East Coast Tasmania

After our week in Hobart we had planned to visit Freycinet National Park to see the famous Wineglass Bay, a postcard picture we had seen many times before and wanted to see in the flesh. It was also convenient that my old college mate Ben was camping up there with his family so we have a beer and catch up.
The drive up from Hobart takes you through some small coastal towns and we stopped in Swansea to restock supplies before heading into Coles Bay. We had also hoped to try and secure a National Park campsite but all were booked for the day we were arriving so made the call to book in at the local Big4 van park, knowing we get 10% each time with our membership certainly makes it easier to swallow the price. There are a couple of free camp options on the way into Coles Bay, one is Friendly Beaches which is on the Oceanside so the surf can be a bit too much for the kids, the other is River and Rocks campground which is on the edge of a lagoon. Once we arrived it was a quick disconnect (well it would have been had it not been for the boot lid on the van jamming), then down to the beach to see Ben.
Now Ben being the salty seaman he is had all manner of water craft for the kids and I to mess about with, from the hand built canoe to the windsurfer with no rudder (that's my excuse for not turning around!). We all had a pleasant afternoon on and in the water before getting cleaned up and going out for dinner at the local resort and returning to camp for a night cap before calling it quits for the night.

We had planned to do the Wine Glass Bay lookout walk the next day but with high winds and overcast sky's the walking tracks were closed so we bunkered down in the van watching a movie and playing games. I did manage to secure a site at the National Park campsite so the next day we moved the 1km to our new site on the beach and half the cost, the weather gods had come good so with clear sky's and light winds we were able to make the walk up to the Wine Glass Bay lookout, along with the bus of tourists that arrived at that same moment!. The walk takes around 2 hours return and is a fairly steep climb but the view from the top is very much worth it, for those inclined to do so you can then continue down to the beach but this adds another couple of hours to the walk so on this occasion we turned  around and made our way back to the car.

On our way back we took the turn off for Cape Tourville, continuing on with our visits to some of Australia's  lighthouses, the road out is about 5km and brings you too a small car park. Parks and Wildlife have done a great job constructing a boardwalk around the headland giving great views towards Wine Glass Bay and  over a couple of rocky outcrops affectionately called The Nuggets.




Back at camp I took off with the fishing rod to see if I couldn't catch anything, surprisingly I managed to catch a decent size Australian Salmon but not being sure about it's eating quality returned it to the sea.

Making our way further up the coast our next destination was Bay of Fires just near St Helens, on the way we stopped at a resort with a brewery, the beer produced under the label Ironhouse. As this is the resort owned by the Targa Rally entrant that lost his Lambo in flames a few weeks earlier it was only right I should chip in $5 for a tasting paddle.

We had seen a few camps available around St Helens and been given some tips on which ones to stay, seems we arrived during a busy spell as all the good spots were taken but we found a site and setup, shortly after someone advised the reason why our site was vacant, during heavy rain it floods!. Unperturbed we settled into our beach side spot and spent some time fishing off the beach with little success other than a few sand crabs, the kids had fun messing in the sand until late in the evening.

Exploring the area we took a drive north, another lighthouse was on the agenda, this time Eddystone Point. We travelled first to The Gardens a small settlement with just a few houses on the beach front and a few farms, then we took a forest road across to the main road which runs into Ansons Bay, this small township only accessible via dirt roads with no shops or services was certainly remote, camping is available at Policemens Point just south which is accessible for small caravans but again no facilities so bring all supplies with you.
On the map there is a 4wd track running from Ansons Bay to Eddystone Light, being the adventurous types we are the tyres where aired down and away we went, only to find the Parks people had closed the track to Eddystone, luckily you could still continue on down to a secluded little bay with big rocks colored red by the algae, the whole area covered in empty clam shells so obviously a good spot for a feed. We could even see the lighthouse we were aiming for up the coast so back in the car we went back to Ansons Bay and followed the main dirt road out to the point. After taking a look around and capturing a few photographs it was now late in the day and we had some distance to cover to get back but still took the time to try a different road to avoid covering previously driven roads.

Using the St Helens area as our base meant we could see some of the sights in the vicinity without taking the van, I know the motoring public of Tassie appreciate us being on the road as little as required with all the 40kmh hills... One day we took the main road west up the hills to see some waterfalls marked on the map, the first St Columba Falls required a short walk down a track through the trees and ferns before arriving at the viewing platform, these falls are 90m so one of the largest in Tasmania and quite impressive to see but one could only imagine the sight after heavy rains.



The next falls I wanted to visit we're called Ralph's Falls, a little trickier to get to along rough dirt roads and with the rain coming down quite heavy a keen eye was needed on the road ahead. Arriving at the car park the rain had stopped so off we went down another small walking track which brought you out at a viewing platform which I can imagine was a feat in itself to erect, the falls although not so spectacular we're still worth the trip seeing the interesting rock formations and the valley view below. On the return trip we had to complete another from Kel's todo list, many years ago she went to The Pub in the Paddock and wanted to have another look so we called in for a beer. Once a school building it became a pub in the 1880's and has been since, most recently a new attraction has been added with a pig that drinks beer from a bottle. The building really does have a great feel to it and we were assured the lunch and dinners are very popular but alas it will be another time when we get to sample the menu. Back to camp it was out with the fishing rods and sausages for dinner again. :)













We have to plan our days now as the kids have to do some school work in the morning before we explore any areas, this tends to mean we do not get away until lunchtime but with most things being so close this is not such an issue, we are starting to get into some kind of routine which helps.