Ancient Caves and Wind-shaped Coast at Rocky Cape

Overview

Rocky Cape National Park sits on Tasmania’s north-west coast, around the small seaside communities of Boat Harbour and Sisters Beach. It is a compact coastal park, but it packs a lot in, with rocky headlands, quiet bays, sea caves, heath-covered hills and a shoreline that feels open to the full sweep of Bass Strait.

What gives Rocky Cape its particular character is the way natural and cultural history sit so closely together. The coast is marked by caves and rock shelters, while the surrounding slopes hold a surprising range of plant life despite the exposed conditions.

Highlights

Much of Rocky Cape’s appeal comes from its varied coastline. There are low rocky points, small beaches, rock pools and sea caves, all set against a broad Bass Strait outlook. The scenery changes quickly from one part of the park to the next, from sheltered coves to more open headlands and weather-shaped hills.

The park is also known for its geological character. Ancient rock formations, cave systems left above the shoreline after sea levels dropped, and prominent features such as Cathedral Rocks give the coast a rugged, sculpted feel that is quite different from Tasmania’s longer sandy shorelines.

Best Time to Visit

Spring and early summer are especially rewarding, when the heathlands flower and the low coastal vegetation brings colour to the hills. This is when the park’s mix of iris, guinea-flower, tea tree, epacris, boronia and Christmas bell is at its most noticeable.

Rocky Cape can be visited at any time of year, but it tends to show its gentler side in the milder months, when the coast is bright, breezy and well suited to spending time around the headlands and coves.

Plants and Animals

For an exposed coastal park, Rocky Cape supports an impressive variety of plant communities. Heath dominates the higher and windier ground, while more sheltered gullies hold pockets of eucalypt, wattle, paperbark and banksia, along with species more often associated with wetter forest. Grasstrees are common throughout the park, and the hills above Sisters Beach support a notable stand of saw banksia that is restricted to a very small part of Tasmania.

Birdlife is a big part of the place. Yellow-tailed black cockatoos are regularly heard and seen feeding in banksias and grasstrees, white-bellied sea eagles patrol the coast, and honeyeaters move through the flowering heath. Native mammals recorded here include wallabies, pademelons, possums, echidnas, bandicoots, Tasmanian devils and spotted-tail quolls.

Culture and Heritage

pinmatik and Rocky Cape hold a deep Tasmanian Aboriginal connection that continues today. The caves and rock shelters along this coastline were used for many generations, and the large cave middens preserve shells, bones and tools that provide an unusually complete record of coastal Aboriginal life in this part of Tasmania.

These places are significant not only for their age, but for their ongoing cultural importance. The area remains important to the Aboriginal community and continues to be visited for cultural, spiritual and recreational purposes.