Saturday, February 27, 2010

North by Northeast


The northeast corner of Tasmania is one of the most beautiful places in the world. The Bay of Fires is an absolutely spectacular place. The water is a turquoise shade of blue I have never seen, and its beaches are of fine white sand.

But what sets it apart are the large rocks along the shore which are covered in a bright orange lichen. It has a reputation for being spectacular, and, as LK said, it did not disappoint.

We visited different sections of the Bay on two days, and it is unbelievable to me that in nearly every instance we were the only people on the beach. Imagine having this little piece of heaven all to yourself. Fantastic.

On Friday I read up about other places to visit in the northeast and decided we could pop over to Mt Columba Falls, have lunch in Pyengara and still have a nice afternoon at the Bay of Fires. I had failed to realize that the Falls came at the end of some steep, winding roads and it would take longer than the tourist sites had said it would. Let's just say that a certain LK said, "These falls better be worth it," after we'd been driving the twisting road for what seemed too long.

Luckily, they were. You get to the base of the falls with a 10-minute downhill walk through drop-dead beautiful rainforest. It was full of eucalyptus, sassafras and man ferns. Jaki laughed at that last term, but it is the local name for the dicksonia antarcticae, the tree fern.

The falls were pretty, but we've seen a picture of them taken in the winter when more than 50,000 gallons of water go over the edge each minute. Sounds like a great reason for a mid-year return some time.

You can see some pix of them and the Bay of Fires here.

The ride back to Hobart went along much of the east coast of the state, but it was a drizzly, overcast day and not ideal for sightseeing. However, we did discover a great bakehouse along the way so not all was lost.

We got back to Hobart in time for a quick trip to Salamanca Markets (OK, LK and Jaki to the stalls; Robert and me to the Irish pub). And now we are getting ready to launch cocktail hour on our last night in Tasmania.

The trip has confirmed one thing for me. LK and I are going to love it here.

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