Experience the best of Coles Bay

Coles Bay is a small village in a sheltered bay on Tasmania's east coast, facing the granite peaks of the Hazards across the water. It is the entrance to Freycinet National Park, which covers the Freycinet Peninsula, a long finger of pink granite headlands, white beaches and coastal heath, named after the French navigator Louis de Freycinet.

A walking track climbs to the lookout over Wineglass Bay, a curve of pale sand between two headlands, and carries on down to the beach itself. Other paths lead to Hazards Beach, the Cape Tourville lighthouse and the summit of Mount Amos. Wallabies and pademelons graze beside the tracks, and the sea around the peninsula is cold and clear.

Oysters and mussels come from Great Oyster Bay, beside the village, and are eaten fresh near the water, often with wine from the vineyards along the east coast. This is one of the sunniest and driest parts of Tasmania, though winters are cold.