Advertisement
“For my part,I travel not to go anywhere,but to go.I travel for travel’s sake.The great affair is to move”.Robert Louis Stevenson.As we moved out of yet another delightful cabin into a grey and wintery morning,it was quite apparent that the pounding heard on the roof overnight had delivered a fair amount of rain.So much so that we were now hearing reports of flooding on the east coast and that a lengthy drought was over.Our impact on Tasmania’s weather was now getting interesting……sunny,cloudless days on the west coast where it should be raining and drought breaking rains on the east coast where it shouldn’t be bucketing down so much.The weather gods smiled yet again as clearing took place whilst we made our way out to Binalong Bay on the northern side of St Helens.The head land is positioned at the entrance to George’s Bay which is home to yet another small port and fishing fleet.This was to be a fleeting drive to view this area before moving south along the east coast to Coles Bay.But such is the beauty of Tasmania that these “quickie views” just don’t work.Apart from a pristine bay fringed with flats and sandy coves,the real magnet is the
Humbug Point Wilderness area which has a number of walks to magnificent cliff viewing sites.And then just to raise the eyelids a further notch there is the Bay of Fires which is a series of white sandy bays stretching an impressive 30 odd km’s to the north.Clearly any thoughts of moving off to Coles Bay were put on hold as there was a need to explore some of these beautiful sandy coves.Time permitting the really sensible thing to have done would have been to strap on a backpack and head off on a wilderness trail(fortunately,the bucket list simply has one further addition).A stop at Cosy Bay presented an opportunity to finally test Tasmania’s salt water flyfishing and,despite a fairly rough and surging sea,I managed to catch four Australian Salmon on fly and in the process add a new species to the previous list of 15.A message to the “Muddling Minnows”….not only is there exceptional fresh water fishing but the east coast salt water looks outstanding for the fly.Dust of those angel wings and learn to fly for we shall need to return…..Keeping in mind that St Helens was our first “look” at the east coast,it was with a sense of
keen anticipation that we moved off southwards.The countryside was quite different to what we had seen in Tasmania up to that point.The road largely hugs the coastline with a narrow coastal plain giving way to steeply rising mountains shrouded in misty rain.Bright green paddocks dotted with white sheep stretch out on both sides of the road and run almost to the ocean’s edge.A few small coastal towns add to the splendour of the journey with Bicheno,in particular,catching our attention.It is blessed with a beautifully shaped small harbour which was resplendent in the rain cleansed sunlight.It is a popular holiday resort but somehow has resisted the “make over” which bewitches so many of the places which attract tourists.And thus the town center is small and unhurried with everything seeming to happen in slow motion.We all end up visiting places at some point in time which have that “Wow,I will come back here” message.Bicheno is one of those and not unsurprisingly it has been shoved into that bucket list.Our mission was Coles Bay which was a mere 115 km’s from St Helens but such were the splendid digressions along the way that we only arrived at our destination in the late afternoon.On
reflection there is an important message for anyone planning to visit Tasmania……allow enough time to explore along the way and don’t be obsessed about rushing to a destination as you will only be short changing yourself.When you arrive in a resort town which is touted as “the holiday place in Tassie”,you do expect to arrive in a busy sort of place with all the trappings desired by hordes of tourists.Well,here’s the thing…..arriving in Coles Bay almost elicited a feeling that we had taken the wrong turn somewhere.A tiny little shopping complex,a secluded bay and the splendour of the Freycinet National Park on the southern peninsula suggested that the good people who live there(all 150 of them)had achieved something rare and special in not allowing the “developers” to ruin their place of exquisite beauty.We booked into yet another park scoring an “upgrade” to a deluxe cabin for our two night stay with a real sense of anticipation for the day of exploration to follow.The rain was a thing of the past as we entered Freycinet for a walk to the viewing point overlooking Wineglass Bay.Before setting off on the walk there are boards providing details of distance and likely time to
destination and it was obvious that the Australians,in this case,were masters of overstatement suggesting that we were in for a 55 minute hike.Exactly 20 minutes later we summited and were gobsmacked by the spectacular view of what Condenast rate as the second most beautiful beach in the World.I do not have it in my literary powers to paint the picture in words but exhort anyone reading this blog to google “Wineglass Bay” and view it for yourself.You won’t have wasted a single second!There are a number of viewing sites placing one on top of towering cliffs looking down into the surging waters of the Tasman Sea.Something of intrigue about Tasmania…after initially being found by a Dutch navigator by name of Abel Tasmana in 1642(ten years before the Dutch arrived at the Cape),the British and French were visitors at different times.The French,in particular,were fairly fond of mooring their sailing ships off beaches but somehow didn’t kick on and grab the place for themselves.And thus it was that during the Napoleonic wars,the British claimed the Island on economic grounds needing the plenteous timber for ship building and also the whales for their oil.And this was the start of the process of stripping(pining
and mining)and shooting and killing many of the creatures living there.Hard to believe as we gazed down at Wineglass Bay that it started out as a whaling station until there were simply no more whales to kill.What probably seemed “right for the times” is now disastrous when considering the plight of the whale population and the fact that the Tasmanian tiger was shot into extinction many years ago.Not to mention some of the other marsupial species which are endangered.Just for good measure the fly rod was unpacked for the last time in Tasmania and a short session in Coles Bay,off the jetty, produced another small Australian salmon.We had been told by many Aussies that the east coast was spectacular and they were all spot on.The only regret we both shared was that the time spent there was far too short.This will need to be rectified when we make a return visit.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.051s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 8; qc: 22; dbt: 0.032s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb