Scamander

 2 - 5 February 2022

Scamander is another Tassie favourite place. There's an inlet, beach and easy access to one of the east coast's tourist hot spots - Bay of Fires. After taking the scenic route from Cradle Mountain and then stopping for lunch in Campbell Town, we back-tracked about 10km to take the road through Fingal and St Marys to the coast. Again we travelled through farmlands and mountains before reaching the coast at Scamander. We had not booked accommodation so we explored our options and ended up at the place we have stayed at a number of times.

Pelican Sands is right on the inlet and allows direct access to the beach - and the numerous birds that hang out there. The views are fabulous and the location is convenient so we booked in for 2 nights. After a long drive (by Tassie standards anyway) we settled in for a relaxing afternoon which included a walk on the beach. 

On Wednesday Mick headed out early with the camera and I joined him later in the morning. The inlet is currently open to the sea but has been completely closed off in the last few years. There is a bridge that can only be accessed at low tide otherwise you have to wade through sometimes very deep water. This time with the low tide we barely got our feet wet. The weather was looking good, and with the promise of a few more great days we extended our 2 nights to three. 

We treated ourselves to dinner at the onsite restaurant - Fast Freddy's serves fantastic and authentic Italian meals at reasonable prices. They were quiet busy but the food and service was great. We had dined here before and we expecting the same quality as before and we were not disappointed. Freddy's gets great reviews, and deservedly so.

On Friday morning we set off to drive to St Helens, about 20 minutes north of Scamander. Our timing wasn't right for morning tea or lunch so we decided to keep going on to Binalong Bay. Binalong Bay is at the southern end of the Bay of Fires and boasts stunning beaches and scenery. We stopped at the first stretch of beach we came to and went for a walk on the sand. We then took the walking track which went out past the boat ramps and Skelton Bay, towards the point. We took lots of photos and stopped for an ice cream on the way back to the car. We headed back to Scamander for lunch and another relaxing afternoon by the beach.

On Saturday morning we finally set off to return to Hobart, making a stop at Triabunna for fish and chips for lunch. The fish van at the marina is another very popular spot and there were lots of people with the same idea - enjoying lunch by the water.