Maria Island is a mountainous island off the east coast of Tasmania. The entire island is a national park and has a total area of 115.50 km², which includes a marine area of 18.78 km² off the island's northwest coast. The island is about 20 km in length from north to south and, at its widest, is about 13 km west to east. At its closest point (Point Lesueur), the island lies four kilometres off the east coast of Tasmania. The island was named in 1642 by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman after Maria van Diemen, wife of Anthony van Diemen, the governor general of the Dutch East Indies in Batavia. The island was known as Maria's Isle in the early 19th century.
For two periods during the first half of the 19th century, Maria Island hosted convict settlements. The island's first convict era was between 1825 and 1832 and its second - the probation station era - between 1842 and 1851. Among those held during the second era was the Irish nationalist leader William Smith O'Brien, exiled for his part in the Young Irelander Rebellion. His cottage still exists in the nearby former penal colony Port Arthur to where he was deported after his time on Maria Island.
It is recommended that you allow 1.5-2 hrs for the return trip out to the painted Cliffs. You can take a stroller as we did, just be mindful the path is a little steep once at the cliffs and very bumpy.
I wasn't always a fossil. Once upon a time, about 290 million years ago, I was a clam, feeding on the bottomof a cold sea floor. But as with all animals, I eventually died. My soft body bits rotted away and my hard shell became apart of the sea floor, amongst all of the other sheel litter. Soon, the hugeweight of allthe sediment settling on top ofme turned me into a fossil, and the sedimentaround me into rock. things quietened down for awhile, as I spentabout 190 million years being buried deeper and deeper. And then... amazing things happened. I began to feel an incredible force from below, pushing me up. And after a few more million years, I started to sense daylight again. I was no longer underwater, I'd risen and wow what a view. It was very peaceful now for a few more million years until recently when some humans arrived and started digging into my limestone cliff home to make cement out of me! But now I'm protected and part of a fossil site which is now of world significance 
I like being here; the views is breathaking and muggles and geocachers alike are interested in me. Maybe in a few more million years I might be somewhere else.
Looking at the cut face of the quarry, you will see that the grey limestone is studded with thousands of mussel-like shells (Eurydesma sp.). The soft parts of the creatures have rotted away, leaving only the hard shells, which have lasted almost 300 million years. To look at the contents of a different layer, descend to the lower platform. Be careful, as the climb down is precarious, the swell is unpredictable and can rise suddenly. Here you can see a variety of fossils including sea fans, coral-like creatures, scallop shells and sea lilies. It is thought that such an extensive accumulation of fossils may be related to the cold conditions associated with the polar sea of the time. Amongst the fossils are some large rocks, called dropstones. These were transported by floating ice, which melted, dropping the stones onto the sea floor to settle amongst the finer sediments. The stones consist of different rock types, including granite and quartzite, and may have come from nearby, or from great distances away.
The listed Co-ordinates will bring you to the cliffs & information board. Please be mindful of the tides as large waves can hit at any time.
To log this Earthcache you will need to answer the following;
Q1 How thick is the rock estimated to be?
Q2 What is the name of the most common fossil here.
Q3 Explore the rocks. Which fossils can you see and describe in your own words what the texture is and colors you see?
Please email the answers before submitting your discovery. If answers are not submitted, your log will be deleted.
Please use this link to email the answers Na'wal
Please feel free to upload a photo from your experience here. I hope you enjoyed the views and the color of this amazing place 