Swansea's exquisite fresh harvests, from land and sea, are a part of the east coast experience. Enjoy wine tasting at one or more of our nearby wineries, then sample some of the area's other local produce: walnuts, strawberries, oysters, olives and, of course, fish. There are many beaches and bays in and around Swansea, and lookouts over picturesque coastline. Shearwater (mutton bird) colonies are also common in the area.
Swansea was first explored by Captain Cox in 1798 and was settled as a military post in 1827. Local Aboriginal people moved further inland as European whalers explored the coast.
Swansea enjoys temperate weather all year round, with an average maximum of 22 degrees Celsius (71.6 degrees Fahrenheit) in January and 14 degrees Celsius (57 degrees Fahrenheit) in June.
Swansea is 134 kilometres (83.2 miles) from Hobart, along the A3.
THE SHEARWATERS AT LOON.TITE.TER.MAIR.RE.LE.HOIN.ER
WALKING TRACK AT WATERLOO POINT, SWANSEA
Take a jacket and a torch for this walk. Drive into Swansea from the north on the Tasman Highway. Just past where the highway takes a 90º turn to the right, turn left into Wellington Street. Continue on until you reach the Esplanade, turn left again and park in the car park at the end of the street. Here you will find information boards about the nearby Catholic and Anglican cemeteries (worth a look) and the walk through the mutton bird (short tailed shearwater) rookery. During the day there are great views across the bay to the Freycinet Peninsula.
However, the best time to do this walk is at and just after dusk from October till April when the mutton birds will be returning to their nesting burrows. There is a period from mid October till mid November when only a few will return each night. They have by this stage re-bonded, repaired their burrows and mated. For about a month they go out to sea fishing to store up energy for the breeding season when they will take turns at incubating the egg and for a while, at minding the chick. If this is the only time you can see these amazing birds, then seeing a few is better than not seeing any, so still go. Keep to the path to avoid crushing their burrows and only use your torch to shine down to prevent tripping. Using it to illuminate the birds will confuse them. Stay low (there are seats) and keep very quiet. You will be rewarded with marvellous close up views of the birds as they glide in on their long wings and crash land near their burrows. The waiting birds and as they get older, the chicks, make quite a racket as the other birds come home. Eventually all will be silent once more.
