So, you ask - Bay of Fires? What's that all about? It didn't take long for me to get the answer - it was on the first sign we saw. It's a historical reference to the discovery in 1773 by Captain Tobias Furneaux, an English Royal Navy explorer, who saw many fires of the aboriginal people along the coast, leading him to believe the country was densely populated. It is a sad chapter in Australian history that by 1876 the last full-blooded Tasmanian aborigine (Truganini) died in Hobart. When you consider British Colonization didn't begin in Tasmania until 1803, it is a very short span of time for a 12,000 year-old culture to be eliminated from the earth. My father's ancestors arrived in 1833 (the Hood's) and 1852 (Chesterman's). Both were based in Hobart, but Henry Chesterman was a timber merchant, pulling the timber from the south of Hobart. It is my hope that neither were directly involved in actions that led to the eradication of the aborigine population - I may never know the answer.
OK, so now to move on to the beauty of the place these ancient peoples lived. There are many shell middens along the coast, but Angus said the fires Furneaux observed were probably not cooking fires, but a result of the aborigine method of land management which involved burning back the bush to make it easier to move through and provided fresh grazing to attract kangaroos and other game. He said Captain Cook, the first British explorer to discover Australia observed many fires and thought the whole continent was aflame!
A view toward the most northerly part of the Bay of Fires - Eddystone Point.
As the Bay of Fires has 26 nautical miles of beach, we indulged in a sampling of just a couple of sites. We started at Binalong Bay and Humbug Point at the south end. The striking features were the brilliant white sand and turquoise blue water, with rocky outcrops of granite covered with an orange lichen that created some lovely small private coves, in addition to the larger beaches.
This is the small community of Binalong Bay. These gorgeous seaside communities are generally a sprinkling of cottages and houses. A few tourist type 'resorts', but nothing on the scale one would see in the USA. There is usually a gas station, a small supermarket and a post office and that's about it!
Binalong Bay had little rocky coves like this as well as a couple of lovely, white sandy beaches. The azure color of the water was hard to capture on camera.
A family could find a little spot to hang out and have a picnic.
Lots of rock hopping available. It looked like a great spot for lobstering.
Another little bay nearby.
More rock hopping.........
This was the biggest beach at Binalong Bay. You can see that there were not many folks around.
Then we traveled north to The Gardens - probably about half way along the bay. From here we could discern the Eddystone Lighthouse at the northernmost end of the Bay. As before, the same lovely rocks and clean white beaches were interpersed with a brackish lagoon and beautiful farmland. Civilization is only starting to catch up here, with just a small collection of newer built houses.
If I had a few spare million, I would consider this a great place to put a holiday cottage, but it is so remote, one would want to get here via helicopter!
I haven't been to Maine of Newfoundland, but the coastline in this area evoked images of what I imagine those places to be like. I thought it was very beautiful
This farmhouse is probably starting to feel encroached on, as there is a small community of houses starting to develop nearby. Perhaps they appreciate the loss of their isolation.......perhaps not.
Being a sheep around here looks delightful - the little white dots on the grass in the background are sheep.
I spent a lot of time trying to photograph the rock on the left. This one shows the color of the ocean.
From here we turned south and stopped in St. Helen's to pick up seafood from 'Salty Seas'. The lobsters were so huge in the tanks! I was told they will be shipped to China, where each one will sell for around USD $400. The smallest lobster I saw was USD $65. Needless to say, I won't be eating lobster on this trip! Gone are the days of fabulous, inexpensive 'crayfish' (as we used to call them), from Tasmania.
The scallops are still reasonably priced and delicious. My grandmother always brought a pint or two of scallops with her on the plane when she came to visit us on the mainland, so I have an affection for this seafood. But no scallops today, as I got the most delicious oysters I've had in decades and a scrumptious piece of yellow fin tuna which we seared at home for dinner.
Another very satisfying day.
exquisite!
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