Binalong Bay Camping

Beautiful Binalong Bay situated on the amazing East Coast of Tasmania captures the heart and sole of this state. It encapsulates the best coastal views with the softest white sand, clearest translucent water and burnt orange granite boulders. This was my location for our camping trip over Easter. How lucky am I? 

Day 1

After spending Good Friday with my girls in the morning, Mick and I set off for the East Coast at midday. We were a bit concerned once again about getting a spot to set up camp as the East Coast is a popular destination. Upon arrival we drove around Jeanneret Beach Camp Ground, Swimcart Beach Camp Ground, Cosy Corner North and South Camp Ground, Seatons Cove Campground and Sloop Reef Bay Campground and unfortunately there were no spots. All of these campgrounds were right on the beach with easy access. One thing we have noticed which is really disheartening is the amount of caravans and camper vans occupying all of the spots. I think we may have seen maybe five or six actual tents set up along the way. They were few and far between. Wouldn’t it be nice if they actually had designated spots just for tent camping. They do it for caravans and campervans and they still seem to takeover all locations. Just a thought my partner had. Sorry if I have rustled some feathers. Anyway I suggested we check out Grants Lagoon as a location as we only need a base to come back to. There were plenty of spots available here so we found a suitable space and setup camp. 

We checked the area out and come across a swing off a tree near the lagoon.  Mick gave it a crack to see how sturdy it was. 

Night 1 was a pretty noisy night with many party animals surrounding our camping area. We had noisy generators that were on for most of the night. So was a pretty restless night with not much shut eye. 

Day 2 was meant to be the windiest day of our entire trip but we were quite sheltered from the wind being a distance away from the coastal breeze. 

After breakfast, we headed out for a walk. I was surprised how many walking tracks there are bordering the coastline. We walked from Skeleton Bay along to Grants Point, checking out Skeleton Point along the way. The track was relatively flat and shaded with many amazing views along the way. The walk was a bit over 6kms. 

After an amazing start to our day with the sun out, we headed into St Helens for lunch, stopping at the bakery. We then headed back to camp to collect our bathers and Mick’s dive gear and then drove to ‘The Gardens’ at Bay of Fires. The area was packed with people. I went for an exploration of the area while Mick hit the water for a dive. I walked the coastline in search for Secret Beach and Gardens Lagoon Beach. This included lots of rock hopping. ‘The Gardens’ area is simply stunning. Every beach had its own uniqueness but they all had the same white sand lapped up by the clearest ocean water. 

Can you see how much Mick loves his photo being taken? 

When Mick finally resurfaced from the water he came out with a few fish and a crayfish 🦞 

After a jam packed day and over 13kms of exploring we wound down at our campsite. 

Day 3 

We started the day off with a hint for some waterfalls 15 minutes inland from St Helens. With very limited signage and no GPS we went searching for Ferntree Falls. We realised very quickly that there was no water running along the creek beds and so gave up on the hunt with the conclusion that there would be no water coming over the waterfall. 

We decided we would head back to the beach and we accessed the West end of Binalong Bay along Lyell Road. We walked the length of the beach and Mick threw out a lure along the way. There were many people walking the beach and having fun building sand castles and jumping waves. We found a Box Fish washed up on the shore. 

Mick decided to go for a dive and I went for a swim. I took out my mask and flippers and snorkelled around the rocks at the west end of the beach. I saw a couple of nice looking fish and then found a rather large shell. After my swim, I explored the rocks and took some pictures. 

After finishing up at Binalong Bay we headed back to ‘The Gardens,’ so that Mick could go for another dive. I jumped back in the car and went for a walk along a track in behind Cosy Corner. The orange granite boulders were stunning through this area. 

Honeymoon Bay is one of my all time favourite spots. This is where Mick went diving. You will understand why I love it so much when you look at the pictures. 

We returned to our campsite, grabbed our fishing rods and headed out for a fish off the rocks. We went to the rocks on the Eastern side of Jeanneret Bay Beach. As the sun set behind the trees we managed to catch a Wrass and a Flathead. 

We cooked up some steak on the BBQ when we got back to base and had some sweet potato, corn and pumpkin wrapped in foil and cooked on the fire. It was delicious.

Day 4

With daylight savings finishing we managed to get an extra hour in our day. We went on a road trip for the day to Eddystone. We have been here a few other times before and just love the place. Mick enjoys diving this area as there is normally a plentitude of fish and lots of nooks for crayfish. I decided to have more of a relaxing day and found a nice spot on the beach to read my book. 

After a day well spent, we headed back to the same fishing spot as the day before. We managed to bag some decent sized Flathead. Mick filleted his fish he had speared that day and the ones we caught while we were there. Over the course of the four days Mick got one crayfish and ten fish. Plenty to stock up the freezer over Winter. 

We decided to cook up a fish curry for tea and made some garlic and cheese bread out of wraps. This curry was full of vegetables and tasted amazing. We finished our evening off with some damper, cooked on the fire, drizzled with golden syrup. We spent our last evening star gazing next to the warmth of the fire.

Day 5

Pack up day and time to head home after a relaxing time at Binalong. Another enjoyable trip away exploring the depths of Tasmania. It’s the simple things in life like that make me happy and are more than enough.