Maria Island, A Natural Beauty

Early start for catching the ferry

We had to get up very early because we had to catch the 8.30am ferry to Maria Island National Park in Triabunna. It was a one and a half hours drive from Coles Bay. We made reservations beforehand through the Encounter Maria Island website. A valid park pass was needed to enter the park, but it could be bought on the spot. The check in started 30 minutes before the departure time at the Visitor Information Centre. We had to stock up on food and drinks since they cannot be bought on the Island itself.

The Painted Cliffs Walk at Maria Island

The National Park is mainly known for its historic ruins and abundant wildlife. The Island can be discovered by foot or bike. 

We started off with the Painted Cliffs Walk, a 1.5 to 3 hours walk of 4.3 km (return).  The walk was very easy. When arriving at the cliffs, there was already a horde of tourists. The result was that we had to wait until they had left before we could take beautiful photo’s. The cliffs were really spectacular so everyone wanted a picture with the coloured swirling patterns in the back. Patience was a virtue but we finally managed to have the site for ourselves.

We continued our walk and were hoping to spot some wombats. I had read that they were not able to see very well. However, the ones that we saw, started to run as soon as we came into sight. In the end, we spotted 8 of them as well as Cape Barren gees, wallabies and even a kangaroo. The wombats were definitely our favourite animals in Tasmania, they looked way too cute! 

We counted ourselves also lucky to have seen a mother and baby wombat later in the day. This happened when we were back on our way to the ferry. The wombats seemed to be very used to the many tourists that wanted to take pictures. They did not look disturbed at all.

Darlington Probation Station

Around lunchtime we visited the Darlington Probation Station, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Listing. The convict buildings and ruins were very well preserved! 

All in all, a very beautiful day. The Island should certainly be on your list of places to visit if you love to see wildlife…

In the late afternoon, we caught the ferry back to Triabunna. We drove to Orford where we checked in in the Orford Beachside Holiday Park (Note Oct 2020: I was informed that the accommodation is closed or is closing, so you may want to check the situation if you are interested). We had rented one of their cabins for the night and were satisfied with the accommodation.