A day on the beach(es)

A lovely sunny Sunday to take a ride – and so we did. Started out only a half hour later than originally planned (8am) – we were finishing a bit a breakfast when neighbor Steve arrived ready to go. A bit of fruit and water packed and we were off.

Drove up along the east coast, stopping along the way to visit an old Anglican  church with stained glass windows brought over from England very early on (don’t have exact dates in front of me) and an interesting cemetery – they’ve added a crematorium wall alongside all the old headstones to keep up with the times.

Stopped in Orford at the mouth of the Prosser River for a morning tea break. Also took in the continuously running garage sale in town – just to check things out. Continued on northward, catching sight of Maria Island and Freycinet Peninsula along the way. With the sun and sky so beautiful, the coves and bays were extraordinarily gorgeous – perfect aquamarines and deep blues against white beaches.

A short stop at Kate’s Berry Farm was a must – mostly for their homemade ice creams using their fresh berries! Blackberry ice cream and raspberry sorbet were the hits with our group.

We made a stop to see the Spiky Bridge along the road – made by convicts early in the state’s history, it is a wonderfully built stone structure – very wide with these big spiky ends of rocks sticking up along the railing – no known reason why!

The road leading to the Freycinet National Forest had a visitors info stop where we met a gal from MI who is now living in Tasmania. I didn’t recognize her accent at first – and when she heard me talk she switched back into her “american speak”! Steve was a great one throughout the day for finding out where folks were from.

A lunch stop was in order before going into the National Forest area, so we treated ourselves to big bowls of fish chowder at Madge Malloy’s in Coles Bay – too many fish in the pot to recall along with potatoes, carrots, and several other things I don’t remember – thick and hearty and filling!

The park service has a lovely visitors center where we met an American woman and her Japanese partner – she is a papermaker interested in natural dyes and he is a photogrpher/designer artist. We checked out a small dark purple berry suggested by one of the rangers and had a good chat about dyes and papermaking. They were already away from Japan when the earthquake hit and haven’t been able to find out about their home yet, continuing on with their travel plans until time to go home. We wished them well.

Wineglass Bay is apparently one of the top 10 things you are supposed to see before you die and it is on the easter shore of the Freycinet Peninsula within the park. Two ways to get to it – walk up through the gap between two mountains or take a boat tour around. It was hot by the time we got there and late in the afternoon, so we opted to see the lighthouse at Cape Tourville and Sleepy Bay  – both short walks with fantastic views of the surrounding bays and ocean. Lots of pics that I’ll post later.

Went north a bit more to Bicheno where we encountered a gathering of teens in town for an outdoor concert. Take away pizza from the popular spot was eaten in the triangular park in the middle of the town.

That was when Chris realized he left his hat on the table back in Coles Bay. A quick call to Maggie assured us it was still there, so after disappointing the seagulls who were waiting for pizza crust handouts, we traveled back in the deepening twilight for the hat.

Three hours later in full darkness we landed back in Connely’s Marsh. Tired but extremely satisfied with the adventures and sights of the day.