MARIA ISLAND CRUISES
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CRUISE. WALK. EXPLORE.
Maria Island Cruises is situated in the picturesque coastal town of Triabunna on the renowned east coast, just over an hour from Hobart. The team of experienced marine scientists and professional tour guides offers day cruise and walk tours to Maria Island National Park and Ile Des Phoques Nature Reserve, as well as shuttle bus service from Hobart and a tourism outlet and café in Triabunna.
Triabunna is a small, peaceful fishing village whose marina precinct forms the gateway to Maria Island, where the cruise vessel Spirit of Maria is moored. Maria Island is Tasmania's only island national park. It is a beloved and unique location rich in Aboriginal cultural connections, UNESCO convict sites and early settler history, and is renowned globally for its rare geological formations and native flora and fauna. The convict heritage extends back to 1825, pre-dating the Port Arthur penal settlement by five years. Since then, the Darlington precinct has undergone many transformations and is now the best intact example of a convict probation station in Australia and one of the best-preserved convict sites in the world. Maria Island was home to early-settlement farmers. After 1880 came an amazing period of industrialisation and development led by a visionary Italian couple. The abandoned convict settlement was transformed into a working village with the promise of wine and silk production, tourism and hospitality. In the early 1920s, the limestone of Maria Island’s now famous fossil cliffs caught the attention of investors and cement production began with the establishment of the Darlington Cement Works in 1923. Darlington and Maria Island became a bustling community of miners, geologists, engineers, factory workers, dock workers, farmers and fishing folk. After the great depression hit in 1929, the cement works closed, the township was abandoned and the island returned to small-scale farming. In the early 1970s it became a sanctuary for threatened wildlife and a national park. Maria Island is a place of immense beauty and unique and complex habitats. It is home to some of Tasmania's most iconic animals, such as Tasmanian devils, forester kangaroos, Cape Barren geese and Bass Strait common wombats (relocated from Flinders Island and now declared a subspecies of the common wombat). Maria Island’s unique geography of a north and south landmass joined by a narrow sand bridge, a towering mountain range, white sandy beaches and turquoise blue bays is underpinned by complex, rare and renowned geology. The island is an intersection of many significant rock groups. Individually, these formations would be a drawcard in their own right, but put them all together in a sequence of ever-changing coastline and you have one of the most unique of islands to behold. The island’s stories are incredibly rich and plentiful. Maria Island Cruises has created a journey that slows down the experience, with expert storytelling throughout the day. The morning cruise unravels the natural layers of Maria Island’s environs, while the afternoon walk at Darlington relates tales of an enthralling past and introduces the resident wildlife. Disconnect from ordinary life and reconnect with nature in an informative, relaxed and personal way. eastcoastcruises.com.au [email protected] (03) 6257 1300 |