We will spend two nights at St Helens – described as a small fishing village on the East Coast – reportedly one of the best places to obtain excellent fresh seafood. So, Mick was quite happy.

We arrived a little early for our accommodation – so we headed to the Bay of Fires.

Today’s weather was spectacular. And this spot was beautiful.

The beach along the Bay of Fires was pure white.

We still had some time to spare, so we visited one of the wineries in this region with a cellar door – Iron House.

This was a massive complex, across the road from quite a large vineyard. The complex was called White Sands Estate, and this did confuse us as we weren’t sure we were in the right place. It consisted of accommodation, a tennis court, a swimming pool and a large bar and restaurant area.

This is not only a winery. It is also a brewery and a distillery.

But Mick was here to try some wines.

And eventually he did get served. This tasting experience was pretty woeful, but Mick actually liked all three wines he selected.

For $12 he could select three of their wines to try. He selected all whites – the Sauvignon Blanc, the Riesling and the Chardonnay. The size of the tasting samples was very generous, enough for me to have a little sip as well.

It was a very disappointing wine tasting here. Perhaps they are trying to do too many things at once. The prices on the wines on offer to taste were not too expensive, and Mick chose a bottle of the Sauvignon Blanc for $28.

Now to some seafood. We drove past an oyster lease and noticed cars pulled up on the side of the road. So, we followed suit. Mick was thrilled to find he could buy very fresh oysters for $12 a dozen. The only catch, he had to open them. Which is what he chose to do (for $20 he could have had them opened for him).

These oysters were much bigger than the ones he bought outside Bicheno, and he only opened 7 for us to share tonight.

Mick is also cooking us a fantastic steak tonight to go with a bottle of Cabernet Merlot from the Freycinet Vineyard.