December 2019
Maria Island had been the backdrop to our stay in Orford so with the upcoming clear weather we decided to make this our next destination. The sail to Maria Island was only a short 10nm but we had an absolutely stunning day with blue skies and crystal clear water. After several days of stormy weather it was quite surprising actually how clear the water was, at times we had 20m of water beneath us but we could still see the white sandy bottom. It was during one of these moments that we had a pod of dolphins come and greet us, playing in our bow wave. The dolphins spent about 30 minutes ducking,diving and cart wheeling, laying on their sides and backs to look up at us while we sat watching them on the bow. This was a memorable experience simple because the water was so clear we could see their every action as the played beside us.
It wasn’t long after the dolphins left us that we sailed into Shoal Bay on Maria Island. That afternoon we decided to anchor in the southern end of the bay due to the prevailing wind conditions that night. But we knew this wouldn’t be a long term anchorage as the wind was set to change the next day. However at the time little did we know we would actually be changing anchorage basically everyday simple due to the fickle nature of the winds in this bay. Shoal Bay was also a well known spot for people visiting Maria Island because of the unique geological feature it creates. Maria Island has what is known as an isthmus, which is a very narrow stretch of land with water either side connecting two larger land masses. The isthmus on Maria Island was about 3km long but only about 250m wide and unfortunately due to the thick scrub we couldn’t see both sides at once. However on our last day in the bay we did make a trip ashore and walked across the isthmus to check out the other side.
The morning after we arrived at Maria Island, as we suspected the day before, we had to weigh anchor and move to the northern end of the bay. However we should have trusted the weather forecast better. When we woke up that morning we had relatively nice conditions lulling us into a false sense of security that maybe the change wasn’t going to be so bad but when the wind change did come it came in with a bang. Quite suddenly we had a howling wind from the north and because the bay was so large the wind chop became quite large fast, causing Allagai to bounce and buck as we tried to pull up the anchor. As I’ve mentioned previously the engine on Allagia isn’t great so this weather made for a long slow slog across the bay, when we finally got moving. However eventually we made it to the other side, getting in nice and close to the shore so we could get out of the swell. Following this we spent the rest of the day aboard Allagai as it really wasn’t a great day to go exploring ashore.
However the following day we had absolutely stunning weather, blue skies, no wind and a temperature forecast for the mid twenties, a total opposite to the previous day. Knowing this weather was forecast to hang around for the entire day we knew we couldn’t waste it. Maria Island has some unique history being that it had several convict settlements throughout the years between 1825 and 1850. Knowing this and having heard that bike riding was permitted on the island we decided to take the bikes ashore and do some extensive exploring. So we loaded the two bikes and two people into the dingy and went ashore. That day I’m pretty sure we looked the boat equivalent of a clown car and am still amazed our poor little dingy took all that weight. But we managed without any mishaps taking everything ashore all in the one trip.
Majority of all the old convict ruins and settlements are located on the northern tip of Maria Island which was about 15km away from where we landed the bikes. Unsure if we would make that distance, having never ridden the bikes that far before, we slowly meandered our way down the island following signs along the way which lead to a variety of old buildings from the different years of Maria Islands history. Because we essentially started at the wrong end of the island we basically had the place to ourselves that morning, exploring the historic sites on our own. However the closer we got to Darlington, which is where the ferry operates from and the main settlement is, the more people we saw. Maria Island had not only great history but beautiful natural scenery and plenty of wildlife. We came across many wombats, wallabies and different bird species that day, including a couple of cape barron geese which were very grateful to us for turning on a water tap and filling up their water bowls.
We rode into Darlington in the early afternoon and decided to sit in the main town to enjoy our picnic lunch after our long morning of riding. After lunch we did a quick lap of the town learning about the history of the place, marvelling at how much had changed since the settlement was active. However we still had a long way to go to get back to Allagai and the wind had started to pick up. So quickly back on the bikes we started the long journey home, not wanting another incident like we had at Wineglass Bay. It was during this part of the ride that I noticed there was a bike hire shop on the island, loaning out large mountain bikes. Compared to our folding bikes these bikes were huge ready to take on anything, to the other tourists we must have looked like we were riding child bikes around the island. But surprising even though they were small they had no issue riding the dirt roads on Maria Island, we even overtook a few people on the way up the big hill leading out of Darlington. That day we probably were a bit ambitious when we set off as I didn’t really calculate the total distance we’d have to ride. In total that day, according to my tracking app on my phone, we cycled 32km feeling well and truly exercised when we got back to the boat.
After our day ashore we spent the rest of that afternoon recuperating. However we weren’t entirely lazy we did have to weigh anchor again and move to the other end of the bay when the wind direction changed to the south, so back to the first anchorage we went. The following day we decided to have a bit of a lazy day, still feeling a little worn out from the previous days cycle. Although as mentioned above we did go ashore but it wasn’t because we were keen for more exercise. When we woke up that morning and looked outside something on the beach caught Hugo’s eye, a large red object. Upon closer inspection with the binoculars he came to the conclusion that is was a red mooring buoy and not being one to miss an opportunity we went ashore after breakfast to investigate. It wasn’t until we were ashore that I realised the true size of the buoy, as it just kept getting bigger the closer we got. Standing beside the buoy it came up to my waist, it was nearly a meter tall and about 70cm wide. I had absolutely no idea where we were going to put it or what we were going to do with it but Hugo insisted we took it back to Allagai. While ashore we also checked out the isthmus that I mentioned earlier crossing the short distance from our side of the island to the other catching a brief glimpse of the open ocean.
Back on Allagai later that day it was time to start packing again, we were due for good weather the next day which meant it was time to leave. This meant the bikes had to once again be stowed and I also had to find somewhere to put the new giant mooring buoy. Luckily it was inflatable so I was able to deflate it and store it with he bikes for the time being, at least until I could find it a more permanent home. Our next stop was to be Pirates Bay as we had decided to take the long way round to Hobart around the Tasman Peninsula instead of the short cut through Denison Canal.
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