After our wonderful time in Launceston over the Christmas Holidays, we started our Great Eastern Drive. We were both so excited to be back on the road again and to do the Great Eastern Drive that we were singing, laughing, and joking in the car. Our first stop on the way to the East Coast was Petal Point. A windy, but beautiful free campground with incredible views over a secluded bay. Just right for us, we thought. And we headed towards our first adventure, not knowing that it was Snake o’Clock!

The campground was surprisingly empty, especially considering that we were there during the school holidays. There was only one other campervan, and it left shortly after we parked at our prime location, directly at the edge of a cliff and overlooking the sea! Wow! We took off for a beach walk, exactly how we always do, and it was wonderful.

On our way back, we saw a ranger and asked him about snakes. While we were in Launceston, we had learned that it was breeding season, and most likely we would see a snake. But the ranger waved away our concerns saying that snakes are very shy and should disappear when they hear loud sounds. So, we loudly stomped our way back to Putu, our campervan, and made ourselves comfortable with a nice hot coffee.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that the impression on James’ face changed dramatically. I followed where he was looking and there it was an ugly black Tiger Snake!

Tasmania has three types of snakes, Tiger Snakes, Copperhead Snakes, and White Lipped Snakes. And all of them are venomous! We were certainly not keen on meeting one, but nevertheless, there he was. James moved a little bit and the Tiger Snake disappeared as fast as he came out. Puh, lucky us! But not even 10 minutes later, we saw another one. This time not directly in front of us, but to the right! Just how many Tiger Snakes were we sharing this lovely spot with?

This one was even bigger, and he wasn’t afraid at all! James stomped, but the snake didn’t care. Another camper arrived and we happily went over to say hi and introduce ourselves. We told him about our visitor, of course, and he came over to have a look. He threw a few small stones in the snake’s direction, which made him go away. Hopefully not too angry, I thought.

It is truly unbelievable that this beautiful campground remained nearly empty, and we enjoyed being alone. If you are curious about how huge and wonderful this campground was, just head over to our Best Campgrounds in Tasmania and have a look. It just might end up on your Tasmania itinerary!

Anyways, after a chat with our neighbors, we went back and started making something to eat. I was still nervous about the snake and kept looking out of our campervan. And sure enough, there he was! The Tiger Snake returned and was slowly making his way toward Putu. I freaked out and James shut the door. But then he decided to go out to try to chase the snake away. Oh, what a fabulous idea! The snake wasn’t impressed by anything James did and kept crawling toward us.

We decided to surrender our prime camping location to the snake and drove to the other end of the campsite. As we were attempting to park so that we could still have ocean views, we noticed that the snake wasn’t about to give up. In fact, he slithered his way across the gravel, still on his way toward us.

Crossing the gravel, we watched intently as he went into the bush, just a few meters from the campervan.

While we didn’t see him the rest of the evening, I must admit that I restlessly slept with one eye open that night!