My morning walk took me past the famous Bicheno Blowhole. The sun was trying to break its way through the clouds.

I had the area to myself around 7am. Not even any dog walkers were out.

At first I was looking in the wrong direction for the blowhole, but after watching for a few minutes I was rewarded with a spectacular sight.

The rocks in this area are coloured orange, and in the low morning light they were so bright. The orange colour is actually a red lichen that grow on the boulders at certain times of the year. April is obviously one of those times.

Later in the day, Mick joined me to take an up close look at the blowhole.

Actually, a bit too close!

We had hoped to go on a tour in a glass bottom boat today, but the weather wasn’t great, so the tours were cancelled. Instead, we went for our own walk along the beach in MacLean Bay.

Our final activity in Bicheno was a visit to a venue called the Farm Shed East Coast Wine Centre, boasting over 90 wines from 22 Tasmanian East Coast vineyards. More than half of the vineyards represented do not have a cellar door.

We were lucky to get in – as they also have gin and whiskey tastings.

We selected that five wines we were interested in that were available for tasting, and we were guided a little by the owners once they knew our preferences. Our first wine was a Riesling from The Bend.

Which we both enjoyed – Mick more than me.

What was wonderful was that every time a wine was brought for us to try, we received information about the vineyard – most of them were originally very old farms on the East Coast region. One of them was celebrating its 200 years and 2 weeks anniversary since its establishment.

Mick loved this wine, and for a Pinot Grigio that is saying something. I really wanted to try their Chardonnay, but they did not have one opened for tasting.

We have seen this system of wine storage and delivery on a few occasions before, most recently at the Adelaide at National Wine Centre, but the first, and still the best, in Greve in Chianti. That’s a whole other story!!

We tried three whites and two reds, but we were treated to an extra red!

This wine is from a farm that was established in 1830. But – not the vines. We bought a bottle of this one.

Notes from the bottle….

“The hand picked fruit was fermented using indigenous yeasts and undergoes natural malolactic fermentation the following spring in the traditional Burgundian style. The wine is not filtered or fined, and is aged in new and two year old French oak.”

We both loved this wine, so we bought a bottle.

We can highly recommend a visit to the Farm Shed in Bicheno if you are over this way.

They also have a wine club if you’re interested.

We have enjoyed our stay in Bicheno very much.

Tomorrow we head further north, but not too far, to St Helens, where we will spend two nights.