Pretty St Helens

Last Sunday I drove to St Helens on Tasmania's east coast to go to the Landcare Tasmania conference at the suggestion of a fellow Tasmanian Leaders Program participant. What a great bunch of people doing great things... inspirational, but more on that another time.

The coastal landscape and vegetation around St Helens is very different from the part of Tasmania I know. The beaches, sand dunes, heath and dry forests are home to a huge variety of bird life. Tiny native orchids were starting to appear among the many tiny wildflowers. On a field trip to St Helens Point conservation area we saw southern right whales thrashing around offshore. I enjoyed the drive there too, through the sheep-dotted fields of the Fingal Valley and down the narrow, winding St Marys Pass. I still haven't made it up to the famous Bay of Fires and Binalong Bay - hopefully next time.