7th April, 2003 // Australia
Goodbye Derby, Hello St Helens, Binalong Bay, Bay of Fires
After a genuinely sad and very touching goodbye with Peter, he left us on the road out of Derby.
We got a ride with a familiar face - Kenny, the publican from Weldborough, who took us to Weldborough.
Simon went in to the pub to get some hot chips (we were already craving potatoes, so soon after leaving Derby) and while he was gone, a car stopped for Liisa, an older couple in a hire car, who were somewhat put-out when Simon appeared, but before they could change their mind, we were already piling our stuff into their little car.
George and Esther were from Sydney, doing what many foolish people do - trying to see Tassie by driving around its highways for a week. They were very nice and took us to St Helens.
In St Helens, we treated ourselves at the ice cream parlour, ate some food, used the internet, then decided to go 10km north to Binalong Bay.
Got a ride easily with Howard, a diver who taught marine biology at the local school. He drove us around some of the camping spots around town though camping had been recently banned in the spots closest to town.
He dropped us at the beach and we went for a swim. The beach is absolutely beautiful, white sand, clear turquoise waters, round boulders at the ends, very few people. The town itself consists of a general store/cafe and some houses.
We were walking past the tennis court (with our packs on) and a tennis player called out "Welcome to Binalong Bay". We were walking along the shore road looking for somewhere to camp (illegally) for the nights before finding somewhere better the next day, when the tennis player drove up in his 4WD, and offered to take us to "the best free camping spot in Australia", 4km north, right on the beach, 'Cosy Corner' in the Bay of Fires. So thats where we went.
And it is an incredible place - see the description of Binalong Bay Beach and make it better, fewer people, more spectacular - even after we'd been there a few days, every time I looked at the beach, I got goosebumps from the breath-taking beauty of it. The camping bays were protected and separated by bushes, so you felt like you had it all to yourself.
Aaaaahhhh..........................
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