Freycinet Peninsula

Freycinet Peninsula

Freycinet Peninsula, peninsula extending south into the Tasman Sea from east-central Tasmania, Australia. Measuring about 14 miles (23 km) by 4 miles (6.5 km), with an area of 25 square miles (65 square km), it rises to a high point at Mount Freycinet (2,011 feet [613 m]). The peninsula is joined to the mainland by twin sandspits. Off its southern tip lie the Schouten Passage and Island and, to the west, Oyster Bay. The promontory was surveyed in 1802 by the French captain Nicolas Baudin and was named after his lieutenant, Louis-Claude de Saulces de Freycinet. In 1916 part of the peninsula was made a national park, which is entered via the resort town of Coles Bay, 70 miles (115 km) northeast of Hobart. The area has great natural beauty.