Our day of travelling from Bridport to Scamander proved to be a very entertaining one, with blue skies and sunshine again.
At Legerwood they have a very special memorial to the locals who died in World War 1. It started in October 1918 when the locals planted a row of trees to honour each of their fallen heroes. By the early 2000s the trees had died but with the help of chainsaw carver Eddie Freeman they were able to continue the life of this memorial.
In December 2004 the first carving depicting a bugler at Lone Pine, with cross and flag was unveiled. From that the whole avenue of dead trees was carved, each tree representing each of their soldiers and depicting something from their life. Some men were timber workers, others worked on the railway, as a postman or are depicted in the war situation. A wonderful tribute.
Next stop was the small town of Derby which was alive with the sights, sounds and colours of about twenty very expensive cars. They included Ferrari, Maserati, Mercedes GT, McLaren, Dodge SRT, Porsche, Lamborghini and BMW i8.
We needn't have worried about a crowd in the museum as they all headed for the coffee shops!
The Tin Mining Centre at Derby has a small collection of artifacts relating to mining, including this carbide lamp (below). The list of rules for female school teachers in 1915 amused us all.
But Derby has a new point of interest; it has championship quality mountain biking trails nearby. In fact a round of the World Mountain Bike Championships was being held that week-end and some high tech bikes were seen.
Not quite mountain bikes.
We drove on over a very pretty range with beautiful forest, eventually coming out near Pyengana Farmhouse Cheese. After a lunch on 'all things cheese', some cheese sampling and purchasing and a quick look at the cows, we were off again.
Not before I (and several others) had a wattle seed ice-cream.
A short drive took us to St. Columba Falls. A picturesque walk (is there any other here in the amazing forests of Tasmania?) and we found the Falls. There was not as much water coming over as last time we visited but still it was very pretty.
Our base for the next three nights was Scamander, another sea-side village which is popular in the summer. We had a beautiful apartment here and the view from the balcony was very calming.
Another day and another awe inspiring lot of scenery. The Bay of Fires was our target today, but first a little time in St. Helens to search out fresh fish, stock up on food, fuel, lunch and coffee fixes.
We drove as far as The Gardens and worked our way back along the coast line.
The sea going swans intrigued us, we saw them in several places.
With turquoise water and very fine white sand, The Gardens just about caused shutter finger R.S.I. We found ourselves wondering just how many seascape photos we needed.
Binalong Bay was equally stunning.
Back through St. Helens and a few kilometres on we turned off the main road again to visit St. Helens Point. Not quite so beautiful (are we becoming picky?) but very popular with fishermen and surfers apparently.
On the return we called in to see the Peron Sand Dunes. It was quite eerie to see how the sand can overtake an area if vegetation is not correctly managed.
Today was a free day and we took it easy! In the morning we went to Bicheno to see if it had improved since our first visit ... it had!
Then we went over Mount Elephant Pass to St Marys, a small town with some interesting art features about town, a small shop selling quilting fabric and a pie shop. Time for lunch in the park.
Out of St. Marys is the tiny community of Cornwall, with a coal mining heritage. One woman's desire was to recognize those families who lived and worked in the coal mines from 1886, and today they have the Coalminers Heritage Wall.
Wherever you look in Tasmania you see wonderful patterns of mountain formations. St. Patrick's Head is quite distinctive but also much more symmetrical, and therefore different. Situated at the east end of the Fingal Valley, it is a feature of the town of St. Marys.
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