. Built about 1844 i think. Then on to the painted cliffs which were spectacular in the setting suns rays. That was the end of the day of activities. We were out for about 7 hours. A big day.
Again i will post the pics in a couple of days when we get back to the mainland.
Happy mothers day to both our mothers for Sunday. Los of l love. Fiona and David xxx

: Another wombat at the Darlington Precinct

: Creek at Darlington Bay

: Cape Baron Geese at the silos and other buildings, at Darlington Bay

: Commissariat Store at Darlington Bay

: Jetty at Darlington Bay

: Whale bones

: Looking down on Darlington Bay

: Turbo chooks by the creek

: The reason I thought I would have hot water in the morning as DB had said it was solar and not to have a morning shower. Silly me, I froze.

: Ruby Hunt’s Cottage overlooking Darlington Bay

: Darlington Bay

: Love the way they keep everything so aesthetically bush like

: Riding to our hike to the Mt Maria summit via Hopground Beach. This track was lovely albeit dirt and a bit slippery on the edges..

: ..we rode and walked our bikes further along on this track to get to the start of the hike.

: A little bit of funghi on the ay, I have seen this one before, it is bright yellow on the underside.

: ..and a bit more fungi..

: ..what David does to amuse himself whilst I take photos of fungi..

: ..more fungi.

: Mount Maria at 711 m is the highest point on the island – a dolerite outcrop with sweeping views of the Tasmanian coast. The track begins south of Darlington near the mouth of Counsel Creek. It meanders through open woodlands ascending quite gently at first, and ends with an hour of scrambling over rocky debris and boulders to reach the summit. Heading up..

: ….and up we must go

: ..a well earned break to look at the view..

: ..it was quite a technical climb again today..

: ..sometimes a bit of a struggle..

: David waiting for me yet again!

: Half way up the rocks we saw a magical view.

: Just a little ledge to traverse

: Some wedgetail eagles in the sky. Soaring very high.

: A moment’s break for a photo shoot.

: A tricky little bit..

: ..even David has to use his hands a bit..

: ..I might need some help here..

: David playing the waiting game.

: At the summit we found someone’s hat, I am sure they were not coming back for it.

: Trig at the top of Mt Maria

: Looking out to the Isthmas from Mt Maria Summit

: Mt Maria Summit

: Lunch at the top. David wasn’t happy that his table was sloping. It made it a little difficult to make his wrap. Don’t mind the little drop from the rocks we were perched on.

: Looking back to the mainland.

: Some more fungi..

: ..and some twin fungi.

: The Oast House was been built during the second convict period in either 1844 or 1845, making it one of the oldest oast houses in Australia. Oast houses are hop kilns used for the drying of hops. The surrounding area was first developed into hop fields during the first convict period (1825-1832) and subsequently expanded. The original building has two large brick drying-towers with floors of ventilating bricks which can still be seen among the ruins. The building was later modified, and has been used for crushing grapes and, later, as an abattoir.

: Outside Oast House

: More of Oast House

: Hopground Beach

: The Painted Cliffs are beautifully coloured and patterned sandstone, carved and moulded by the sea, and bordered by rock pools teeming with marine life.