Four days of adventure

21 May Four days of adventure

Is there a better place on the planet to spend four days? Probably not! That was one of the marketing lines for The Maria Island Walk and I couldn’t agree more! I was on an adventure with ten well trained; go-getter adventure seeker clients and we were about to commence our four-day hike on the world heritage listed national park, Maria Island.

It is not an easy to leave the family behind, handing the husband a spread sheet of the week’s activities showing the family’s food needs so that they don’t die of starvation and calling in favours from friends and family to do the pick ups and drop offs for the myriad of the kids extra curricular activities. But that is what these ladies do once a year. And their reward? Putting on their hiking boots, strapping on their backpacks and setting off on an adventure to be physically challenged, treated to amazing scenery, marvelling at the display of wildlife and enjoying the adventure of exploring new places.

The walk started off in a little township called Triabunna where we board a 25ft powerboat and set off across the Mercury Passage to the Maria Island lying North East of Hobart off the Tasmanian mainland. The boats captain dropped us off just short of the beach. We removed our boots and waded into shore with boots and backpacks in hand. It is here that we start our first walk along the beautiful 1.9km long Isthmus with our two very talented guides. It is magical place, and we are totally absorbed by the beauty of the island. It is not long before we arrive at our 1st nights camp. But not wishing to hang around camp, we off load our backpacks and set off to the southern tip of Maria Island, Haunted Bay. There is nothing haunted about this bay; it is a truly wonderful landscape, with amazing rock sculptures jutting out of the Tasman Sea and a colourful array of lichen. Our first night has us sleeping in a very comfortable bush cabin to the sound of the ocean waves lapping the shore…pure bliss!

Waking to the sounds of nature, we have a hearty breakfast and get going on our second day’s walk. We are treated to more stunning beaches, waterholes with croaking frogs and black swans (a rare occurrence), bandicoots foraging for food and a hill covered in wombats with eagles soaring overhead. The walk just keeps getting better, what an experience!

Day three, I had high expectations and it did not disappoint. It was a scenery overload with the beautiful rock formations of the painted cliffs, the picturesque settlement of Darlington and an epic hike up to the peak of Bishop and Clerk Mountains, to be reward with a spectacular view. We had a beautiful dinner, lots of stories and a proper bed at the very elegant colonial Bernacchi House.

Our final day on Maria Island saw us split into a number of groups; the more energetic went to the Fossil Cliffs and surrounding areas of the world heritage listed settlement of Darlington and those that wanted to take it a little easy stuck close by to Bernacchi House looking at the lovely old buildings and taking in the scenery.

While our adventure on Maria Island was soon to come to an end, we were treated to a fantastic final meal prepared by our guides. We signed the guest book and reluctantly made our way to the jetty where our boat awaited us to take us back to mainland Tasmania.

The Maria Island Walk exceeded all expectations and my fellow walkers took away many wonderful memories, cameras full of exquisite photos and a yearning to return to the pristine heaven of Maria Island.