Swansea to St Helens - 6th January

We had an early start and left the hotel by 8:30. We drove for about 30 minutes to the next town, Bicheno where we stopped for breakfast.

Once we had eaten we drove the short distance to the coast where we spent some time looking at a blowhole where the waves create a spout of water. There was also a short walk along the coastline where we saw some lovely views.

Next stop, about 10 minutes away up the coast was East Coast Natureworld. Here we spent almost 3 hours observing the animals. There were enclosures with kookaburras, some other birds, Tasmanian devils, wombats (although they were bit elusive), possums, echidnas, blue tongue lizards, wallabies and quolls. There were also some forester kangaroos which were not in enclosures and had the free range of the park.

While we were there we saw the Tasmanian devils being fed kangaroo, which was quite a sight. The keeper gave an interesting overview of the animal and promised us that the kangaroo that he was feeding them were not ones that were in the park and instead had been humanely culled because there are too many kangaroos in Tasmania.

We were also able to go into the wallaby enclosure and they were tame enough to be able to feed them. We spent quite a lot of time with the wallabies and saw at least two adult females who had Joeys in their pouches, one much more grown-up than the other. We were able to feed them and some others from the food that we bought from the park.

Finally we also managed to feed the kangaroos which were also very tame and pretty lazy too!

By now it was time for some food and so we drove on up the coast and then inland to a small town called St Mary's. We had a snack at the Purple Possum cafe. From there we drove up to South sister, a 832m peak. What the guidebook told us that the road up to the car park was unsealed, it didn't tell us that you really needed a four-wheel drive. Fortunately the hire car that we've been given does have four-wheel drive but towards the top there was a very tricky bit and I chickened out taking it all away. As a result we had to walk the last few hundred yards to the car park and then up a steep rocky footpath before getting to the top via some steps that have been built. At the top there was some sort of observation station with spectacular views over the coast and inland towards the mountains.

We retraced our steps down the hill and got the car back on the main road without incident. It was now around 4:00 p.m. and we drove further north to St Helens where we are staying at the Anchor Wheel Motel. The rooms are well equipped and a bargain considering the location and the time of year, peak summer season.

Having checked in and been given some information by the friendly owner, Attila, we headed back out to find Binalong Bay, the first bay at the start of the the Bay of Fires - so-called because when the explorers were visiting Tasmania there were rows of aboriginal fires that could be observed from the sea.

We next drove further north along the bay, stopping at a few of the beaches, including one where I had a short swim - because the water was pretty cold.

Having got to the end of the Bay of Fires we returned to our hotel to freshen up before walking into the town where we had a lovely meal at The Wharf restaurant overlooking the bay.

By now it was almost 9:00 p.m. and so we walked back to our hotel where we planned our next day, with a very early start!Leggi altro