All along the coast, bright beaches blaze, and the distinctive blue-green East Coast sea washes the shores. Grey-green sheoak trees dapple the ground with cool shade. In the ocean beyond, whales follow ancestral migration routes, dolphins frolic and sea birds wheel on the wind. Inland, rainforest clings to steep mountain passes, and the steep rock buttresses of Ben Lomond frown over the rich farmlands of the Fingal Valley.

Each place has its own surprises - sapphires panned from old mines near Branxholm and Derby; farm cheese at Pyengana; skiing and walks on Ben Lomond's craggy heights; echoes of a mining heritage at Derby and the Blue Tier; a desert of golden sand dunes at St Helens; rough-cut local granite in the towering Eddystone Point lighthouse; sweeping views of forests and farmlands as the Mathinna road descends to Fingal Valley.