Our Freycinet Experience Walk is the passion project of Joan Masterman, a former town planner and lover and protector of Tasmania’s vulnerable wild places.

The aim to make our environmental footprint as minimal as possible is evident throughout Friendly Beaches Lodge. The sun and rain provide energy and water. The lodge’s busy kitchen produces minimal waste and includes a comprehensive recycling program. Composting toilets ensure the lodge’s pristine setting remains undisturbed.

Continuing Joan’s commitment to working gently with our natural spaces, the Freycinet Experience Team offer a mindful, sustainable, advanced eco-certified and low waste walking experience. We limit departures to twice weekly, group sizes to ten, and do most of our exploring by foot. Our team practice leave no trace principles and take time to care for the land they move through (ask about our collection of marine debris and conservation work completed at neighbouring Saltwater Lagoon!).

To this day, Joan’s love of the Friendly Beaches and Freycinet Peninsula continues. Whenever Joan visits the lodge, she cannot resist a dip in the exhilarating waters of Friendly Beaches! Joan is thrilled to welcome walkers to the wilderness experiences curated by her team, the aim of which will always be ‘to share Friendly Beaches’ beauty with others and help ensure it remains as is for generations to come’.

For more than 40 years, it's been our passion at Tasmanian Expeditions to create memorable, responsible and experience-rich adventure itineraries that allow travellers to explore the remote, rugged and iconic parts of our incredible island.

Founded in the late 1960s as Craclair Walking Tours, and operating  as Tasmanian Expeditions since 1989 we now own and operate the most comprehensive range of adventure holidays available across Tasmania's varied landscapes, from trekking the iconic Overland Track to rafting through the deep gorges, quiet pools and magnificent temperate rainforests along the Franklin River or cycling through sleepy fishing villages along the stunning East Coast.

We believe that visiting a destination requires really getting out there and exploring. It's not just about where you go, it's how you go.

At Tasmanian Walking Company, we offer true Australian hospitality. We are proudly Tasmanian and have been treading lightly in nature since 1987.   

We provide an immersive experience where you step out of everyday life into nature to be revitalized.  To experience a fresh, profound perspective of humanity, the environment and the possibilities they embody. Our local hosts prepare your meals, our guides connect you, our accommodation enables you to unwind in comfort.  Our history and reputation will be with you every step of the way. 

Our purpose and mission is to connect people with place, by providing unique high-quality guided walks that focus on delivering an exemplary guest experience, whilst continuously reflecting the values of cultural and socially sustainable practices and environmentally responsible operations.  Through slow journeying on foot, we provide the opportunity for guests to step out of the everyday and embark upon superb journeys into wild land and sea scapes.

We actively care for the places we operate in and endeavour to instil our values of environmental and cultural integrity on our guests and across every level of our company.  Our philosophy of belonging, fostering simplicity, environmental and cultural integrity, passionate leadership, genuine fun and "wow''-ing our guests, speaks to our commitment to care for both people and the environment.  

We love this beautiful slice of Tasmania and offer an authentic Tasmanian experience, bringing local history and culture to life.

The Maria Island Walk team first hosted walkers in 2003 when founder and local Ian Johnstone realised his vision of showcasing the natural and cultural heritage of Tasmania’s east coast to visitors in a style that was sensitive to the environment and that immersed guests in the stories of the landscape. Since then, the experience has become a national leader in nature tourism and has always stayed true to its principles of working in tune with its environment and the local Tasmanian community.

The walk is now part of the Wild Bush Luxury stable of small sustainable nature tourism businesses, all of which have a mission to use their tourism business to conserve their environment through educating, inspiring and connecting visitors to the bush. We are guided by the 4Cs framework – Conservation, Culture, Community and Commerce – through which we see the success of our business as inextricably linked with the health of our environment and the communities around us. The inspiration behind The Maria Island Walk comes from the team of guides who bring their knowledge and passion, connecting up to ten guests to the bush on each Maria Island Walk departure.