Dec 2004 - Took advantage of the current airline discount war and purchased a couple of $29 each way tickets from Sydney to Tasmania for a beach vacation and a chance to take more photos. We landed in Launceston on Thursday morning, and after a quick walk around town (Which included getting a $10 parking fine, but we just laughed because the fine is $70 in Sydney!), we drove our rental car north until we hit the coast.

A quick word on Rental Cars. After much experience with different hire car companies, I have now firmly settled on Thrifty as my first choice. Most rental car companies are the same when it comes to the various ways they try to part you from your money, but at least with these guys the service is good! For more click here

We drove along the Derwent up to George town and Low Head, then headed east through the Lavender Farms until we reached St Helens. We stayed the night there, struggling to find a meal past 8pm when all the shops shut!
The next morning we drove a kms north to the Bay of Fires. This area is famous for its colourful rocks, beautiful white sandy beaches and crystal clear water. As you can see from the picture above, most of the beaches were completely deserted. On the way back down the coast we stopped at Binalong Bay, as seen below.