The Tasman Peninsula makes for a great day — or more — of exploring. Just over an hour’s drive from Hobart, it offers a mix of natural beauty, culinary delights, and sobering history. We did a road trip around the top half of the peninsula, and here’s what we found.

A Sweet Start to the Day

At the start of our journey, we stopped for an unexpectedly excellent blueberry danish at the Dunalley Bakery. Then we made our way past several of these great road signs …

… en route to the Tasman National Park Lookout, which offers a view out over Pirates Bay Beach and the eastern coastline.

All of this is technically on the Forestier Peninsula — we haven’t reached the Tasman Peninsula yet. To do that, you have to cross Eaglehawk Neck, a thirty-meter-wide isthmus that is the only way onto the Tasman Peninsula. From 1833 to 1877, this narrow strip of land was fenced and guarded by men and dogs to keep prisoners at Port Arthur — Australia’s largest and most notorious penal colony — from escaping. You can stop at the entrance to Eaglehawk Neck and visit a few remaining guard structures (and a dog statue) at the Eaglehawk Neck Historic Site.

Rare Rock Formations

Our next stop was the Tessellated Pavement State Reserve.

Wow, did I love this spot. A short walk down to the shoreline from the parking area leads to a long, wide rock shelf, which has been fractured into polygonal blocks over centuries of erosion. You’ll find two kinds of formations here: pans, which you can see above, and loaves.

I can’t claim to be a huge geology buff, but this place was just remarkable.

As an odd sort of bonus, we got to see a few jellyfish up close in the shallows.

What to Doo Next?

We then drove down to Doo Town, where the residents have given their cottages the best names ever. Our favorites included Doo Not Disturb, Doo Mee, Winnie the Doo, Kakadoo, Doodle Doo, Digeri-Doo, and Much a Doo. We found ourselves so charmed by the punning activity that we drove through town twice just to see them all. Then we went on to the Fossil Bay Lookout.

Our goal at this stop wasn’t the view — though that was amazing — it was the fish and chips at the Doo-Lishus food stand. We’d been told that their fish and chips were among the best in Tasmania, and they lived up to the hype.

After our early lunch, we walked to the next-door Blowhole. As with any blowhole, this was interesting to see, but not especially exciting. It might be fun during a storm, but then you probably wouldn’t be on a road trip

Cliffside Drama

From here, we drove to the entrance of Tasman National Park. This visit requires a park pass, which you can buy right there if you don’t already have one. You can spend a lot of time hiking in this park, but we just did the short walks that lead to the Tasman Arch …

… Devils Kitchen …

… and the spectacular cliffs beyond.

Lavender Fields & Wild Creatures

Our final stop of the day was the Port Arthur Lavender Farm.

This is a relatively small and new-looking lavender farm — it’s nothing like Bridestowe up in northern Tasmania — but they have an excellent gift shop, and we were happy to stop for a snack and some photos.

The lavender farm has helpful signage about wildlife, and we saw a good deal of it on the peninsula. In addition to birds like superb fairywrens, yellow-tailed black cockatoos, and dozens of black swans, we were lucky to spot this echidna by the side of the road.

We did not continue south to Port Arthur — from what I’ve been told, that requires a full day, and we’d already had many hours of exploring. On our next visit to Tasmania, we’ll be sure to give the Tasman Peninsula more time!

For another road trip, head north to Australia’s oldest and spikiest bridges.

Continue the coastal theme with 3 Short & Easy Freycinet Walks.