Betten On Bike: DAY 8 - 26 FEBRUARY 2015 BICHENO TO ST HELENS

Day 8 – 26 February 2015 Bicheno to St Helens

Cycling Stats: 88 kms

Average Speed: 24.5 kms per hour

Walter & Steve left as usual at 7am and once again it was a very heavily clouded sky with a sprinkling of raindrops – so they were very fortunate as the day fined up after that beautifully.

Walter told me later that the alternate route they took up through Elephant Pass had stunning views and was reminiscent of travelling up through an alps like terrain. Their descent was through St Marys Pass. He estimated that their climb today went to 400 metres and he tells me there was also a strong headwind.

Gill and I left at around 8.30am and our direct route via the A3 was also rather picturesque – sheep grazing in pastureland directly adjacent to the beaches of the coastal bays we drove past. Sounds whimsical, but they faced towards the bays and seemed very content with their beautiful bay views.

At times the sun filtered through the heavy dark clouds over the seas creating solid silvery lines of light over the seas.

But as with most days we have had so far the skies cleared and became bright blue and the warm sun shone again.

Gill and I had decided not to stop but just drive straight through to St Helens. Here we found the local bakery and sat down to a coffee. The guys arrived not too much later with smiles as they told us about their ride today.

In the afternoon after lunch and a bit of downtime, we drove off to explore The Bay of Fires region. First to The Gardens – Walter & I had visited this beautiful place about 5 years ago with our friends from The Netherlands Henry & Kees but there were now some changes – walking paths and information signs were a welcome addition.

We learnt that The Bay of Fires was named by Tobias Furneaux in 1773 and the name comes from seeing the many fires lit by the north-east coastal plains Aboriginal people. This site itself was named by Lady Jane Franklin in 1835 when she came to Georges Bay with her husband Sir John Franklin. Lady Jane rode her horse from Georges Bay to this area and finding acres of wildflowers she named it ‘The Gardens’.

Walter, I should mention is really enjoying the opportunity of picking wild fresh blackberries most days. – They are everywhere and he is in berry heaven. I must add that they are sweet and very tasty. He even offered handfuls of them to some Asian tourists today at The Gardens and they giggled but took them and tried them and then proceeded to take photos of Walter picking them.

After this, a scenic drive to Binalong Bay but on the way we stopped briefly at one of the most beautiful beaches I honestly have ever seen – Taylors Beach.

At Binalong Bay we did the 1 hour return walk to Skeleton Bay walking through a forest of tea trees with glimpses of rocky bay views. This walk made us think a little of the Noosa National Park walk around to Tea Tree Bay.

Back to Binalong Bay and we pick up freshly cooked seafood from the waterfront and took it back to the camping ground to eat at a picnic table next to Steve & Gill’s caravan site. We felt like we were in our own little back garden – it was private little plot away from all the other campers. The afternoon was fine, calm with a brilliant blue sky one minute and the next the black storm clouds rolled in dramatically and the wind picked up to gale force. We packed up quickly and retreated to our cabin for the rest of the evening.