le biche

i am going to put it out there that the entirety of the east coast of tasmania is spectacular. downright b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l. i could go on and on with many adjectives, but suffice it to say, it was pretty special. 
we spent three nights at bicheno hideaway. hidden it was. blissfully relaxing. and a thoroughly delightful little spot to stay, with cute little houses and private balconies overlooking the rocky beach, splendid gardens, much wildlife and a rather domesticated peacock family that hung out on our balcony most mornings, a private beach for swimming and snorkelling. lots of reading. some walking. much enjoyment was had. we also found a winery. or two. along with a lot of delicious food. needless to say. ash had his fair share of smoked fish. myself ample cured meat. we both indulged in excessive amounts of cheese.
we spent the day in freycinet national park. a slight faux pas heading off with thongs (flip flops for the non-australians, we ignored the signs discouraging walkers with inappropriate foot ware and trekked our way to wineglass bay look out, cape tourville, and sleepy bay. the rugged coast within the park is much better described with photos...below!

on fire baby.

from the tamar we headed due east to the bay of fires. not really knowing what we were in for, the drive itself was utterly spectacular, winding through spectacular forest either side of the road, some stunning look outs and conveniently we happened to be passing the old weldborough inn right around lunch time where we were served possibly the best steak sandwich of my life, and had an incredible selection of local beers and ciders... lucky we had further to drive or we may just have been stuck there all afternoon.

fortunately also, once arriving at the bay of fires we were suitably blown away by its beauty. camping, or 'swagging' for the night, we rolled out the canvas, and promptly took our chairs down to the beach and passed the afternoon reading and enjoying the view. not knowing any better, we concluded the name of the area would have been due to the fiery red coloured lichen that covered the rocks along the bay. some research turns out that the english navigator that named the coast actually saw a lot of fires when he first arrived, clearly we let our imagination run too far.

the beaches were pristine. and we could not get sick of them. unfortunately we only had one night there. so the next morning we found ourselves having breakfast overlooking binalong bay (oh crisp and crunchy flavoursome bacon - how we have missed you!!!) and exploring the small inlets all around the bay. this really involved ash being fascinated by kelp and rock pools while i sat on the rocks absorbing some much needed vitamin d.     

the moon. at last.

WELL. it almost seems like it never happened. for two and a half blissful, wondrous weeks we meandered about the wee little state of tasmania. and WHAT a magnificent place. WHAT a time we had. bliss. pure wonderful bliss. weather verging on perfection for ninety five percent of the time. enough cheese and gourmet delights to gain at least a kilo a day. and of course micro brewed beer and pinots to wash it all down. this is all without going into the scenery, the adventures, the fun, and the beauty.

having had enough of planes, we decided to drive across to melbourne and board the spirit (a ferry for those that aren't familiar) and take the overnight journey to arrive in tassie (the best nights sleep in quite literally months i might add). and what else do you do when arriving somewhere at stupid o'clock. you seek out food. and did we ever in elizabeth town where we devoured all the bakery had to offer. before sitting and pondering how much more we could eat. too many choices you see.

the first two nights saw us staying in the tamar valley, a wine region, filled with delicious wine that we sampled. extensively. we stayed in some lovely architectural getaways overlooking vineyards and a lake. we ate. we drank. we relaxed. we read. and we indulged in some much needed quiet and clean air freshness. 

while in the area we also got the adrenaline going with the hollybanks treetop adventure which was a series of zip lines through the forest. spectacular. and a really fun and interesting perspective on the forest. cameras weren't allowed so i have put some pictures from them below (last three photos). would highly recommend for something different, and those of us that aren't such great fans of the hiking. all the views of hiking while lying in a hammock!!!