Bridport to St Helens

April 16
At Bridport we stepped out of the trailer onto a great beach and also a great foreshore track, so walking was the obvious way to start the day. 

Sunrise at Bridport



Bridport Camp

To try to undo some of the damage from all of our eating and drinking I have introduced Mike to a 'picnic table walk'!  At every picnic table we must complete some muscle burning task and in this case there were a whole lot of picnic tables along the track.  This holiday is exhausting!  While packing up I became very popular when I reversed the Hilux into an invisible stump, (well it was invisible to me).  Nearly found myself walking home! Actually that would be a walk, swim and walk from here wouldn't it.  (No more comments about Mike's drone flying abilities).  Once packed up we headed for Scottsdale, a great rural town.  So far we have seen a lot of beautiful lush, green, rolling hills and lots of fat and happy farm animals.  Grabbed a coffee in Scottsdale and drove on to Braxholm.  This area has a big history involving Chinese migrants and tin mining.  We did a heritage walk (the story of Ah Ping), actually we did the walk ++ because we also walked to the heritage walk from the main road. We were a little confused as to where it started discovering that signs in Tassie are not always very clear.

Replica Tin Miner's hut on Tin Dragon Trail

Ringarooma River - Main water supply for Braxholm tin mining

From here we went to Derby and stopped to have a look around, paying a visit to the School Museum.  Once again this provided a fantastic history lesson of the area.  St Helens was our destination for a two night stopover, however, the Pyangana Cheese Factory and 'Holy Cow Café' could not be missed along the way for great cheddar cheese tasting and a late lunch.



Pyangana Cheese - award winning cheddar!!

April 17th
Set off to the 'Bay of Fires' this morning.  It gets this name because of the colours.  Turquoise water, squeaky white sand and orange algae.

Bay of Fires Panorama

Fine squeaky sand and amazing coloured water

Stopped in at Binalong Bay café on the way back for a coffee.  Great spot and great view!  At this stage we decided to head back out over yesterdays tracks and do some of the things we had not done.  I was driving and nearly had another Holy Cow experience.  A suicidal calf  leapt across the road in front of us and we nearly had tenderized rump for dinner.  Some serious braking and a swerve and I missed him by a hair on his rear.  Two 'dings' in two days would not have been good!  St Columba Falls was a great short walk down into the rain forest with the temperature dropping rapidly as we descended. 

St Columba Falls from the carpark

Back in the rainforest

St Columba Falls looking up

Didn't take raincoats though did we, and down came the rain.  Seeking shelter under enormous tree ferns only works to a certain point then we made a run for it.  Had planned on going on further to Ralph Falls to walk a longer trail, but now cold and wet and with the rain setting in we decided the 'Pub in the Paddock' was a far better option.  Met Priscilla the beer swilling pig and then sat in front of an open fire with a Tasmanian Irish Red Ale and a glass of Pinot.

The Pub in the Paddock

 

 

Meet Priscilla!

Enjoying a beer!!

 Eating out in St Helens, we recommend the 'Blue Shed'.  Great seafood, excellent view and great service!!