Nine Mile beach starts at Swansea and stretches as far as the eye can see to the NE. Freycinet mountains decorate the backdrop. This was the setting for my morning run.

Nine Mile Beach near Swansea, Tasmania

1km north of town, traversing across road before hitting the beach entry. Took off my Mizunos, hid them under a tree and set off towards the sunrise. 3km in darkness before an amazing orange hew lit the water. This is when my feet started feeling the 'sandpaper' effect. Strangely this disappeared not long after.

I trucked along at 5 min/km on semi-hard sand until my watch said 9.5km. Not a soul in sight until the turnaround. Sand running gives great ground feel and I certainly enjoyed the workout. Started to feel strange bags under my toes in the last 2km stretch.

Putting the shoes back on brought a big shock. Huge blood blisters. Let's just say the 1km on road was pretty humbling. In typically runner OCD style, I hit 19.8km at the hotel and ran in circles to bring the run to 20km. 

Around lunch we headed to Freycinet National Park. A nice 11km hike with Lorie to Wineglass Bay, then around to Hazards Beach. Some challenging stairs, took 3.5 hours.

Freycinet Marine Farm

Stopped by Marine Farm Bay for some tomato chilli mussels. Huge dish and they tasted amazing!

Tomato chilli mussels - $20

Thursday - Recovery in Swansea

Winds combined with on and off drizzle made my morning run less enjoyable. Sort of wandered through the unremarkable farmland of Swansea suburbs. Lots of dead ends ending on private farmland. Took a photo with a horse of two.

Kept the pace easy, finished at 11km in 65 min. 

We drive on to Launceston for the rest of the trip.