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Day Fourteen: St Helens and the surrounding area

Tuesday 2nd December, 2008

Shock, horror, we left the caravan park on time. Quite an achievement for us, I think you’ll agree. We were in no hurry to leave the town though – our chosen destination for the day was only an hour or so drive from our current location.

So we filled in time stocking up on our seriously depleted food stocks – mostly the essentials. It was a bland diet we’d been living on for the last couple of weeks – at least we were all losing some weight. Then, after stocking up on as much as our meagre budget would allow, we hit the road.

No sooner had we got into the car and set off, we were getting out again and stretching our legs – we had arrived in St Helens. At first we drove right through the town without stopping, expecting, from the constant bombardment of information and reviews, that it would be much larger than what it really was. However, once we’d turned the car around (not an easy task with the trailer attached) we were not disappointed by what we saw. A busy little centre, we were a little overwhelmed by this place. It was so different from other country towns we had come across in Tasmania.

When we finally set off to find some accommodation for that night, and possibly longer, though, we were a little shocked by the prices and the effect that this might have on our economical position. Some of the costs for local digs were a little beyond us – others out right ridiculous. It took us a little longer as a result, but eventually we found lodgings suitably comfortable and maybe even a little under priced for what was provided. Fortunately, we have learnt when to speak, and when to kindly shut our mouths, so as we settled in we were understandably a little smug.

That afternoon my father, siblings and I set out to explore what had the potential to be a very entertaining area. My mother, however, declined, the now two weeks of packing and unpacking almost every day now taking a toll on some among us. It didn’t deter us, though.

Without a destination of sorts, we drove north to see what we might find. It wasn’t long before we reached the peaceful holiday township of Binalong Bay – we had read much on this place, but were a little disheartened by the lack of snow white beaches and azure waters. So we moved on, and almost by accident came across the promised lands that Binalong Bay had failed to deliver – and it was there that we discover the Bay of Fires. I could have spent an eternity there. Unfortunately others don’t share my feelings – we moved on, and found a different kind of fun in the form of a dirt track, apparently on used by locals to the area, but just a pretty as anywhere on the isle.

As we drove we passed through bush reminiscent of dry woodlands back home in Brisbane, the stringy bark forests of the Granite Belt, and a thousand other places reflected in this one small area. And when our drive was over, and Dad had managed to navigate us back to the main road, I came to the realisation that, of all the places we’d travelled to so far, this was going to be so much more fun.

Description
Day Fourteen: St Helens and the surrounding area

Tuesday 2nd December, 2008

Shock, horror, we left the caravan park on time. Quite an achievement for us, I think you’ll agree. We were in no hurry to leave the town though – our chosen destination for the day was only an hour or so drive from our current location.

So we filled in time stocking up on our seriously depleted food stocks – mostly the essentials. It was a bland diet we’d been living on for the last couple of weeks – at least we were all losing some weight. Then, after stocking up on as much as our meagre budget would allow, we hit the road.

No sooner had we got into the car and set off, we were getting out again and stretching our legs – we had arrived in St Helens. At first we drove right through the town without stopping, expecting, from the constant bombardment of information and reviews, that it would be much larger than what it really was. However, once we’d turned the car around (not an easy task with the trailer attached) we were not disappointed by what we saw. A busy little centre, we were a little overwhelmed by this place. It was so different from other country towns we had come across in Tasmania.

When we finally set off to find some accommodation for that night, and possibly longer, though, we were a little shocked by the prices and the effect that this might have on our economical position. Some of the costs for local digs were a little beyond us – others out right ridiculous. It took us a little longer as a result, but eventually we found lodgings suitably comfortable and maybe even a little under priced for what was provided. Fortunately, we have learnt when to speak, and when to kindly shut our mouths, so as we settled in we were understandably a little smug.

That afternoon my father, siblings and I set out to explore what had the potential to be a very entertaining area. My mother, however, declined, the now two weeks of packing and unpacking almost every day now taking a toll on some among us. It didn’t deter us, though.

Without a destination of sorts, we drove north to see what we might find. It wasn’t long before we reached the peaceful holiday township of Binalong Bay – we had read much on this place, but were a little disheartened by the lack of snow white beaches and azure waters. So we moved on, and almost by accident came across the promised lands that Binalong Bay had failed to deliver – and it was there that we discover the Bay of Fires. I could have spent an eternity there. Unfortunately others don’t share my feelings – we moved on, and found a different kind of fun in the form of a dirt track, apparently on used by locals to the area, but just a pretty as anywhere on the isle.

As we drove we passed through bush reminiscent of dry woodlands back home in Brisbane, the stringy bark forests of the Granite Belt, and a thousand other places reflected in this one small area. And when our drive was over, and Dad had managed to navigate us back to the main road, I came to the realisation that, of all the places we’d travelled to so far, this was going to be so much more fun.