10th Light - Bay of Fires
In and out of phone reception, we received an email a few days ago from Bay of Fires Eco Tours. We’d booked a boat tour for this morning but due to predicted 4 metre swells, they though best to cancel. It was to include exploration of the coastline and a visit to a local seal colony, and after arriving on the coast last night and witnessing first hand the fury of an eastern low, we were glad they knew what they’re doing.
This morning we woke having gained an hour and evidently by our struggle, about 3 kilos. But we added to that with a hearty bacon and egg breakfast before returning to some morning photo editing as the day proved no better than yesterday.
Slated rest days on tour are more often forced upon us. Weather dictates what can be done, and while the best laid plans make this type of holiday seamless, sometimes we are forced to sit back and wait for the photography gods to turn in our favour.
So with little to do today but edit and read, we thought now would be a good time to aquatint our faithful readers further with Anthony.
He is a 4 Berth Seeker hired from Cruisin Motorhomes in Hobart. While a little bigger than our normal van hires, we selected this model for 2 reasons. Firstly the special offer was too good to refuse - some $1,800 less than the mainland versions - and secondly, it gave us the opportunity of trying a different, larger model. Something we had wanted to do but found a little hard to justify.
The cabin was like many vans, automatic, comfortable, easy to drive, built in satellite navigation, and good clear vision to witness all the sights along the way. While the engine was a little gutless for the size of its carried home, driving was a breeze and we are never in a hurry anyway. Once you get 80 km/h set in your mind, you soon forget any other inefficiencies. Above the cabin was a double bed we used for camera equipment storage, and further behind, a permanently set up dinette with easy access to a ¾ size fridge/freezer and galley consisting of a 4 burner stove, deep sink and plenty of bench space.
The dinette was the best feature of this van as it always gave us somewhere to sit, eat, of course cocktail, and edit our photos.
At the rear another double bed converted from a wrap around dinning area. We had the bed permanently set up, again adding to the importance of the aforementioned dinette. Anthony also has an onboard toilet, shower and hot water system. Generally speaking we try and shower, and well, shit, at any available land based facility, but its such a convenience knowing we have all of those facilities on hand if needed. We showered in the van many times on this trip which was refreshing when out free camping in the middle of nowhere.
An inbuilt awning, outside table and chairs, and every light needed completed what we think is the perfect sized touring vehicle. Strangely, the only thing missing on this wagon was a BBQ? As a garbo Fatpap is comfortable driving most vehicles, and for the uninitiated this chariot is nothing to worry about. Drive easy, take turns slow and enjoy the countryside you are traversing.
By late morning the weather looked nothing but worse, so we packed up, taking all of 4 minutes, and moved northward a whopping 5km to our next free camping location known as Cosy Corner South. Like most free camps, you only need to circle the grounds once to find your own slice of paradise. Ours was a hedge rowed nook sheltered from the winds but affording a full view of the beach only 5 metres away. Around lunch time the rain stopped but not the wind. We grabbed our cameras and set off to explore the snow white sands, rusty lichen stained rocks and turquoise waters of the Bay of Fires. Despite the wind and sporadic light rains, we pushed over each new headland discovering tracks buried within the bushland to the west of each.
The Bay of Fires was so named by Captain Tobias Furneaux after spotting numerous Aboriginal campfires in the area when sailing past in 1773. The bay stretches 50km from Binalong Bay in the south to Eddystone Point in the north and still holds evidence of those first Tasmanians in the form of middens - shell and bone dumping grounds - along the shores.
World renowned for its extraordinary clear blue seas and brilliant white beaches, we unfortunately didn’t see the bay at its best. The raging wind and swell did its darnedest to hide the turquoise waters, however the orange lichen-cloaked boulders were difficult to miss. Even without bright sunshine these iconic rock formations were a standout and feature heavily in our photographs of the session.
Even in the worst conditions, the area is sublime in its isolation and rawness. We walked for miles and continued over each boulder strewn headland only to discover another, equally, if not more, spectacular formation. Had it not quickly become Gin O’Clock, we could have stayed out there all afternoon. We returned to Anthony in the continuing drizzle and settled down for an evening of editing, reading, and praying for the rain to leave us in the morning.
Bay of Fires, Tasmania