Although the day before we slept in full Bay of Fires, we leave for today the objective of discovering it more thoroughly. On our third day of roadtrip in Tasmania we visited this area in the northeast of the Australian island. In this article we tell you more about what are the essential stops, what to see and do, what was our tour and all the information to plan your visit.
These are the main data:
- Point: Jeanneret Beach Campground
- Final point: Liffey Falls Camping
- Total km: 300 km
The Bay of Fires It is a coastline of beautiful and long white sand beaches, separated from each other by islets of spherical rocks with seaweed caps of red hues. If you think, like us, that the name of the bay is given by the colors of the rocks, you have a lot of imagination, but you are not right. The name of Bay of Fires the colonists who saw from their boats and in the distance a row of fires on the beaches made by the original inhabitants, the aborigines, who by the way were entirely exterminated from Tasmania ... but that is another story ...
From the campsite we take north direction to The Gardens and, as in millions of occasions before, we write a new name in the list of possible destinations to spend our retirement. It is not a place where great luxuries are seen, but the environment is simply ideal. In the end there is a short path that passes through a small cove and ascends to some rocks over the ocean, leaving a viewpoint with very interesting information panels in the center. Highly recommended, although if you want to take a bath, think twice, we put our feet only and after a couple of minutes we no longer felt our fingers!
The Gardens
Further south we reach Binalong bay and you can see at first glance how there is more movement here: residential, parks with barbecues, accommodation and some shops ... It is the most famous part of Bay of Fires, but we have already noted our place, and we do not change it!
Binalong bay
It's time to leave the east coast (by the way, how wonderful!) To enter the inland, in the interior lands of the island of Tasmania. And we have to be honest, beauty doesn't disappear at any time! The winding road passes through green and yellow valleys, through giant eucalyptus forests, climbs up the mountain pass from where there are impressive panoramas and again goes back down to enter the heart of Tasmania.
We made a stop halfway attracted by the sign of Halls Waterfalls. It is a path that makes its way through a forest of tremendous trees, to a waterfall that left us somewhat cold, really. The road has an approximate km to the viewpoint over the water fall, which in reality is not such (neither fall nor viewpoint). There is a possibility to continue directly to the base of the waterfall, but today is not the day we do it. Of course, we really enjoyed the walk through this river forest.
Halls Waterfall
Derby It is a small town that has become the capital of Tasmania for mountainbike lovers. There are innumerable paths to travel with the bicycle and it seems that the people live from this. Besides, there are some quite vintage buildings such as the post office or the town hall itself. We tried to find a viewpoint on the bike tracks but no sign.
Derby Post Office
From here we continue towards Launceston, the second largest city in Tasmania (after Hobart) and one of the oldest in all of Australia (you have to go back to 1806 to find its foundation). Although it is a very large city, its heart unfolds on the slopes of a hill, visible from several km before.
We didn't have much interest in entering, we were already getting used to not having to stop at traffic lights or share the road with hundreds of cars ... But we had to do it to get to theCataract Gorge. And believe us if we tell you it was worth it. From the main park there are several paths that pass on both sides of the gorge. We made the short film that overcomes the Suspension Bridge and then we join the one that goes to the Cataract Walk… but we already tell you that there are others, so take a look at the map and decide for yourself!
Also if you have time it is a great place to spend half a day, in the park there is a free public pool, gardens with barbecues and even free hot showers! After three days of roadtrip is what could best sit us. Ah, there is also a kind of chairlift (the chairlift) that flies over the main lake of the gorge (for the small price of $ 12 or $ 15 round trip).
The Suspension Bridge at the Cataract Gorge
Trail down the slope of the throat
The ski lift over the throat
14km north of Lancheston is Grindelwald, the town itself has no attractions, but here is one of those fricades that usually fall on all roadtrip: the Grindelwald Swiss Village. It is a complex with hotel and golf course that tries to imitate a Swiss village, with its small square, its chocolate shop, its water mill, its wooden boat ... wooden boat ?? !! When we went, at 5 pm, this was more dead than a true Swiss town ...
The Swiss Village in Grindelwald
The day has passed quickly, but the surprises do not end here. We put the last destination on the mobile, the Liffey Falls Camping and in an hour we planted there. But what time! The last rays of sun create that special light that can only be seen at this time of day and spread over cultivated fields and grasslands where sheep and cows graze. The smell of cut grass and burnt wood, the narrow road, the streams of crystal clear waters, the squawks of the crows, a contry song on the radio ... if this is not the best of a roadtrip, then what can overcome it?
