Sandy Bay

As we flew in on a Saturday, our first full day was a Sunday and many of the things in the island were closed, so another opportunity for Derek to take us on a drive around.

Our destination was Sandy Bay on the south side of the island. It’s basically a deserted beach with a stunning backdrop of cliffs and mountains all around you. The riptides can be dangerous here so we didn’t swim, but we did paddle our feet in the warm sea. It felt like the most deserted place in the world, certainly the most deserted we’ve ever been to.

The chapel amazed me. It’s literally in the middle of nowhere and you wonder if anyone attends the services, but they obviously do.

We also went to see Great Stone Top and the Bellstone, a big rock that sounds like a bell if you hit it with something, due to the trachyandesite, formed by the cooling of lava enriched with alkali metals and silica.