| Freycinet National Park |
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IUCN Category II (National Park)
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| Nearest town/city | Swansea |
| Area | 169 km² |
| Established | 1916 |
| Visitation | 200,000 [1] (in 2008) |
| Managing authorities | Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service |
| Official site | Freycinet National Park |
Freycinet is a national park on the east coast of Tasmania, Australia, 125 km northeast of Hobart. It occupies a large part of the Freycinet Peninsula, named after French navigator Louis de Freycinet, and Schouten Island.
Bordering the national park is the small settlement of Coles Bay, and the largest close town is Swansea. Freycinet contains part of the rugged Tasmanian coastline and includes the secluded Wineglass Bay, voted by several travel authorities as one of the world's ten best beaches. Famous features of the park include its red and pink granite formations and a series of jagged granite peaks in a line, called "The Hazards".
Founded in 1916, Freycinet is Tasmania's oldest park, along with Mount Field National Park.
Within the park Federal Hotels owns and operates Freycinet Lodge.
Contents |
49 Tasmanian Endemic species are found at Freycinet.[2]
Mammals found at Freycinet include the Brushtail Possum, Ringtail Possum, Sugar Glider, Eastern Pygmy Possum, Little Pygmy Possum, Echidna, Wombats, New Holland Mouse, Swamp rat, Water rat, Tasmanian Bettong and the Long-nosed Potoroo.[2] The Tasmanian Devil was once common at Freycinet, but has seen a significant drop in density due to the Devil facial tumour disease.[2]
Devonian Granite is the dominant rock type at Freycinet.[2] Orthoclase, a pink feldspar gives the mountains and coastline their characteristic pink tint.[2] Black micas and white quartz are also found.[2] The western side of Schouten Island is composed of Jurassic Dolerite.[2]
The park receives on average 600 mm (23.6 in.) of rain per year. It has a climate similar to that of France with on average more than 300 days of sunshine.[3]
| Climate data for Friendly Beaches | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 36.4 (97.5) |
37.0 (98.6) |
37.0 (98.6) |
31.4 (88.5) |
24.0 (75.2) |
21.0 (69.8) |
19.0 (66.2) |
23.5 (74.3) |
27.0 (80.6) |
32.7 (90.9) |
35.0 (95.0) |
37.0 (98.6) |
37.0 (98.6) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 22.8 (73.0) |
22.6 (72.7) |
21.4 (70.5) |
18.6 (65.5) |
16.1 (61.0) |
14.1 (57.4) |
13.7 (56.7) |
14.7 (58.5) |
16.7 (62.1) |
18.0 (64.4) |
19.5 (67.1) |
21.8 (71.2) |
18.3 (64.9) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 13.1 (55.6) |
13.2 (55.8) |
11.8 (53.2) |
9.6 (49.3) |
8.3 (46.9) |
6.4 (43.5) |
5.7 (42.3) |
6.1 (43.0) |
7.5 (45.5) |
8.6 (47.5) |
10.0 (50.0) |
11.6 (52.9) |
9.3 (48.7) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 6.0 (42.8) |
7.2 (45.0) |
5.3 (41.5) |
1.0 (33.8) |
−1.1 (30.0) |
0.0 (32.0) |
−0.5 (31.1) |
−0.1 (31.8) |
1.2 (34.2) |
1.2 (34.2) |
3.0 (37.4) |
5.5 (41.9) |
−1.1 (30.0) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 61.2 (2.409) |
60.3 (2.374) |
53.7 (2.114) |
50.3 (1.98) |
47.0 (1.85) |
36.2 (1.425) |
48.5 (1.909) |
48.7 (1.917) |
33.3 (1.311) |
65.2 (2.567) |
58.8 (2.315) |
36.6 (1.441) |
601.7 (23.689) |
| Source: Bureau of Meteorology [4] | |||||||||||||
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