Date: 27th February 2022
Travelled: 50 kms from St Helens to Pyengana, Tasmania.
Visited: Bay of Fires, Pyengana and Columbia Falls
Stayed: Pub in the Paddock, free, S41.29114, E147.99547 ย
Budget: 30 days @ $0 per day.
We roll the Jayco out of a wet St Helens, driving north on Binalong Bay Rd for the Bay of Fires. One of the interesting things about Tasmania, you are never sure how long itโs going to take to get from here to there as the roads tend to be a bit unpredictable. To our surprise it only takes about 15 minutes to drive the 10 kms to Binalong Bay.
From Binalong we can walk the coastal path and take in the views. Our guide book tell us Larapuna Bay has adopted the name Bay of Fires due to the fiery orange lichen that attaches itself to almost every granite outcrop along this section of the coast.
Binalong Bay, Tasmania, Australia
Thirty minutes later we find ourselves back at the Jayco on the road back to St Helens where we fill with diesel ($1.91) and do a quick IGA larder top-up before turning west on the Tasman Hwy. The drive to Pyengana is scenic but a lot slower, the 50 kms takes more than an hour.
The road conditions change as often as the weather.
We turn for St Columba Falls Rd finding the Pub in a Paddock a few kms later. Our guide book recommends this heritage listed pub in the middle of nowhere, so why not. I rang earlier to confirm we can stay overnight, so no drink driving is required and we settle in. Pyengana certainly is in the booneyโs even by Tasmanian standards, there is no mobile phone or internet connection throughout the valley.
Pyengana, Tasmania, Australia
The pub is the usual mixture of old tools, football photos and taxidermy, itโs very popular and people come and go until the kitchen closes at 4pm. The beer is cold and itโs good pub tucker at a reasonable price. Pam has a spot near the fire and the Tasmanian SavBlonc very much to her liking, a beer and the wine are a reasonable $17 well below our top shout cost on this trip.
There is a sudden call from behind us when we turn to see Bob and Lorraine (also members of the Bruny Island social club) wander over. So the socialising continues into the afternoon. Sadly we hear the famous pig has passed, in case your wondering.
We wake to a very wet morning, the pub carpark is clear. Having a quick coffee, we ready the Jayco and continue up the valley another 7 kms to St Columba Falls.
St Columba Falls
The walk down to the falls is 600m in length, through some beautiful forest. The falls themselves are series of cascades dropping some 90m in height. We have the place to ourselves during our visit, as the misting spray from the falls is getting us wet we soon start the walk back up to the Jayco.
On the road once again we drive back to the Tasman Hwy turning for Launceston. Leaving the Pyengana valley this rainbow provides a lovely farewell.
Michael + Pam
