Sandy Beaches and Mountain Passes

It is a lovely drive to St Helens, mostly along the coast, once you return to the highway from Coles Bay.

The wattle and kunzea lining much of Coles Bay Rd are in full flower. The locals tell us it is unusual to see both in flower at the same time.

Kunzea:

Wattle:

I finally got to see a blowhole blowing - at Bicheno:

The next two photos are of the coastline near the blowhole:

Keep driving along the coast from the Bicheno blowhole to reach the Gulch and see the clear waters, fishing vessels and Governor's Island:

We detoured form the coast to drive up the narrow and winding Elephant Pass, stopping at the very quirky town of St Marys for lunch at a converted garage. The Harley riding, Qld Maroons fan owner had his Harley parked outside:

The road back down to the coast was through St Marys Pass, a much wider though still winding road.

Our next small detour was to Eureka Farm for farm grown and made preserves and ice-cream. 

Steels Beach at Scamander is a pleasant stop:

Before entering St Helens, we took the turnoff to St Helens Point. Just before you reach the end of the bitumen, there is a gravel road to Beerbarrel Beach. It was worth the short but slow drive over the corrugations to see the beach and dune views south:

PD enjoying the view: