Photographers Trent and Jessie only had a few days to explore some of Tasmania’s wonderful wilderness areas but they managed to capture its evocative and rugged beauty in this photo essay.

Towards the end of November, when the temperatures were starting to soar in Queensland, we were fortunate enough to be heading south, escaping the heat to visit Tasmania for the first time.

We, Trent and Jessie, are wedding photographers and were fortunate enough to be invited to the Huon Valley in Tasmania‚ south to photograph a wedding, along with our good friend and videographer, Tim. As this was our first time to Tassie, we decided to add a few extra days before the wedding to explore.

Flying into Hobart we were greeted by grey skies and dreary weather, so after a brief one night stay and a quick wander around the city, we headed to the East Coast, first stop, the quaint seaside town of Swansea.

The rain decided to follow us all the way there, however by the next morning had cleared and we ventured to Freycinet National Park. We stumbled upon Honeymoon Bay, which we loved and mostly had to ourselves, before hiking to the famed Wine Glass Bay lookout. The hike to the lookout is fairly easy, steep in parts, we definitely worked up a sweat, but it‚ not a particularly long walk and evidenced by the amount of tourists at the top, it a fairly achievable activity for most. We also visited Cape Tourville Lighthouse, which has some great views and encountered plenty of wallabies and birdlife.

After Freycinet, we followed the coastline north to the Bay of Fires, arriving on a clear, very warm day, that lucky for us, really showcased the incredibly clear water and vibrant orange lichen that covers the rocks and that this area is known for. Contrary to our original assumptions, the Bay of Fires‚ namesake is not due to the colour of the rocks, but was named by British explorers who saw the fires of the Aboriginal people on the beaches.

From the coastline, we began the journey inland, on what seemed to be a much less known road, through farmland and semi-alpine terrain. We drove into Ben Lomond National Park and cautiously drove up Jacob Ladder, a steep and winding alpine pass. Upon arriving at the top, we got to appreciate the serpentine form of the road and the tessellated rock of the cliff faces, before being engulfed in cloud.