TASMANIA 5 - BICHENO & SOUTH

After the Midlands we went back to the east coast to Bicheno then north to the Chain of Lagoons area and camped at Lagoons Beach Conservation Area. This is quite a nice little area tucked in behind the dunes and the lagoons but the beaches here were nowhere near as nice as the Bay of Fires. We were surprised at how much Bicheno had grown when we drove through but there is still a no decent supermarket, just a small IGA. We have discovered that apart from Launceston and Hobart, there is very little choice in shopping for basic requirements and what's there is very expensive. People must drive to the bigger centres regularly or pay way more for their groceries.

We were impressed by this beautiful driveway entrance which we discovered while exploring the coastline just north of Bicheno.

What an artistic use of flotsam and jetsam!

With this in mind we decided to go to the Nature Park at Bicheno then continue south. We chose the nature park here as we had visited it on our last trip to Tassie and it was very good.  Judging by what we saw I think it is probably still the best for viewing Aussie animals although I haven’t been to the one in Launceston so I can’t compare the two. The variety of Australian fauna was impressive and there was the odd refugee in amongst them. We did enjoy our visit there though despite the drizzly rain.

 

Our next camp was at Mayfield Bay Campground which was a very pleasant little spot right beside the beach. It was also very popular but there was plenty of room. We even had in house entertainment.

There were again a couple of interesting bridges along the way. Both were built by convicts and the one near Mayfield Campground even formed the foundation of the current traffic bridge. They certainly knew how to build bridges back then.

You can clearly see the old bridge below the new one at Mayfield Bay.

The Spikey Bridge can be seen beside the highway just north of Mayfield Bay. The purpose of the spikes is unknown.

 

Instead of heading down the main road to Tasman Peninsula, we took the coastal route from Orford via the Wielangta Forest Drive. It is a rather rough dirt road but the blue gum trees along the way are truly amazing. They are hundreds of feet tall and some are over 200 years old. After Marion Bay Lookout the country opens up into lush green paddocks full of dairy cows and is very picturesque.

That's John standing at the bottom of the tree.

As most of the camping grounds on the Tasman Peninsula are in National Parks, we assumed it would be a bit of a hassle with the dog so we decided to make camp in the paddock behind the Dunalley Hotel. It is a big open area, is free and has a pleasant outlook so it was a convenient place to base ourselves while we explored the Peninsula. The pub is located right beside the Denison Cut, which is a manmade channel built in 1907. It enables smaller vessels to avoid sailing right down around Tasman Island to get to Hobart from the east by navigating the cut instead. The bridge just before the pub opens sideways to allow boats through. Apparently this cut was one of three constructed in Australia but is the only one that was successful, as the tide times on each side of the isthmus differ which results in regular scouring out of silt in the cut. There was one built at Eaglehawk Neck as well but it was a failure due to excess siltation.

The Denison Cut. Our campsite was past the bridge on the left.