Although it looks small on the map, Rocky Cape National Park boasts so many points of interest that you'll want to devote a full day to it. There is no camping permitted in the park.

Rocky Cape was named by Flinders and Bass at the end of the eighteenth century. Aboriginals lived in the area until the arrival of the Van Diemens Land Company(PEP) who disrupted the local people's way of life. In 1967 the area was proclaimed a park.

Roads lead you to the east and west corners of this 3,064 hectare park. The eastern access takes you past Sisters Beach, one of the finest on the north coast. Wide, very clean and shaded by she oaks, this long and inviting beach has been a favourite of locals for years, but inexplicably is rarely visited by out of staters.

Just east of the beach is the start of Postmans Track, a two hour circuit walk that takes in wooden hillsides, superb lookouts and the beach itself.

At the western end of Sisters Beach are the start of several other tracks that are worth doing. After you've parked, walk along the beach for a few minutes then follow the sign up a short steep hill to one of the many Aboriginal cave shelters found throughout the park.

If you have time, about six or seven hours, walk all the way through to the park's western boundary and back again by combining the inland track and the coastal route. It's not difficult going and the coastal heath and woodlands are idyllic.

Rugged coastline dotted with tiny sheltered beaches provides the lure at Rocky Cape's more visited western end. Just get back onto Bass Highway and follow it west until you reach the turnoff for Rocky Cape Road. At the road's end is a car park, picnic tables and a marvellous lookout.

Two of the most impressive Aboriginal shelters are just a short walk away from the car park, both with interpretive signs telling the story of the region's earliest inhabitants, Aboriginal people who lived here at least 10,000 years ago. From more modern times is the lighthouse perched on a granite outcrop. All around you are rocks made vivid in the morning sunlight by the characteristic deep orange lichen found so often on Tasmania's coast.

Some of the rocks here are among the oldest in Tasmania, and Precambrian quartzites that are found here are also found in a broad band over much of western Tasmania. Their age has allowed for much uplifting and folding, which has produced the often contorted patterns seen today.

The most spectacular erosion has taken place around the caves. They are known as sea caves because they were eroded by the sea when it was up to 20 metres higher than it is today.

For further information phone (004) 58 1415.

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