Tas-Mania Things to do in Coles Bay

Coles Bay is a pretty far drive, though the beachfront apartment makes the long drive worthwhile. You'll be bashing through the country roads for quite a bit, and what I mistook for the sound of raindrops was in fact bugs splattering against the car at 100km/h.

Word of warning: Coles Bay is very rural. Don't count on things like having wi-fi or 4G reception. The nearest supermarket is a 30 minutes drive away at 100km/h, and has a small, expensive and frankly dodgy selection of meat (Some have expired 5 months ago). If cooking for yourself here, it's a good idea to plan your meals and to stock up on groceries while in Hobart. 

Devil's Corner 

A great place to stop for a meal along 3/4 of the journey is Devil's Corner. It's a collection of stalls selling food and wine. The Fish and Chips, Seafood Platter, pizza and Clam Chowder were impressive. We particularly enjoyed the oyster pâté. Brown Brothers have a presence here under a different logo, and we picked up a Riesling and a sparkling vintage on our way out. 

Address:
Sherbourne Rd
Apslawn 
TAS 7190, Australia

Pondering Frog
Okay! Now this is in Coles Bay proper. Come by for ice cream (try their mocha and mixed berries ice cream!), or have a full meal. Their scallop pies ($12/pc, takeaway) are house-made, and the Clam Chowder ($19) is intensely creamy and packed with big chunks of clams and whole prawns. 

The owners are also more than happy to point out where else you could visit: they highly recommended dropping by Sorell fruit farm.

Freycinet Marine Farm

Seafood is very fresh in Coles Bay, but like all meat perishables here, don't count on it being cheap. The cheapest raw mussels we've seen is from here, at $10/kg, but at South Melbourne Market, you can get 2kg for $8. The freshness here is undeniable, but we rather save our mussel recipe when we get back to Melbourne. 

EJ unearthed a little hitchhiker in his steamed mussel. Bad decision to hide in a delicious, delicious mussel. 

Address:
1784 Coles Bay Rd
Coles Bay, Tasmania 

Wineglass Bay (Mount Amos)

It's not a winery, but rather, the bay looks like a wineglass. It's about 30 minutes - 1 hour of trekking, but there are benches for you to rest scattered throughout the mountain. Mosquitoes are ubiquitous here, and I didn't know mosquitoes can grow quite so large. Bringing insect repellent along would be a good idea. 

Even spotted a wee wallaby at the car park

Photo credit: EJ

Photo Credit: EJ

All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) Riding 

ATV Riding is available in the area, we went with the company All4Adventure. The price is pretty steep ($149 for 2 hours), but for those who went, everybody had a blast. 10/10 would recommend. 

Friendly Beach is one of the more picturesque beaches on Coles Bay. The ATV tour brings you to an area of Friendly Beach inaccessible on foot. For me, I gave the ATV a miss, only because I whiled my time away at the...  

Sandpiper Beach

Just a 15 minutes walk away, it's still secluded enough such that no one else was there. It's almost like a private beach. 

The law on public drinking is a little murky, but we see people drinking alcoholic beverages all the time in the context of a picnic, so it should be alright? We bought a flagon of the cider along with 2 packets of bak kwa, some bread and wet wipes. Surely that's about a picnic.

If you're lucky (like we did!), you can find a nest of Australian shorebirds' eggs. Please avoid touching them if you do chance upon one. 

Pro-tip!: If you're staying in the area where we were, take the main road instead of following the signpost and trying to bash through the thick brambles. They both take equally long, but the main road has a significantly lower risk of twisting an ankle before tumbling off the cliff. 

Related Links

Tas-Mania: Things to do in Hobart (Part 1)
Tas-Mania: Things to do in Hobart (Part 2)
Tas-Mania: accommodation and easy meal recipes