The narrow neck of land between the Forestier and Tasman Peninsulas known as Eaglehawk Neck

Eaglehawk Neck
Narrow isthmus of land near some of Tasmania's most dramatic coastline.
'At Eaglehawk Neck there were constant patrols day and night. Dogs were kept on platforms near the main beach to alert the sentinels who, with semaphores, were stationed along the peninsula, and eleven dogs were chained at the narrowest section to form a barrier.

'Attempts were made by desperate convicts to avoid the hounds at Eaglehawk by swimming through the surf and dodging through the sandhills. Those few who successfully ran the gauntlet of dogs and sentries mostly perished in the jungle-like forest of the mountains.

'Only now and then did a touch of macabre comedy come to Eaglehawk. A convict named William Hunt, listed on the records as a former strolling actor, attempted to escape in the skin of a kangaroo. Two guards on picket duty saw what seemed to be a 'boomer', a big old man kangaroo, hopping determinedly across the Neck and heading for the scrubland on Forestier's Peninsula. One for the pot, they reckoned, but as they raised their muskets the kangaroo stopped in its tracks and in the impeccable accents of Drury Lane called out, 'Don't shoot! It's only me - Billy Hunt!''

Coming down out of the hills above Eaglehawk Neck, and stopping at the viewing points beside the road which offer dramatic views across Eaglehawk and Pirate's Bays, it is worth remembering that this was one of the most effective natural prison gates ever invented. For the convicts of Port Arthur, Eaglehawk Neck was as dangerous and as difficult to cross as the water's from Devil's Island or Alcatraz.

Today little is left of the convict history of Eaglehawk Neck. However this allows the visitor to focus on the remarkable natural formations in the area. The tessellated pavement, the Blowhole, the forests of huge elkhorn kelp which lap against the coast, Tasman's Arch and the Devil's Kitchen.

Located 79 km southeast of Hobart on the Arthur Highway, Eaglehawk Neck is now a series of tiny holiday retreats around a series of remarkable natural wonders.

Eaglehawk Neck itself is a tie bar made of sand carried by currents and waves from the floors of Pirate's Bay to the east and Norfolk Bay to the west. It ties Tasman to Forestier Peninsula in a narrow run of land which is less than 100 m wide.

The visitor entering Eaglehawk Neck from Hobart first sees the views of the two bays descends to the coast where at a car park opposite the Lufra Holiday Hotel the most famous escape across the Neck is recalled in a small monument which reads: 'To mark the centenary of the death of Martin Cash - Gentleman Bushranger 26th August 1877 and his escape from Port Arthur across the Neck in 1843 with two companions, Cavanagh and Jones. 27 August 1977'. The error of dating seems to have remained undetected.

Cash was, by any measure, a remarkable bushranger. Born at Enniscorthy, County Wexford, Ireland in 1808 he was convicted of house-breaking in 1827 and sentenced to seven years' transportation. He arrived in Sydney in 1828 and shortly afterwards was assigned to work in the Hunter district. He served out his time without incident until he was granted his ticket-of-leave.

In 1836 he engaged in some local cattle duffing and before he could be apprehended had fled to Van Diemen's Land where, in 1839, he was convicted of larceny and sentenced to seven years' hard labour. It soon became clear that Cash had no intention of serving out his sentence. He escaped three times in the next three years. On his third escape Cash met up with two other convicts and the trio began bushranging along the road between Hobart and Launceston. Because they rarely used violence they gained a reputation as 'gentlemen bushrangers' which saved Cash from the gallows when he was finally captured. It was this reputation for 'gentlemanly' conduct which allowed Cash to become a rarity among Australian bushrangers - he lived a full life and died of old age.

After his recapture Cash was sentenced to transportation for life and sent to Norfolk Island for ten years. In March 1854 he married another Irish convict, Mary Bennett, and later that year he was granted a ticket-of-leave and returned to Tasmania. For the next twenty years he lived quietly working as a farmer and as the overseer at Hobart's Botanic Gardens. He died at his property near Glenorchy on 27 August 1877.

Things to see:  

The tessellated pavement at Eaglehawk Neck

The Tessellated Pavement
A short walk from the car park leads down to the remarkable tessellated pavement. This unusual geological formation, which gives the rocks the effect of being rather neatly tiled by a giant, is explained on a placard near the site.

'It is called the tessellated pavement. The pavement appears tessellated (it's tiled) because the rocks forming it were fractured by earth movements. The fractures are in three sets, one set runs almost north, another east north east, and a third discontinuous set north north west. These last two sets produce the tiled appearance. The flatness of the pavement is due to initial erosion by waves carrying sand and gravel and nearer to the cliff, to chemical action by sea water. The rocks which absorb sea water during high tide dry out during low tide causing salt crystals to grow and disintegrate the rocks - a process which produces shallow basins'. The placard notes that the information has been provided by the Geology Department of the University of Tasmania.

Doo Town
Beyond Eaglehawk Neck, on the way out to Tasman's Arch, the Blowhole and the Devil's Kitchen is the holiday village of Doo Town where all the residents have tried to be witty with the naming of their homes. There is a Gunadoo, Doodle Doo, Love Me Doo, Doo Us, Doo Me, Doo Nix, Wee Doo, Xanadu, Rum Doo and, the house which reputedly started the fashion, Doo Little. - a suitable name for a holiday home.

The natural features on the coast are a truly remarkable.

Tasman's Arch

Tasman's Arch
Tasman's Arch is a natural arch which is really a greatly enlarged tunnel running from the coast along a zone of closely spaced cracks and extending inland to a second zone perpendicular to the first. The roof at the landward end of the tunnel has collapsed but the hole is too large and the sides are too high to form a blowhole. The tunnel was produced by wave action.

Devil's Kitchen
The 60 metres deep Devil's Kitchen has been formed by a similar process to that which has created Tasman's Arch. Basically, if Tasman's Arch collapsed, it would lead to the creation of a landform like the Devils Kitchen.

The Devil's Kitchen

The rocks in which the Blowhole, Tasman's Arch and the Devils Kitchen occur are permian in age (about 250 million years old) and were deposited as silt and sand on the floor of a shallow sea. It is probably that ice floated on the surface. Most of the pebbles from the ice were dropped as it melted.

	Tourist Information
	Eaglehawk Neck Visitor Information Centre The Officers Mess 443 Pirates Bay Dve Eaglehawk Neck TAS 7179 Telephone: (03) 6250 3722
	Motels
	Pirates Bay Motel Blowhole Rd Eaglehawk Neck TAS 7179 Telephone: (03) 6250 3272 Rating: ***
	Hotels
	Lufra Country Hotel Pirates Bay Dve Eaglehawk Neck TAS 7179 Telephone: (03) 6250 3262 or 1800 63 9532 Rating: **
	Bed & Breakfast/Guesthouses
	Wunnamurra Waterfront Bed & Breakfast 21 Osprey Rd Eaglehawk Neck TAS 7179 Telephone: (03) 6250 3145 Facsimile: (03) 6250 3145 Rating: ****
	Apartments
	The Neck Beach House Apt 642 Pirates Bay Dve Eaglehawk Neck TAS 7179 Telephone: (03) 6250 3541 Facsimile: (03) 6250 3541 Rating: ***
	Lodges & Chalets
	Eaglehawk Neck Backpackers 94 Old Jetty Rd Eaglehawk Neck TAS 7179 Telephone: (03) 6250 3248
	Restaurants
	Christines Licensed Restaurant & Tea Rooms Blowhole Rd Eaglehawk Neck TAS 7179 Telephone: (03) 6250 3272
	Eaglehawk Cafe & Restaurant Arthur Hwy Eaglehawk Neck TAS 7179 Telephone: (03) 6250 3331
	Lufra Country Hotel Restaurant Pirates Bay Dve Eaglehawk Neck TAS 7179 Telephone: (03) 6250 3262, 1800 63 9532
	The Officers Mess Restaurant 443 Pirates Bay Dve Eaglehawk Neck TAS 7179 Telephone: (03) 6250 3635