Tassie turned on a beautiful weekend affording us the opportunity to do a little reminiscing. We had toured here in January 2018 and found a number of little towns that we wanted to revisit so we made a weekend of looping down towards Hobart, from our base in Ulverstone, then running up the East coast.

Our first stop was Campbell Town for coffee before heading further south and turning towards the coast line stopping at the coastal township of Orford. It’s a quaint little fishing village that is also the gateway to Maria Island. It’s here that we find an Information Centre that sells National Parks passes so we invest in a 2 year pass that allows us access to the various protected regions of Tasmania. These are a must for visiting the National Parks of Tasmania and come with plenty of advantages when you get to places such as Cradle Mountain as they include free bus access to deeper into the park from the Information Centre.

From Orford we travel up the coastline stopping in at one of our favourite wineries near Apslawn. Hoping for a late lunch, we are disappointed that our timing for the trip coincides with Devil’s Corner starting their major renovations and expansion plans. Still, there is time to enjoy a tasting paddle of their beautiful wines while looking out at one of the best views you could ask for from a winery. The outlook over Moulting Lagoon Game Reserve is still breathtaking at any time of day. We will just have to plan a return trip later in the year after the renovations have been completed to see how they have improved the facilities. Just a note – I have no commercial association with Devil’s Corner Winery, I simply love their product and their style.

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We continue the drive up towards Bicheno where we have booked in for a night’s accommodation. While the drive is mainly through farming and grazing land its enjoyable and provides plenty of sights along the way. Arriving a Bicheno we locate our accommodation and are very happy to see that we are literally a few metres from the waterfront. The shoreline of Bicheno is interesting with features such as a blowhole, boulder outcrops and small offshore islands that provide a safe haven for seals and a myriad of bird life. An afternoon walk takes us around the main headland and provides us a daylight view of this part of the coast. The beauty of Bicheno is that it changes. We experience a complete contrast from afternoon to early the following morning. We were certainly lucky enough to see a magical sunset and a simply stunning sunrise.

Afternoon images of Bicheno

The same place the next morning – stunning!

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After sunrise, we head off to complete our loop up the coastline. From Bicheno we cruise up the coat to St Helens then head inland to Derby & Scottsdale before making a detour to Ben Lomond. This is one place we haven’t had the chance to visit on any of our previous trips. Its a ski town during the winter and a ghost town at any other time. The drive up to the peak is not one for the faint hearted. Jacob’s Ladder is a dirt road with plenty of switch-backs and very few places to pass oncoming traffic. It does, however, lead to some of the nicest panoramic views where you can fully experience the Tiers of Tasmania.

So much more to see.