April 6, 2016. Bay of Fires, Fertile Valleys, and a Beer-drinking Pig

OCAMPGROUND:  Northeast Public Park.  City park maintained by Lions Club and Rotary Club.  Free camping.  Nice toilet, pay showers, BBQ.  4 stars

LOCATION:  Scottsdale, Tasmania, Australia, outside of Launceston

WEATHER:  Cool, then cold at night.  The other campers called the weather "fresh"

From St. Helen's, we drove a few miles north to the Bay of Fires.  It is a 50-km string of beaches.  Beautiful and rugged.  

Then, we went inland through an area called "fertile valleys".  Our first stop was a dairy where we tasted some really good cheese.  Then on to some beautiful falls, the highest in Tasmania.

The path took us by some of the biggest tree ferns we have seen.

After an invigorating hike, we were ready for "The Pub in the Paddock".  This was originally a dairy farmer's house in the 1800s.  Some of the sons decided that they preferred drinking beer to farming.  So, they converted their house to a pub and hotel.  It has been operating non-stop since 1901.  The barn was a dance hall on Saturday nights, after they scooted out the pigs from under the floor.

We had a pub lunch, beef pie and toasties (grilled cheese sandwich), then shared our beer with Priscilla, the resident pig who likes beer.

We stopped in Scottsdale, a cute little town with a nice, public park.

DINNER:  Omelette made with all our leftovers, and a side of couscous.