Hiking Freycinet National Park: Day 1, Carpark to Hazards Beach

With our water bladders and Nalgene bottles filled, we climbed aboard the Tassielink--complete with no seat belts--and set our sights for the tiny town of Coles Bay and Freycinet National Park. Now, I had said that we had never done any hiking this before and it's completely true. But knowing the kinds of gear we needed, I put a lot of research into what products to buy.

For shoes I refused to compromise on some cheap hiking boots--the last thing I wanted was blisters and having to drag around heavy hiking boots on my feet for 6 days. I settled on Hi-Tec's V-Light Altitude hiking boots. I broke them in for a few weeks and then on the trip and they did not disappoint. For holding our gear, we purchased Deuter Aircontact hiking packs. I purchased the 50 + Litre Slimline series, specifically designed for women. It was worth paying the money for these packs as mine was extremely comfortable despite carrying 20kgs.

The park doesn't guarantee water (though it's been a wet season and there was some) so we planned for no water and carried a minimum of 7 litres each. It wasn't the recommended 3-4 litres per person, per day, but we made it almost 5 days with it.

From the car park, it's about a four hour journey to the Hazards Beach campsite. With overcast skies, we slowly made our way around Mount Mayson, the first hazard.

I was eager this walk as we were trying out something new and the terrain was gentle. Arriving at Hazards Beach felt like the accomplishment of the day, but the beach seemed to go on forever.

it was actually getting to the campsite that felt like the real accomplishment. Dropping our heavy packs, Shannon and I set up camp for the night, putting together our modest two-mean Denali x-wind tent up for the second time ever (the first time was in our Melbourne apartment). Aside from a panic to find the tent stakes, everything went smoothly and we set up our camp stove for dinner. Around the same time, a few visitors joined us at the empty campsite.

I admit I've never seen a wombat in the wild! Sore and aching, we ended our first night as the only people at the Hazards Beach campsite. We were sore and cold, but feeling rather proud.