After breakfast, we left Launceston to continue our Tassie journey further North. Our destination, the Bay of Fires.
Tasmanian Landscapes
Since landing in Hobart a couple days ago in the almost bottom of the civilized world (spoken like a true inhabitant of the Northern Hemisphere), we've now driven nearly all the way North in Tasmania. In those ~6 hours of non-direct driving, it's striking the various landscapes we've encountered. From dry hills, to jungles, to mountains, forests...it's incredible how it changes on a dime.
Dairy Farm Stop
With just 30 minutes remaining in the 2.5 hour drive, we stopped at the Pyengana Dairy Company. Beautiful setting, tasty cheese, an ok lunch, some so-so ice cream and we were on our way.
Pulling out of our parking spot, I noticed a large rosemary bush. When you're on an island and herbs run $5 a pop at the grocery store...action is required!
Bay of Fires
After quickly dropping our bags, we headed for Binalong Bay to check out the the coast. We walked out on the white sand beach at Swimcart Beach. It fun to watch the turbulent angry sea crash against the sand. Paige & Sadie enjoyed collecting sea shells along the beach.
While the ladies were head down in shells, I was drawn to the picturesque red rocks at the end of the beach.
Taking a break from seashell collecting, I got the Bohagirls to head over. We got up on the rocks and walked back through a couple of coves.
The bright orange color of the granite is the result of orange lichen on the stone. Contrasted to the white sand beach and turquoise water, it's quite stunning.
The girls and I found a nice sheltered spot and put our legs in the cool, but refreshing water.
Seeing the coast made us eager to explore more tomorrow. We've signed up for a boat to get around and see the area of the sea tomorrow morning.
Tiny House
Sarah and I have a thing for tiny houses. For our two nights in the Bay of Fires area we're staying in a "tiny home-like" cottage. It's at Big4, which is a fun family camp type atmosphere with campers, camper vans and small cottages. It's a very cool and different vibe from any of our stays thus far.
5:00pm Nibbles
At one of the common cooking/picnic areas, there was a social get together which we wandered over two with a couple of sour beers in hand. The girls weren't totally keen, but compared to this type of scene before starting our travels, they got right in there.
When we walked up, there were 30+ people, almost all 60+ enjoying a drink and chatting. We sat down at the end and ended up chatting for a couple of hours with two couples.
One of the the couples was from a 5,000 person village in central England, where they owned a bakery (recently retired). We had lots of questions for Graham the baker and learned all about the business and trade. The other couple was a sheep farmer and his wife from Australia. Their area has been in a terrible drought for 3+ years and as a result they've had to get rid of almost all their sheep as the grasses have dried up. They finally went on this vacation and what do you know, they got rain this week back home!
We really enjoyed chatting with folks from different corners of the world and from different walks of life. We've put an intentional family focus on the people we meet during our journey. This was definitely a couple of hours we'll remember fondly from the trip.
Family Dinner
We headed back to our cabin, cooked up some dinner and enjoyed another Aussie Summer night.
And then we went to bed...snug in our tiny house.
Comments