Brilliant Bay of Fires

(30 Kms)

Tuesday, 16 Jan, 2018

St Helens

It was a leisurely start. One of the great things about cycling is that you actually need to eat a lot to have enough energy to cycle. As we had a well-earned rest day we cooked up a BIG BREAKFAST, consisting of bacon, eggs, mushrooms, spinach, baked beans and toast. It went down a treat.

We then sorted out our gear for the day and headed into St Helens to buy more food for lunch. The little IGA had a great collection of Tasmania cheeses and a lovely looking pate. With some dips and fresh bread rolls, we were sorted for a picnic lunch.

Sorting out the gear for the day

No white caps today

Heading to the IGA for supplies

The wind had dropped a lot. It was still south easterly so we were riding into it, but it was a breeze compared to yesterday. The Bay of Fires had long been on my bucket list and as we cycled into Binalong Bay, it fully lived up to expectations. Being a rest day, we weren't up for any big activities so we found a perfectly positioned picnic bench and settled down for lunch.

Ready for lunch

Binalong Bay

Binalong Bay

Binalong Bay

We had passed a cafe on the way in, and thought it would be an ideal spot to enjoy the views from a different perspective. The coffees were pretty good too.

Waiting for coffees and milk shakes

We then headed down to the beach for a paddle. The water was glorious but a little too cold for swimming, from our perspective at least.

Eventually we headed back into town. Simon and Georgia went straight to the campsite to stake out a table for dinner. Last night the camp kitchen had been heaving by 6pm, and we weren't sure if it was due to the wind, or if that was its normal level of usage.

Jonno and I did the shopping. The plan was to cook up a double mix of bolognaise sauce, and freeze half for dinner tomorrow night. With a planned ride of over 70 kilometres to Bicheno, I think we will appreciate having dinner ready to go. Based on our experience last night, it takes a while to set up camp, and we had to rush to get to the restaurant at a reasonable time before closing.

Back at the camp kitchen, Georgia had commandeered our preferred table, close to a powerpoint so we could charge up our devices. We got stuck into making dinner, and chatted to Rachel, who is also cycling to Hobart.


A tangle of cords at the charging station