The Tasmanian landscape stole my heart. This island state of Australia, with its pristine white beaches, tall formidable mountains, diverse and unique wildlife felt like a part of Narnia. Miles and miles of land, without a soul in sight. Except for few jellyfish and lizards. And cute little Wallabies. No queues, no parking hassles. Just you and the never-ending wilderness. This post covers day 1 of my Tasmania Road Trip.
I had been planning this trip for quite a long time. Accommodation, car and flights were booked 5 months in advance, so I spent the rest of the months dreaming of Tasmanian Devil, Cradle mountain and preparing an itinerary that would take us around the Tasmanian coastline.
As this post was turning into a humongous read, I am covering only Day 1 of our road trip here, and will upload the rest in the coming days. Hopefully I won’t kill you with boredom 🙂
Our 9 days of road trip started in Launceston, where we landed from Sydney. After getting the keys of the hired car we made our way to the popular Bridestowe Lavender Farm, about 65 km from airport. Once we crossed the Launceston city, rolling hills of evergreen trees welcomed us. We kept driving along the meandering roads, with the playful Tasman wind caught in our hair.
A soft hint of lavender fragrance hung in the air as we drove into the farm. I had never seen lavender fields before. My eyes lit up at the sight that lay in front of me. Rows and rows of lavender spread across the hilly terrain, with the bluish silhouette of the mountains afar. It’s a sight you don’t forget easily. I even tried their delicious lavender flavoured ice cream.
From lavender farm, we went in search for the Little Blue Lake in South Mount Cameron, 80 km away. I had found a picture of the lake in Pinterest and it looked pretty enough for me to plan the route so that we could cover this less popular area. We did have trouble finding the exact spot as our GPS simply refused to understand the address. After a few wrong turns, we finally found our way right into the car park.
Originally a mine hole, the colour of the lake is brilliant aqua blue, caused by the minerals present in the soil. Amidst the pale surroundings and tall trees, the lake somehow looked very lonely. Untouched! We were the only ones in the whole area. And the only sound was that of the wind howling through the trees. I sat on the edge, admiring this gem of nature, while my husband took a quick nap in the car. I cannot describe in words how I felt sitting there, under the blue sky with this beautiful sight in front of me.
After I created enough poetry in my mind, we made our way towards St Helens, a coastal village in the Eastern Coast of Tasmania, 80 km away. This is where we were going to spend the first two nights of our road trip. All along the way, I was amazed by the rich and diverse landscape of Tasmania. The sad part was there were numerous dead wildlife by the road side, maybe a victim of the night before. It was one of the reasons why we decided not to do any night time driving.
We reached our motel late in the afternoon. Since the sun sets only at 9 pm, we decided to explore the beaches near our motel. After taking a shower and quick bite, we drove towards Binnalong Bay, a beach in Bay of Fires area, popular for clear waters, white sandy beaches and huge granite boulders covered in orange coloured lichen. It is a sight common all along the coast of St Helens and even further south.
We were driving towards the bay, about 15 km from our room when the landscape suddenly changed and dense foliage gave way to backwater covered in black swans. We both were surprised to find such a huge flock of black birds, leisurely swimming in the water by the roadside. We stopped on our way back as my husband is absolutely fascinated by these beautiful birds. The sun was still in the sky at 8 pm when we decided to get some dinner and call it day. A bottle of wine , prawn crackers and Chinese takeaway to end an incredible day. Btw, it feels really strange to sleep at ‘night’, when the sunlight is still streaming through the window shades. Another first to the list.
Stay tuned for more travel tales.
More posts on Tasmania Road Trip below :
Day 2/ Day 3 – White Sand, Shells, and Wineglass Bay
Day 4 – Tasman Peninsula
Day 5/ Day 6 – The Stunning Tasmanian Landscape (Hobart and Tullah)
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Beautiful pictures, love to see Lavender farms.
P.S. Loved these pics on your Instagram 🙂
What a stunning place! I love lavender fields and lavender ice cream! I’d like to do this trip one day.
Would love to rent a car and drive the extent of road; you planned a great itinerary. The lavender fields look magnificent!
So beautiful… the lavender field is just amazing. I love the flower pots 🙂
I have a few friends from Tassy and they’ve been going on about how great it is! Your photos are also convincing me! 🙂
Those lavender fields are sooo beautiful! Wonderful photographs. I really regret not visiting Tazy whilst IN Australia now.. might have to plan another visit.
Wowww. The Lavender field looks so beautiful! I hope to head to Australia some time next year, maybe I’ll try to stop by Tasmania too 😀
I’m from Melbourne and when I move back to Australia a trip to Tasmania is definitely on my list of places to see. The lavender fields look amazing!
Oh my god, SOLD! Love love the lavender field and the lake. So pristine and stunning!
Beautiful photos and colours… I do hope to go to Tasmania one day!
Oh my goodness! I’ve wanted to go to Tasmania for ages! It looks even better than I imagined! The lavender fields are amazing! They’re so beautiful and I bet it smelled fantastic!
Gorgeous! I have wanted to visit a lavender field since forever. Your pictures are so stunning and make me want to rush to these fields and smell the delights!
Wow ! What a beautiful place it is !!
So, so, so beautiful! I can sit and look at it all day 🙂
I’m dying to try that lavender ice-cream now.
That lavender is gorgeous–stunning! Tasmania sounds enchanting and every photo of yours is a picture postcard. The flowerpots spooked me out a little bit. Someone sent me one of full standing jeans flower pots along a fence. That was a little spooky too.
Looking forward to the next post in this series, Raj! By the way, your hair is fabulous!
Hope my comment comes through this time! In love with Tassie! Waiting for the next installment of your Tassie tales! The fragrance of those lavender fields must be something unforgettable!
Gosh!! This really is a slice of heaven on earth! Tassie love!! And the fragrance of those gorgeous fields is something I can just dream about! Waiting for the next installment of your Tassie tales!
The rows of lavender of the farm look lovely. Your description of your first day of all the surroundings makes it for a fairy tale in my mind.
I could smell the lavender in your pix. And what lovely bodyless men! Thanks for sharing your travel tales . I look forward to the next 8 days of your journey
Tasmania seems like an awesome road trip travel destination, Raj! You must have had an unforgettable experinece. How long did you road trip last?
Such a beautiful place. Tasmania is on my place to see list. The lavendar fields look spectacular. thanks for sharing.
Wow! I’m speechless after seeing these gorgeous pictures. Seems like a scene from a Bollywood movie! The lavendar icecream looks yum. I loved the installation of the legs with flowers. Looking forward to reading more of your travel stories on Tasmania.
Raj, how CAN anyone get bored of a travel post? I love your travel posts..they give me an opportunity to go see the world from the comforts of my living room!
I was drooling over every picture you shared – the lavender fields, the aqua blue lake (MY fav colour, btw!), the stones with the orange lichens….Ah, thank you SO much for this colourful trip! ❤
Wow.. the lavender farms look amazing and Ice cream too. THe blue lake and beaches are great too.. I wish, I am on that trip. Will follow your travelogue. THanks for sharing the trip details and nice photos 🙂
Stunning pictures and it must have been so hard to select pictures to post. Isn’t it? Sounds like such a fun trip. That lake and the color of the water is heavenly.
whoa the pic of the lavender fields is just stunning and I do wonder how this ice cream tasted. I would have loved to see some pics of the swans too – sounds intriguing to say the least!! Looking forward to the rest of your trip Raj!!