Sweet, saintly, St Helens!
Trip Start
Jan 22, 2011
1
37
65
Trip End
Ongoing
Saint Helens, Tasmania, Australia
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Our Original destination was to be Swansea, but when we arrived there, it was still reasonably early in the day, and with such great driving weather (fine, but cool) we decided to push on to Bicheno.
Once in Bicheno, there didn't really appear to be too much to see, except a very pretty beach and an even prettier protected bay. We stopped there for lunch and enjoyed a picnic in the sunshine... watching some crazy kids trying to convince themselves it was NOT as freezing as it felt in the water! It was.
St Helens had been recommended to us by a number of people, and we were planning on staying here at some point, but decided it would be sooner rather than later! It boasts a stunning coastline, magical bays, great camping spots and some amazing inland features too.
Today we woke after a cool night listening to the crazy native hens screaming at each other intermittently, which we really could have done without... Geoff woke up thinking someone was getting murdered nearby!
We drove around the town to Binnalong Bay, a lovely beach, and a bit further on we discovered Dora Bay. This was just beautiful, the tide was coming in and the gorgeous rocks were still exposed, covered in clumps of tiny mussels and the sand was covered with hundreds of Soldier crabs, scurrying around and trying to bury themselves in the sand as we approached.
The Bay of Fires is very well known, just north of Binnalong. We scored a very grey day, which does not show the Bay at it best, but it is known for the amazing rock formations covered in bright red and orange lichen.. (I got a couple of shots just to give you the idea, but they really do not do the sparkling aqua waters and white beaches any justice at all! )
Next we drove inland, heading for a little country town called Pyengana, surrounded by sweet farms and dairy cows. Just beyond is the highest waterfalls in Tassie, the St Columba falls. Hidden deep in the rain forest is this absolute paradise. We walked for 20 minutes or so, down a winding path, covered with a thick tree canopy and lined with massive tree ferns. Every surface was covered in moss and lichen, and all the tree branches had other ferns growing from them. Basically everything was bright green! The falls themselves were lovely, loud and spectacular, the fresh water misting all around us.. The walk back was up hill, so we had to drag/push the kids for the last half! Bless there cotton socks.
After all that effort, we had worked up a decent appetite, so stopped in at 'The Pub in the Paddock' for our well deserved lunch. The main draw card for this place was A. it was a pub, and B. it had a pig that drank beer! Seriously, you were told to save the last of your beer, and let 'Priscilla' drink it down! Revolting thing she was, but we all got a giggle out of it.
This has been a great little town to stay in, I recommend it to you all when you get your butts over to Tassie one day!
Chat soon!
Love from Felicity and the rest of the Thommos xxx
Comments
Hello i hope the girl are being good it looks like your all have fun have more and love you all From Cole ps i have been good lol
So jealous! live it up and stay safe =)