Bay of Fires & Camping on the Beach

Thursday 11.1.18

The sun is shining on me as I have breakfast. I finally start writing my diary and it's already 10:00 am before I leave. The petrol station next to the Scamander Tourist Park doesn't have 95-octane fuel, which I should fill up the camper with so that it runs well. So I continue driving north towards St. Helens. I'm here now. I've driven 300km and the tank is still over ¼ full. Just before St. Helens, I turn off onto a peninsula to St. Helens Point. A peninsula called Akaroa with beautiful houses situated on a lagoon. From here, there is a great view of the opposite beaches of the Humbug Point Nature Reservation and its orange rocks. I drive back to St. Helens and pass "Stieglitz Beach" on the way.

In town, I easily find a petrol station with 95-octane petrol for $1.54 per litre, which is about 0.90 EUR. After $59, the tank is full.

Opposite, there is a bottleshop because alcohol is not sold in supermarkets in Australia, only in these bottleshops. I get 2 white wines and 2 beers. That will last a while, as I still have the wine from Devils Corner.

On the other side of the intersection is a small village supermarket, an IGA, where I stock up on salad, tomatoes, cucumbers, muesli, and blueberries.

Now I'm heading towards Bay of Fires. Here at Binalong Bay, famous for its orange rocks that glow due to the lichens, I want to stay overnight. North of St. Helens, you take the C484, a well-paved road that runs along the coast to the north. At the end is the town of The Gardens and the last 10 km up here lead along a dreamlike beach, with only bushes to the left and hills in the distance. Every 100m or so, there is an entrance to a small access point to the beach. You can camp here. Of course, without electricity and also without a toilet, but in absolute solitude, in the sun, by the sea, on the beach - it's a dream come true.

I manage to find the last of these beach access points before 3:00pm and park my camper across it, so that it wouldn't be attractive for anyone else to park here. There is actually space for a second camper, but I really don't feel like having company here. There is no phone network here.

I unpack both beach chairs to make it look like there are 2 people here, and set up my table, sit in the sun, turn on my camping stove, put (bottled) water on, and make myself a few cups of coffee, read, and enjoy this wonderful spot.

When I toast to myself with my first glass of chilled white wine from Devils Corner at 7:30pm, it starts to drizzle a little bit. So I pack everything up... Because if the table is outside, the camper door won't close. I had already made the bed earlier, as I always have to go to the back door and maneuver with the mattress - you don't want to have to do that in the rain. So pack everything up, put the chairs in the car, put the table back up on the shelf above the driver's seat, and into the camper. The door remains open, the sea is constantly roaring, and I write in my diary and enjoy my wine. By now, I'm wearing jogging pants and a fleece jacket. Apart from three cars in the afternoon, there was no one here. I sprinkle some of the animal food that I got from the Nature World Park in front of my camper, hoping to maybe see a kangaroo or wombat at night. Because there are plenty of warning signs along the road telling you to drive slowly between "dusk and dawn" because there is wildlife on the road.

I leave all the curtains in the camper open and enjoy the view of an unbelievably rich starry sky.