Our destination today is the small village of Binalong Bay, at the southern end of the Bay of Fires, which is actually a series of beautiful bays along the northeast coast of Tasmania. We have plenty of time to do the 100 miles, so stops and side trips will be the order of the day. We make it to Scottsdale for lunch, then take a short detour to a small place called Legerwood, where there is an amazing set of outdoor sculptures. It all started after WWI, when the local townsfolk planted a row of trees to commemorate their fallen in the Great War. Some 80 years later, the trees had become overgrown and deemed unsafe, so were condemned to be cut down. But the enterprising villagers commissioned a specialist wood sculptor to make carvings out each 10-20 foot high stump. What resulted is a remarkable series of sculptures depicting each of the fallen, with a biography of each individual at the base. In most cases the soldier was depicted with objects related to the work he did before the war; several of them worked in the local lumber mills. Two of the trees had been left with multiple thick branches that were each carved, and represented either a scene from the soldier's war experience (mainly the trenches), or people from home (parents, a fiancée). Extraordinary en masse (there are 9 tree sculptures in a long row), and also very touching as a memorial. (See our photos.)

Then back on the road that led us to Ralph Falls, which involved a 10 mile off-road track up in the Blue Tier Mountain range. Fortunately we met only one car driving towards us. The falls were finally reached after walking through the rain forest, down a narrow path to a cliff edge some 300 feet high, with the waterfall in sight across the gorge. Truth to tell, whoever Ralph was, he must not have been too illustrious, as his waterfall was not terribly impressive. Back in the car, and onwards over the mountain, leading us to another fall - St Columba--which was far more spectacular, well worth the bumpy ride and a longer hike through the forest. From the top of the cliff, there was a very wide fall of water, which broke into several separate streams of water, dropping from one ledge to the next, veering off in different directions, before joining a rushing stream at ground level. The viewing platform was at the foot of the falls, and across the stream. One final stop before rejoining the main road to our destination: Pyengana, the cheese factory. We have not had much in the way of cheese on this trip (perhaps our sole example of nutritional moderation) and we've read that Tassie cheeses are excellent because of the quality of the local milk. So we had a cheese tasting (all manner of cheddars) and chose two to take with us. We are finding that everywhere we go in this country, restaurants, shops, hotels, etc. all make great capital of being either award-winning, or the largest, smallest, oldest (most frequent claim of all) in Australia, or in Sydney, or in Victoria, or wherever. Between us, we've made a bit of a joke out of this tendency, and now look out for such notices. A particular favourite is "the largest bric a brac shop in the bush".

Before reaching Binalong Bay (like many places, the name of the bay and of the town), we drive through St. Helens, where we stop to buy provisions for breakfast the next morning. We are staying in a self-catering cottage which sits on a slight elevation, directly overlooking the bay, and it couldn't be a lovelier view, with turquoise coloured water and white, white sand. A walk on the beach reveals the finest, softest sand, more like talcum powder than anything granular, that either of us have ever come across.The water shades in colour from pale green into an incredible turquoise a bit further out, then to deep blue, but at 55 degrees I am more likely to admire it from the sand, and even Robin may find swimming a little challenging. We dine at the Binalong Bay Café, next door to our cottage. It is the only restaurant in town, in fact it is the only establishment in town. We have the local delicacy, Tasman crayfish, and it's good but if you closed your eyes you'd swear you were eating a New England lobster. (And, boy, is it expensive.) Wine is good though, Tasmanian again - Bay of Fires Sauvignon Blanc. You can't accuse us of not trying to eat and drink local! Our meal is interrupted when the waiter comes to tell us of a massive earthquake in Japan, and announces that the whole of Australia has been put on Tsunami alert. Bearing in mind that both the restaurant where we sit and our cabin next door are only a few feet above sea level, and about 30 feet from the beach, this is a bit disconcerting, but as no one else seems inclined to panic, we finished our meal. Back at the cottage we turn on the tv, and see the start of the horrors that subsequently have been unfolding. Words simply can't do justice to the magnitude of this disaster for the Japanese people.

Saturday, 12 March, it's a bit cloudy and grey in the morning as we head into St. Helens to buy our food for the next few meals. We've decided to eat dinner in the cottage that night, so first stop is the Blue Shed, right at the harbour where they sell whatever comes in off the fishing boats. We bought half a dozen local oysters (conveniently, they've been shelled) and some Flathead fish fillets--no idea what the fish looked like but the man said they were lovely and sweet tasting. Then to the grocery store for everything else. Back at the cottage we sat on the porch overlooking the beach and ate lunch, then as the weather had warmed up we decided to drive north along the coast to see some more of the Bay of Fires. We drove as far as the road would take us (beyond there, a long stretch of coast is not reachable by road, only on foot or by boat). The drive revealed beach after beach, long lovely sandy beaches with the jewel-like waters, some with rocky sections as well and hardly a person in sight, in fact as you will see from the photos we were the only people on the beach. At the furthest beach, we climbed along the shore over massive boulders, which took us to a protected little cove that had some good beachcombing possibilities. Then back to the car, and we stopped at a quite long beach closer to Binalong. We walked a ways along, then stopped to sit on a warm rock, just admiring the rolling waves, which seemed to be getting larger. A family group, with 3 generations, arrived with all their gear, and one by one headed off to one end of the beach, wearing wet suits, and carrying either body boards or surfboards. First the young lad, maybe 8 or so, then dad, then a young woman, then grandma (the only one who went into the water sans wet suit!). Watching the various levels of skill was hugely enjoyable, and kept us entertained for a while, until it started cooling down as the sun was sinking. Back home, to cook dinner and enjoy a bottle of the local Sauvignon Blanc (the cooler weather in this part of the world particularly suits Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir grapes, so those are the wines we are drinking in Tasmania).