On the final day of my road trip I got up around 7am I went for an early morning dip in Waubs Bay where there’s also a beach shower and public loos. The sea was bracing but as not cold as I thought it would be once I got in.
After breakfast by the Scooby (my camper car), I drove north to St Helens where I had a second breakfast of a decent Scallop Pie with a mildly curried sauce at St Helens Bakery www.facebook.com/sthelensbakery. If Tasmania had a national dish this would be it!
From St Helens it was a short drive to Binalong Bay, another famous beauty spot with a white sand beach.
I was a bit unlucky with the weather but it was actually a relief after the heat of the previous two days, and it was very impressive to see the waves pounding against the shoreline.
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And again.
The coastline here is rugged but very picturesque.
A little further up the coast was my next oyster experience at Lease 65 www.facebook.com/pages/Lease-65.
It’s pretty industrial and they’re not set up for visitors, so you can only take the oysters away, but their Pacific silver oysters are lish and definitely worth the visit.
I had half a dozen au naturel off a plastic tray standing by the road at the back of the Scooby. I’ll eat oysters just about anywhere.
Binalong Bay is part of a 50km stretch of protected coast known as the Bay of Fires. Some think the name comes from the red lichen that covers many of the rocks in the area but it was actually named by the English navigator Tobias Furneaux in 1773 for fires he saw burning, lit by the local Aboriginal people, along the coast.
To be honest, if you were stretched for time, you could end the Eastern Drive at Binalong Bay, but I continued up the coast to the smaller beauty spots of Cosy Corner (a nice secluded camping spot) …
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… and The Gardens, for more of the same.
The final long drive to Eddystone Point Lighthouse in the Mount William National Park was the last leg of the journey.
It was deserted when I got there and there wasn’t much to see, except for lots of dark-nosed Bennett’s wallabies and rabbits lolloping around without a care in the world.
So perhaps not really worth the long drive but at least I got to see some live wildlife as opposed all the roadkill by the roadside. On that subject I only just avoided running over a slow moving creature myself. To this day I still don’t know which of Tasmania’s many marsupials it was, but looking at various pictures, my best guess is a Quoll. Thankfully I missed it but from then on I dropped my speed by 20kmh between dusk and dawn when they come out to feed.
From here it was another long drive to Launceston, Tasmania’s second largest city after Hobart, where I’d spend a couple of nights. Along the way I saw this amusing postbox.
Postbox spotting is quite a fun activity in Tasmania. Wish I’d taken more pics of the ones I passed.
You’ll find all of the places mentioned on my Google map.
Some architecture in Launceston next!
Wonderful account accompanied by photos and video of the stunning scenery. After seeing these pictures I’d really like to visit. Oysters and scallop pie? Sounds like a great place all round
Lovely coastal walks and beautiful seafood. You and Tassie were made for each other 🙂 x
That is Aboriginal Cultural Land that area around the Lighthouse did you visit the Watchman’s old house there it used to be open and if you walked down on the white sand in spots you used to be able to see the old middens left by earlier people where they cook their dinner oysters and fish of course.
Ah, I missed that, but fascinating info, thank you