Named by Lonely Planet as being the hottest travel destination in the world, the Bay of Fires is a series of sugar white beaches and orange-hued granite rocks from the lichen, that stretches for over 50 kilometres and starts in Binalong Bay in the south and finishes at Eddystone Point in the north.
We had based ourselves in Bicheno in an Airbnb which is central to exploring the East Coast. From Bicheno the Bay of Fires it is only a 45 minute drive so can easily be done in a day trip, this is what we did and we met up with Vaughan’s cousin in the process. If you do happen to start out from Launceston then you could head north east and slowly make your way across to St Helens via Scottsdale which is the largest town on the East Coast and the gateway to the Bay of Fires and Binalong Bay.
It probably wasn’t the best day for weather to really see the glow of white sand, turquoise waters and orange lichen rocks, you really need a bright sunny day, we had rain during the night and there was still quite a bit of cloud around for our visit of the bay.
Setting off from Bicheno, we followed the coastal road flanked with Douglas Apsley NP on our left, once you leave the National Park behind you are then in open farmland. Our first stop was Iron House Brewery. Here you can try a selection of hand craft brews made from traditional recipes and see the brewery itself behind glass, there is a printed description of the whole process from start to finish. It was a little early in the morning for us to try any beer but I did enjoy reading about the process of brewing beer. Continuing on we passed through Scamander, a small settlement that has some accommodation options including a caravan park where cousin Steve was staying.
Before going to St Helens for lunch we explored the Akaroa peninsula which has some lovely beaches – Burns, Beer Barrel and Maurouard Beach which is right at the end of the peninsula and accessed via a gravel road, the view of this beach and its dunes is via a lookout.
We met up with Vaughan’s cousin for lunch and the three of us headed to Binalong Bay, a sweeping stretch of white sand beach and little rocky coves, all of which are accessible by short walking tracks.
North of Binalong Bay is The Gardens Road which follows the coastline through Mount Pearsons State Reserve. The drive is lovely and if you have a campervan or tent then there are some great free overnight spots by the ocean. We met many a backpacker in their Wicked campers with their colourful slogans! The Gardens is where the road ends, here you can see some of the little white sand bays that make up the Bay of Fires.
If you are wanting go further, you will need a four wheel drive or you can join one of the many guided multi day walks (I haven’t investigated doing it independently.)
Coming back along the The Garden Road there are plenty of little turn off’s taking you to parking spots where you have access to the various beaches that make up the Bay of Fires. Some beaches are little more than rocky coves, others are long white sweeping beaches. We stopped at the only camping area which seemed to be packed, not surprising given it was a holiday weekend! Here we enjoyed some afternoon delights of cheese, beer and wine our cousin had packed 🙂
Before heading back to Bicheno for the night Steve showed us a great place for Fish and Chips in St Helens. I have been to many a fish and chip shop and restaurant but none as cool as a boat!
Most people visit the Bay of Fires in their own vehicle but if you want to see those parts of the bay that are not accessible then there are options for a multi-day lodge walk.
Visited: January 2016
If you have enjoyed the photos and would like to see more! then the complete gallery can be viewed in the Trip Photos
