Bay of Fires and Freycinet (Tassie Day 6, 7, and 8)

We started the next morning by sleeping in until about 8 or so.  Lindsay had work to do, so she stayed back at the bartel while I set out to pick up some groceries, get ice, and fill up the car.  The store was out of bags of ice, but the lady at the register just hollered over to the guy in the deli section and said something like, "This bloke's got a baby and needs some ice."  I still don't get the logic there, but the deli guy happily filled up a small produce bag with crushed ice and handed it over.

Shortly thereafter we got on the road and headed east, noshing on breakfast pastries along the way.  The berry muffin was great; the fruitcake muffin and fig strudel not so much.

Our plan was to first head to the northeast corner of Tasmania to Mt. William National Park and afterwords make our way down to an area called the Bay of Fires.  The roads were as windy as ever and the scenery beautiful as always.  While driving we were listening to CDs of "The Ricky Gervais Show," which is a British comedy radio talk show.  I was laughing so hard at times I had to slow down to avoid going off the road. I realize you have to hear the show to really appreciate the jokes, but for our own memories I feel the need to jot a few things down: "Do we really need them," "Rubbish," and "The old man and the Twix."

Just outside the national park the road turned from sealed (paved) to dirt and gravel.  We had read about the severe penalties the rental car companies impose on those stupid enough to take their cars off road, and since our rental car was brand new (only 535 km on the odometer), we decided to skip the park and go on to the Bay of Fires.  About an hour later we pulled into Binalong Bay, the southern second of the Bay of Fires.

This area supposedly got its name for the numerous aboriginals' fires that could be seen from the European ships that were exploring the area in the late 1700s.  Now its a picturesque seaside area of beautiful beaches strewn with large boulders covered with orange and yellow lichen.  As you can see from the pictures, the aqua blue water slamming into the yellow-orange rocks makes for a beautiful sight.  We found a nice place to park, and had a little picnic on a large boulder nearby.  After lunch Lindsay returned to the car to do some work while I played around with my camera.  Later we did a bit of exploring along the coast north of Binalong Bay.  I took "heaps" of photographs.

About an hour before sunset we stoped at Angasi, a hip little restaurant overlooking Binalong Bay.  Following an appetizer of oysters, we enjoyed lamb albondigas and trevally with the obiligatory sauvignon blanc wine. It was another fabulous meal.

After dinner we drove about 90 minutes south down the coast to our FREE campsite at a coastal area called Chain of Lagoons. Along the way we spotted an echidna slowly crossing the road in front of us.  Lindsay stopped the car and frantically beeped her horn at the oncoming car in hopes of alerting the driver to the situation.  He spotted it, too, so the echidna made it safely across.  After setting up the tent at Chain of Lagoons, we watched the sunset on the beach, Lindsay did a bit more work, and then we hit the hay.

The next morning we got up and drove to Freycinet National Park for some early morning sea kayaking in Cole's Bay.  We had initially planned on renting a kayak there for an overnight kayak/camping trip.  That got canned when the kayak company explained that we would have to demonstrate righting an overturned kayak in the deep 50F water.  Upon hearing this, it didn't take long for Lindsay to opt for the infinitely warmer 2-3 hour leisurely morning paddle, which didn't require the cold water plunge prior to departure.  It was a good thing, too.  We arrived, got oriented, and set off into near gale-force winds sweeping across the bay.  The strong winds would have made for a tough overnight trip.  We had a nice enough time on the water despite the wind though.

After returning to the kayak launch site and grabbing a fish-n-chips lunch at the nearby tavern, we drove to the main part of Freycinet Park.  There we packed up my backpack with just the essentials for an overnight backpacking/camping trip in the park.  From the trailhead we headed up and over a mountain to Wineglass Bay, our campground for the night. 

It was a pleasant enough hike despite the winds and dark clouds overhead, threatening to dump rain on us at any moment.  We shared the rustic campground with about 8 other groups and a bunch of wallabies hopping around.  The wallabies were quite anxious to sniff out or tent when we arrived.

The kayaking and hike had worn us out, so we had an early dinner in anticipation of an early bedtime. This dinner was not as fancy as the two we'd had the prior two nights, but it was perfect for camping and required no cooking: our appetizer was Ritz crackers and wine, and our entrees were a ham and cheese croissant and a chicken and camembert cheese pie. It hit the spot.  Shortly after sunset we fell asleep to the sounds of a light rain shower.

In the middle of the night I awoke from a very deep sleep to someone shaking me and saying in an extremely panicked whisper, "Matt! There's something out there and its hissing! I think there are possums getting into our food!" Before going to bed we had tied up all of our food - just two muffins, an orange, and an energy bar - in one of Lindsay's beloved Envirosax (www.envirosax.com if you're curious) and hung it from a branch in the tree.  This is standard protocol for camping.  Tying up your food and hanging it from a tree, in theory, keeps the food inaccessible to pesky critters...such as possums.

Well, the possums weren't so sure our food was inaccessible.  It took me a minute or two to wake up, and when I did I peered out the tent with my headlamp.  Sure enough, there were two large possums (about the size of large raccoons) in the tree vying for dominance over our muffins.  With my chivalry gland pumping as fast as it could, I got up and with a hiking boot in hand, attempted to ward off the intruders.  At first they were not impressed and just hissed at me.  But I got closer and took a few more swings, lightly striking the animals with the boot, and they did finally race down the tree and retreat into the forest.  But alas, the damage was done.  The Envirosac, muffins, orange, and energy bar had all been gnawed on by the possums. Fearing the return of the possums, I walked down to the beach to dispose of our would-have-been breakfast in the ocean and hung the possum saliva-covered Envirosac on a branch nearby.

Now, it turns out that at the time of the possum attack Lindsay wasn't the least bit concerned about the fate of our food and the possibility of facing a three hour hike back sans breakfast.  No, her fear was that the possums would rip and chew through her Envirosac.  Well, lucky for her, it was the one thing that survived.

The next moring I woke up especially hungry with the prospect of a three hour hike back to civilization.  It was a great hike despite the lack of brekkie.  I did have a mild hypoglycemic event though, which caused me to be slightly grumpy at Lindsay when she wouldn't be quiet despite the presence of an echidna on the trail.  There we were in a beautiful Tasmanian forest, and I happened to see the elusive echidna just hanging out on the trail, and Lindsay was blabbing away behind me....well, turns out the echidna was just a big brown rock.  I quickly apologized, we finished the hike, and we finally got some much needed breakfast.

Back in the car we again headed south toward the Tasman Peninsula.  Halfway there we stopped in Swansea at a beautiful sushi restaurant overlooking the water.  The view was spectacular; the sushi was not as spectacular as the view but good enough.

An hour or so later we stopped in Sorrell and had dessert at a "pick your own fruit" farm where we picked 5 varieties of stawberries (I didn't even know they came in varieties), cherries, raspberries, and gooseberries. 

Later that afternoon we arrived in Eaglehawk Neck (part of the Tasman Peninsula) and checked into a hotel.  The hotel was pretty crappy, but it had hot showers and that was all we cared about.  We got cleaned up and then took a drive around the peninsula to stop by a few famous sites, namely the Tasman Arch, the Blowhole, and the Devil's Kitchen.

Afterwords, we once again we found ourselves looking for a dinner spot around 7:30, thirty to sixty minutes before most restaurant close their kitchens.  We had to settle for a place called Fox and Hound, which looked destined to be a bit of a disappointment.  But we were tired, hungry, and running out of time. Well, the dinner was surprisingly good, at least the garlic and cheese bread appetizer and fresh strawberry dessert.  FYI: here, chicken parmesan comes on top of chips (fries), not pasta.

We got back to the hotel relatively early and decided to be lazy and relax in front of the TV.  Anchorman, one of my favorite movies, was on.  This made both of us very happy.  We made it though the first half but then drifted off to sleep.