Day 2: Maria Island

Maria Island is a relatively small piece of land off the east coast of Tasmania. True to Australian history - it's a convict island. Repeat offenders were sent to isolation to do who knows what.

We caught the 9:30am ferry, manned by Captain John, who suggested two walks for the day.

Pathway to Painted Cliffs.

Our first stop was a half hour walk to the Painted Cliffs. I grabbed the Rockpool guide from the park ranger station before setting off to explore the tidal pools of the Painted Cliffs. Luckily there were only a handful of tourists, all elderly people, so we were able to by-pass them quite quickly once they realized how slippery some of the rocks were.

Painted Cliff.

After the Painted Cliffs we headed uphill to Bishop and Clerk. It's a steady 2 hour climb to the summit and the last half hour is a vertical rock scramble - your legs will be sore but it's completely worth it.

It's an amazing view. You're perched on top of giant boulders with no safety mechanisms from keeping you from falling of the edge but despite the danger it's quite serene. There was sea mist forming beneath us that accumulated into fast-moving clouds right above our heads. We had a picnic lunch on the summit before heading down.


We stopped by the Fossil Cliffs on the way back to the ferry. The claim to fame for this spot is Charles Darwin visited this spot to contribute to his theory of evolution. Definitely recommend passing by since it's on the way and doesn't take much time to see.

View of the port from Fossil Cliffs.

Trusty Captain John had the ferry ready to go at 4:30pm. Once back in Triabunna, we took a short drive around the area to check out some of the local beaches and then ended the night in our little cottage, watching House of Cards and eating fish and chips.

Day 3: Hobart -
Mona and Salamanca