Day 2 - Bay of Fires to Coles Bay

09 March 2023 - Now we're into it... my first full day of 'touristing'. 😁 But before I could head south I had to go north.

There weren't anywhere near the same amount of rabbits around this morning, but still a few to dodge on my way out.

From Scamander, where I had stayed the night, I headed north up the East Coast. My first destination was the Bay of Fires, so named due to the flame-red lichen that coats many of the rocks in the region. When I had paid the extra money to have zero excess on the insurance and a couple of extras on the inside, they had been very specific that this only counted on sealed roads... The excess was $9900 on unsealed roads, or for damage to the roof from driving under something too low (come on... you've all seen the videos!). So where does my GPS take me?

Oh well... what's $9900 between friends? It was a fairly short road, and then a nice 5-minute walk to the coast.

Then I backtracked and headed around to Binalong Bay. Here there was a kiosk-style cafe and I was going to buy some lunch. But it occurred to me that I had paid good money for a camper that had a kitchenette and had also spent up large on groceries. So I made a good sandwich and another coffee. I have borrowed a travel espresso maker so I can make coffee on the go. All I need is hot water which I can do anywhere thanks to my gas cookers. I am loving being able to have a coffee first thing in the morning without having to wake up properly and get dressed and go out!

I had a chat with a couple of pelicans that were hanging out at the Binalong Bat boat ramp and was on my way, heading back southward to St Helens.

Side story: I had an S4 prescription (restricted medicine, for those of you who aren't medically inclined) and it was too early to get it filled before I left Queensland, so I asked my Queensland pharmacist if a Queensland S4 prescription was valid in Tasmania. "Sure" they said... "It won't be a problem at all" they said...

Tasmanian pharmacist: "No, we can't use that. It has to be prescribed by a Tasmanian GP."

Me (internally): "Aaaaaarrrghh!!!!! Expletive, expletive, expletive...". (Kicking myself for not ringing a Tasmanian pharmacist and checking before I left Queensland.)

So I went to the St Helen's Medical Centre and they didn't have any appointments until later in the afternoon, by which time I wanted to be much further south. So I rang a Medical Centre much further south. "Sure, how's 3:30?" they said. So now I had a time commitment... an appointment in Bicheno, which wasn't part of my 'take it as it comes' holiday. Oh well... a girl's got to get her drugs... 😆

St Helens is pretty, but the geese weren't nearly as ready for a chat as the Binalong Bay pelicans. After that, the next stop was Scamander Beach, which is where me and a thousand rabbits had spent the night but I hadn't taken any photos. Here's one:

I thought that I should make an effort to get to Bicheno so I could be on time for my 'waste of taxpayer's money' GP appointment. It was about an hour further south. I made a quick stop at Aulichs Beach and then continued on southward.

I was there early and had nearly an hour before my appointment, so I stopped in at East Coast Natureworld. Of course, I have been in Australia long enough to have seen kangaroos and even patted them. But I had never fed them until now! Very cute, but I was wondering how many different species of bacteria were on their tongues while they were licking my hand, and between my fingers to get the last traces of the pellets that they called food. They even put their little paws around my wrist to stop me from taking it away (umm, ow! Claws!). I raced through the place because I was aware of the time. But as well as the kangaroos there were Tasmanian Devils (sorry it's blurry, the little bugger wouldn't stay still), a Spotted-Tailed Quoll (WTF is a Quoll!?!), a Tasmanian Tiger Snake, a couple of dining Echidnas, an Emu, and a gorgeous peacock. I tried really hard to get him to show off and shake his tail feathers. I clicked my fingers and talked to him. I stroked his ego and told him what a manly, handsome specimen he was. Nothing worked. He acted as if I wasn't even there...

I had to skip one section because I ran out of time. Apparently there were White Wallabies in there, which I would really have liked to see. Maybe another time...

So then, on to Bicheno and the doctor. He made me wait 20 minutes, but after that it was smooth sailing. I explained my predicament. He rang the controlled drugs authority hotline and confirmed that I'm not a drug seeker, and I got my Tasmanian script. Obviously, next stop = pharmacy. Then I was free to explore. I cruised around Bicheno (that took about 45 seconds 😂). There is a nice beach and the red lichen persists even this far south. Then I climbed something that resembles a goat track up to a lookout, and my final stop for the day was the Bicheno Blowhole.