North East Tasmania

Last year, Robin and I went to Tasmania planning to do the six day Overland Track walk. Because of a blizzard and lousy conditions, we spent a night in a freezing cold rescue hut along with 21 other people and then discontinued the hike the following day. You can read about it here.

Since we had a few days to fill in, we then hired a car and drove around Tasmania, but we did not go to the north east section. Marianne wanted to come to Tassie this year so we came to Launceston and decided to tour the north east. We followed this route and drove in a clockwise direction.

Once you get out of Launceston, there is very little traffic and the scenery is great without being dramatic.

After winter, everything is green. 

Eventually we reached Bridport on the north coast.

What used to be a pier.

It's a rocky coast line.

When I looked up the wiki article about Bridport, I was amazed to find that it is home to two of the best golf courses in the world, one of which is currently ranked #35. Read about it here.

We then headed off to the east coast of Tassie via a very hilly and windy road. It was slow progress and every now and then we came to little towns like Derby. The main industry in the area seems to be logging and there were quite a few trucks struggling up the hills.

Good views, but a bit chilly in the wind.

Tasmania is heaven for walkers with tracks everywhere.

Eventually we reached Binalong Bay which turned out to be absolutely beautiful.

The sand is very white and fine.

A rock pool right beside the ocean.

Further north is the Bay of Fires.

There seems to be no shops in Binalong Bay and you would have to drive five miles to nearby Saint Helens which has all the usual Aussie facilities of a small town. It would be a marvelous place to have a week's holiday, overlooking the ocean, walking along the beach and exploring the rock pools.

Finally, some flowers. Marianne actually took most of the photos. I was a bit tired after the drive across the mountains and had a nap before wandering off to look at the beach and rock pools.

It took a couple of hours to drive back to Launceston but it was not as interesting journey as the northerly route.