So much to see...

February 28:  Bay of Fires has so many free camps but today it is very windy so some of the best beach spots are not for us with our outdoor kitchen, we wouldn't be able to keep the pots on the stove.  We actually drove into ten different free camps and they are all great....we just had to find the best for us...and that turned out to be Moulting Bay (close to the water but surrounded by trees and out of the wind).

I'm becoming a bit of a bird freak, I can see myself buying a bird book before long and we bought new binoculars while we were in Geelong.  We have seen plenty of yellow tailed black cockatoos while in this area of Binalong Bay and parrots, finches, wrens and more.
Steve left me at the camp to set up the van so he could go find some red wine (St Helens is only 8km down the road) and he arrives back with his red and...a dozen oysters...and for me..........nothing not even chocolate!!! What the....

Now he will never go out again and not bring me back chocolate if you know what I mean.

We found a Laundromat and shopping in St Helens and $2 hot showers down at the wharf....luxury!

Saturday 2 March it is sunny and 10-26C and we went 4WDing and it is fun, through beautiful pine plantations, forests, bush and rainforests.  Found Ralph Falls walk, 1 hour including lookout at Cash's Gorge.

Norms Lookout

Walking through the forest at Ralph Falls

Ralph Falls

Legerwood has wood carvings in some trees that were planted in 1918 in memorial for the WW1 and Anzac soldiers.  The trees became dangerous and were going to be removed but the community raised $27000 and got a bloke from the town of Ross to carve the trees with a chainsaw mind you.



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Todays wildlife included 2 red bellied black snakes, one about 6ft long that we ran over.
We went to the Pub in the Paddock were Pricilla the beer drinking pig lives but Pricilla was asleep, too many beers already I guess.

Finally a stop at St Columba Falls with a beautiful walk through the rainforests with huge tree ferns.

Sunday we walked to Skeleton Bay and took photos of the famous Bay of Fires.

The weather is calmer today and the water is beautiful and drove to the other side of St Helens' Georges Bay to Akarora, Stieglitz and surfside of St Helens Conservation Area - quite a view.
Monday 4 March:  we drove west off the coast through St Marys and Fingal, they are all little towns but lots of history and buildings from the late 1800s and mining days and after driving on dirt roads for a while we found a free camp called Griffiths Camping area in the middle of the pine plantations...so quiet and peaceful.  We even had our own babbling brook.  This morning Steve cooked his first stew in the Dream Pot so we had nothing to do this arvo but sit and enjoy the serenity...ahhhhhh.

Chook turned up...don't know where from

Griffiths Camping Ground

Steve was checking something on the car and a wasp sat on his thong and Steve stood on his head...the wasp was not happy and Steve started jumping around and cursing...I think it hurt!  So he ran off into our cold babbling brook to ease the sting.  He got over it about two days later.
We were sitting watching the roos and rabbits coming out in the dusk and a cold blanket of air came down on us, so on with the flannies, trackies and the uggies.

Tuesday morning we woke at 8am to 6.5C Brrrrrr.  We decided to curl up and cuddle in bed for another hour and by 9am it is 9C.  Packed up and had a change of plan, instead of driving the car to Ben Lomand NP we took the van through the hills off road though some little, little towns; found an old mining town Storys Creek at the top of a mountain and had fantastic views of the rugged south end of Ben Lomond NP.

We will go into Ben Lomond NP from the west side later in our trip.
We had a long driving day but the driving is fairly easy.  Back to the coast and looked at 2 more camps, Lagoons Beach was good but busy then Little Beach was little and we got ourselves into a tight spot and took some back and forth to get5 out and we crunched up against the van at one stage but we got out and drove onto Bicheno. Here we nearly decided to go into a caravan park but "No".  Drove to the Gulch where the fishing boats come in and checked out the Blowhole and kept driving heading to Freycinet NP.

This was our first sights of where the bushfires had been.  First look was Friendly Beaches and what a beaut spot but one does not expect to get a spot in a free camp after 5pm so onward to Middle Bank and we found ourselves further down the road than we were supposed to be.  Back we go and found a place called River and Rocks, crowded so back to find Middle Rock and we found it by following kms and found a dirt track between the bushes and we ended up in a spot beside Moulting Bay in a spot on our own.

Late day, after 6pm we had the left over stew with toast and had to jump up and do the washing up quickly because the mozzies come out when the light goes down so its bed time.