A weekend in Bicheno

Since moving to Tassie just over three years ago, I have really wanted to make the effort to explore as many areas of this beautiful state as possible. Over these past few years, we’ve explored a lot of the Launceston, Hobart and Burnie areas (having lived in each of these towns/cities for at least a year), and have had a few weekends away in the more remote areas of Strathgordon, Bruny Island, Cradle Mountain, Arthur River and Lake St Clair. However, one of the areas that we’ve really been keen to visit is the greater east coast area.

Given that much of the east coast is national park territory, we are somewhat limited if we want to bring Moose, so we decided to book in a weekend away at Bicheno, a small town with plenty of dog friendly beaches, cafes and walking tracks. After searching on AirBnB and stayz.com, we found a gorgeous little bungalow that was very accommodating to people with dogs. We left Hobart on Friday afternoon and arrived about two and a half hours’ later to the beach bungalow, which was only a few minutes’ walk away from Redbill Beach.

 

We decided to check out one of the local eateries for dinner and ended up at The Lobster Shack, a restaurant overlooking the water that served plenty of fresh seafood, particularly fresh lobster (as the name suggests). We ordered the lobster with garlic sauce and some fish and chips to share, both of which were very fresh and tasty (and Moose loved all the attention he received from passers-by). After getting a scoop of mint choc chip ice cream each to take away, we headed down to Bicheno Beach to watch the sunset, before getting an early night.

 

I woke fairly early on Saturday morning to an enthusiastic chocolate Labrador who was very keen for a walk, so we headed down to Redbill Beach (where dogs are allowed off-leash in summer before 10am and after 6pm) for a morning stroll along the soft white sand, with the iconic east-coast boulders lining the beach. After returning to the bungalow and meeting Dave, we headed into town for some breakfast at Pasini’s Café, where I had the smashed avocado with roasted tomatoes, rocket, pesto and a poached egg on toast, and Dave went for the scrambled eggs on toast with mushrooms. After stopping by the Little Bay Patisserie and each getting a takeaway slice of the chocolate and salted caramel tart (which was incredible), we met up with a couple of friends who were camping in the area for a quick coffee.

 

One of the locals that we chatted to outside The Lobster Shack the night before told us to head to Denison Beach if we wanted to visit the best of the local surf and dog-friendly beaches. When we arrived, the beach was deserted, and stayed that way for the majority of the time we were there (apart from the odd person walking their dog). I had a lot of fun paddling around in the water and catching a few waves, and Dave got to take his drone for a fly (despite the pretty windy conditions) while Moose enjoyed running up and down the beach.

 

We headed back to the bungalow and had a bit of lunch (some fresh sourdough with smoked salmon, olives, whisky cheddar and ash goat’s cheese that we picked up from the local IGA), and after a relaxing afternoon, we headed into town for some fish and chips at TheGulch. We shared the seafood basket (which we ate in the car given how windy it was) before watching the sunset.

I woke up fairly early on Sunday morning and headed down to Redbill Beach with Moose, where the conditions were much calmer than on Saturday, so after giving Moose a bit of exercise, I headed back to the bungalow, grabbed my surfboard (and Dave with his drone) and went back to the beach to get a few waves before we needed to check out. It was a beautiful morning, and the crystal clear water with the blue skies above made for an amazing hour spent in the water. 

We then packed up our bags, loaded the car and headed back to Pasini’s for breakfast (this time each getting the great Eastern breakfast of poached eggs, bacon, tomatoes, mushrooms, haloumi, spinach and toast) before hitting the road back to Hobart after a weekend well spent in Bicheno.