East Coast Summary
The east coast of Tasmania is a beautiful area to explore – there are stunning views everywhere you turn with the highlight being the rugged mountains and beautiful beaches on the Feycinet Peninsula.
Other must-visit areas on the east coast are the “Gulch” at Bicheno and, further north, the granite-lined beaches in the area around Binalong Bay – this area is remote and not too overrun with people.
And now, where can you eat? A safe bet in most east coast areas is to try some freshly shucked oysters. Starting at the southern end there are some good options at Dunalley. Drive a couple of kilometeres north of Dunalley to Bay Road and you will find some excellent oysters at Blue Lagoon Oysters – we often drop in here to buy some to take back to Hobart.
Driving back to Hobart you pass through the tiny town of Copping. In behind this town there is an organic vegetable stall where you can take whatever items you require and then leave cash to complete the transaction. The vegetables are always of a high quality. The address is 247 Burnt Hill Road (C336) which you reach by taking the Marion Bay Road out of Copping and then turning left when you get to the C336.
Let’s now jump to the east coast town of Swansea where you may be ready for a snack or a cup of coffee. As you drive through the town heading north you will come to a branch of the hardware store called Clennett’s Mitre 10. Right next to it on the left side of the road (as you head north) is a very small cafe with a sign on top advertising “Coffee Cake Honey”. The coffee here is quite good and the cakes lovely. Their east coast honey is also of a very good quality.
Driving out of Swansea you will soon (about 5 kilometres) come to the turn off (on the right) to Dolphin Sands where therem is an excellent place seliing very good local oysters. We have written more about this place and how to get there on this site. Melshell Oysters.
Return to the A3 highway and when you get to 32 kilometres from Swansea you will find a turnoff to the right that takes you to Freycinet – one of the most beautiful places in Tasmania. As you drive along this road you may want a snack if it is somewher earound lunch time. The place to look for is Freycinet Marine Farm which sells very good fish and chips as well as fresh oysters.
Once you have seen the sites and maybe hiked over to the glorious and secluded Wineglass Bay, your tour can continue to the east coast village of Bicheno where you can get a coffee and pastry at Little Bay Patisserie and fresh lobster at the Lobster Shack at “The Gulch”. You can find out about their current opening hours and see some photos of the gulch here.
We should also add that you can finish your lunch at the Lobster Shack with some of Tasmania’s best ice cream from Van Diemen’s Land Creamery here.
And while we are in the area we always drive up the Binalong Bay Road to admire the beautiful beaches and stunning rock formations in the area of Binalong Bay – it is a truly beautiful area. On the way back to St Helens we drop into Lease 65 Oysters to buy a dozen or so fresh oysters which we open with the oyster knife which we always carry in the boot of the car alongside the ever present corkscrew!
Another place that is set back from the road into Freycinet and is worth visiting if you want an intimate place to stay and a meal with a Japanese aesthetic cooked by a French chef then you can take a left just near the Freycinet Marine Farm and drive to the top of the nearby hills to find the Freycinet Resort run by the long-time hospitality professional Karen Pridham.
