Two weeks on Flinders Island and on the road again!

I already knew it in September, but leaving King Island was still hard. After living for two months on K’gari, my plans were pretty explicit. I would return to King Island. It was the best I could do at that time. My job offer was too good, and there were still many places on Covid-19 lockdown. Besides, King Island is home to plenty of friends, lovely colleagues and Yentl As Anything. It was from the first of September that I would stay six months. Honestly, those months flew by too fast. The two weeks I added at the last minute didn’t make up for it. I already knew it in September, but leaving King Island was still hard. On an optimistic note, good and bad things usually come together, and I spent two weeks on Flinders Island afterwards. This post will tell you all about those two weeks.

Why Flinders Island? 

After spending about two years on one Bass Strait island, I had to go and explore the other side. Flinders Island is the largest island of the 52-island Furneaux group. The island, which is about 70 kilometres in length and 40 kilometres in width, lies off the northeast coast of Tasmania. King Island, the island where I almost worked for two years, lies off the northwest coast of Tasmania. And that is where Flinders became a part of my bucket list. There is this funny rivalry between both islands, saying that one is the best Bass Strait island. There was only one way to find out, to travel there myself. And where King Island is pretty flat, Flinders Island has rock formations and more exciting wildlife. However, comparing both islands will be for another post!

Flinders Island isn’t on many people’s itineraries. There aren’t many Australians that have been there, let alone Belgian backpackers. But for me, it was a place with priority. When I travelled solo through Tasmania last year, I did plenty of research on the island. Only Flinders Island isn’t the most accessible place to travel. You can only get around by car, and apart from camping, the prices to stay are through the roof. So, back then, that plan was off the map. We are travelling with two this time, and Avalon has friends on the island. Scott and Anna were the two most amazing people who made it possible for us to travel to Flinders Island. It meant we had somewhere to stay and even had a car to get around. Scott and Anna made our time on the island fantastic, and there is no way to thank them enough.

Travelling from one Bass Strait island to the other. 

There isn’t a flight between King Island and Flinders Island. When we left King Island, we had to fly into Melbourne. It’s not that I mind going to Melbourne. Of all the places I have visited, this is still one of my favourite cities and the first place I stayed longer and lived for five months. It’s just that we travelled with about nine kilos of cheese. Over the past months, we had saved up cheese to thank Scott and Anna thoroughly for having us. So, we took a couple of trams from the airport, carrying an extra nine kilos of cheese, and in the early morning, we had to make the same return trip.

Arriving on Flinders Island was different. Coming from the other island in the Bass Strait, we are pretty used to small airports. The airport on Flinders Island was even smaller. However, that is not in any negative manner. On the contrary, the smaller the airport, the better the adventures. It was a cute little building where for Avalon, it was a happy reunion with Scott and Anna and, for me, our first acquaintance. They took us to their house, on their cattle farm, where we could stay for our first week. The area was utterly unique, and we slept literally in the middle of nowhere. The only thing that could keep us up at night could be the cows. We already fell in love with this rustic island, which means something coming from another rustic island!

Two weeks on Flinders Island – week 1. 

Week one of our two weeks on Flinders Island was the most active one. The itinerary was pretty divergent. We were surrounded by the three main villages, Lady Barron, Whitemark and Emita. So, visiting these was first on the itinerary. Staying in the middle of the island, we also made sure to do as many things on the south shore as possible. Without a doubt, the best part was Strzelecki National Park. Named after the Polish explorer Paul Strzelecki, this mountain marks the highest point on Flinders Island. The walking track brings you in a couple of hours from sea level to the 756-metre high granite Strzelecki Peaks. We did this walk on one of the sunniest days and were treated to magnificent 360 degrees views of Flinders Island.

Two weeks on Flinders Island – Week 2. 

After playing Tennis with the locals on their weekly date night, we drove up to Killiecrankie. Anna and Scott have a holiday shack to spend their summers over there. Arriving, we already fell in love with the views. The house simply had the best views on Killiecrankie Bay, and waking up with those views was amazing. From here, we walked up Mount Killiecrankie on one of the windiest days, hiked through the national parks and drove to the best lookouts. In this second part of our trip, we felt how we had rushed through things and took it a little bit easier. We worked on Tuesday, flew to Melbourne straight after and started to explore Flinders on Wednesday. Now it was time for our holiday, and we wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

We are travelling again!

We loved our two weeks on Flinders Island. After working six months, six days a week, it was a combination of travelling and the perfect holiday. This trip included everything we needed at that point. Flinders Island, for us, was luxurious backpacking, and it got us started on the rest of the journey. To keep up-to-date with our travels, make sure to like and follow this page! From here, it will go everywhere again, and we will ensure you can easily follow along.

Additionally, Avalon is already writing an in-depth article and travel guide on Flinders Island, which is exciting! It will be published here soon, so keep your eyes open for that! Please leave your thoughts in the comments below. Anna and Scott, thank you for giving us a wonderful time on your beautiful island. It was an absolute pleasure! We couldn’t be more thankful.

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