The Bay of Fires

We left Launie and headed east towards St Helens and then north towards the Bay of Fires where we took advantage of the free camping provided in Tassie's Conservation Areas. These places seem almost to be dedicated to allowing people to enjoy some of the most beautiful places you could ever imagine.

This post will have a lot of photographs, but words can't relate the sheer gorgosity (yes, I invented the word) of the coast around this part of Tassie.

Anyway, here are a couple of pics for you to leaf through.

Our set up in the Bay of Fires is below. We ended up at "Cosy Corner" and it was a good choice!

 Our rig is the Patrol and the Supreme HTC on the left. My brother has the soft floored  camper trailer seen in the centre of the photo.

 Talking of my brother, here he is!

 Another view of the set up from the rear.

 This is the beach just 15 metres away from our camp.

Can you believe that anywhere could be so beautiful? Notice the lack of crowds on the beach too!

 Just a three minute walk from the camp was a creek that flows into the ocean. The water is tannin stained from the Ti Trees, but isn't it lovely?

 The view out past the rocks.  Sigh.

 A friendly gull.

The next day we took a drive out to St Columba Falls. Getting there was a 15 minute walk down an easy track to see the tallest falls in Tassie.

After that we visited the cheese factory at Pyengara and sampled some lovely cheddars, followed by a coffee and an ice cream.

Happy days!

Then we drove on again and slaked our thirst and hunger with a local ale and a great bowl of soup at the Weldborough pub. This is an old pub that retains all the charms of its age.

Happily filled we moved on and decided to walk off the lunch with a walk around the top of the Blue Tier.

 This may not look like much, but it is an echidna that spotted us and dropped down into a handy hole. A great moment as Karen had never seen one before. She sat on a rock nearby and watched the little critter pop his head out every minute or so to see if we had gone.  Funny stuff. We left him alone and before we were 30 metres away he was out and about again.

The next few pics are views from the climb up to the top and across the valleys from the top itself.

After that sort of walk we headed home and ate a well earned dinner and supped a few beers/wines with Jim and Sandie.

The next day we set out again, but this time we went north and along the coast. The picture below shows the Anson River. We met a lovely lady there who had just waved goodbye to some people who were canoeing down the river. They were planning on getting out into the bay (Anson's Bay) and crossing the bay to Policeman's Point where she was going to meet them and pick them up. A really nice idea..

We drove on to the township of Anson's Bay and took a look around. It was a shack community that has grown and is a nice place in a lovely area. The picture below shows Karen at the end of the township's pier with Policeman's Point in the background.

Leaving Anson's Bay we drove on towards the Eddystone Lighthouse and found the following coastal scenery. The pictures don't do it justice - it is simply breathtaking,

While we were there we had a picnic lunch of fresh bread and cheese from yesterdays cheese factory visit.

This is the lighthouse itself with me at the bottom.

Deep Creek was our next destination and along the way there we stopped off at yet another stunning beach location.

Just magic isn't it?

Just at the place we stopped we found this handpump that pulls up some sweet bore water. Yes, it is still in working order!

We headed home after that and slept soundly. More things to do and see tomorrow, but sadly not with my brother and his wife. After a wet and windy night they have decided that camping is not for them and they are pulling the pin and heading home. Prematurely in my opinion, but each to their own.

We'll be sad to see them go.