We left the holiday park in Bicheno this morning nice and early, about 07:00, and stopped at the Blue Edge Bakery for a quick start coffee before heading south.
The hills were very flat and rolling along was easy enough. Just rolling itself was a joy! We stopped for a quick toilet break opposite a cute little Christmas-decorated farm gate, and about 200 metres further south from the turnoff to Coles Bay Road we stopped at a little road stop called The Pondering Frog.
We had bacon and egg rolls and coffees and some fun local banter with Lester, a We believe he’s the co-proprietor, with his wife. who manned the till. He was a character!
Stopping for a breather on Coles Bay Road, looking out at the scrubby coastal bush.
We rode back up to the turn off, then along about 20–30 kilometres of scrubby coastal bush We looked it up later and indeed, there was a 1200ha bushfire here in September 2023, around the Friendly Beaches area. But even the desolation was unable to detract from its rugged beauty. As we entered Coles Bay, our breath was taken away by the vista of The Hazards looming over Coles Bay, clear, shimmering, pristine water.
Resting our bikes at the boat ramp and taking in the stunning vista.
We rested at the boat ramp with a 270º view, then rode around to the Iluka Tavern for a local pint or two. We had a Malting Lagoon Belgian Golden Ale and a Hazy Bayz. This is a local little craft brewery named after Moulting Lagoon, the body of water behind Coles Bay.
We checked into Freycinet Lodge for a few days of luxury after all the camping we’ve been doing. We took a Mountain King room, had a nice soaking bath in our outdoor bath full of epsom salts, then had two paddles of beer for tasting at The Hazards Bar, and dinner at The Bay restaurant.
Our outdoor bath was a much-anticipated delight. We filled it full of epsom salts and soaked our tired muscles.
We had the baked Tasmanian half shell scallops — which were the best dish of the dinner — and the Robbins Island wagyu bresaola as entrées; we had The Bay, which was an Atlantic salmon dish with Tasmanian wasabi and a mussels and ginger sauce; and the dry aged scotch fillet, cooked blue, with rainforest pepper, roasted roots and greens.
Taking a selfie on the outdoor deck of Freycinet Lodge.
As the sun set, the outdoor deck filled up fast with lots of selfies, and a couple had a nice romantic honeymoon-style private dinner on the jetty, which looked pretty lovely.
We came back to our room, watched The Meg with Jason Statham, a cinematic tour-de-farce, and went to sleep.
Copyright mmxxiv Ryan Moore. All rights reserved unless otherwise specified.
