Tasmania

We left this blog last time a bit ‘muh’, contemplating yet more cycling across the other side of the Bass Strait on Tasmania. After the less than ideal weather and road conditions on the mainland we weren’t sure what would be in store on Tassie.

Well, having now departed Australia altogether (more on that later) – I can confidently say that we love, love, LOVED Tasmania. A highlight of our time in Australia and the whole trip – we enjoyed two weeks of fantastic cycling, pretty good weather, stunning landscapes and a whole heap of Aussie wildlife. It was a fantastic way to round out our time in Oz – rekindling our joy for what this trip is about for us. Adventure, discovery, lots of laughter, silliness, peace and joy (getting a bit festive here too…)

The Spirit of Tasmania

It had been a while since we took an overnight ferry (last time was on the trip to Japan from South Korea) so we were pretty excited about crossing the Bass Strait on the ‘Spirit of Tasmania’.

The timing of the ferry (11.30pm departure) meant it wasn’t actually all that exciting as we were straight to bed in our cabin and up the next morning to disembark but just the process of sleeping at sea and arriving in a new ‘land’ gave us all the arrival feelings, like we had entered a new country.

Rolling to the motherload of down-under wildlife

We hadn’t arrived at a new country of course, but Tasmania immediately felt different. We soon learnt that there is absolutely no flat riding to be found anywhere on the island as we did day 1 of riding to a campsite on the northern shore.

Our bike computers underestimated how much climbing we would be doing that day, and every other day of our two weeks there, as every road goes up a bit, then down a bit, then up a bit… on repeat.

Quieter roads greeted us though and we were soon at our destination – Narawntapu National Park, home to a basic campsite, epic beaches, wetlands, a stunning backdrop of low level peaks and a lot of wildlife – here’s a flavour:

It was a magical afternoon and evening which really made us gasp with joy at times. Just being in nature, surrounded by animals and birds in their natural environment. We were very much visitors, and felt lucky to have been ‘invited’ into their part of the world.

Heritage, more wildlife and a drop of something cold

Our plan before arriving on the island had been to make our way to the East Coast and then southwards to Hobart. We’d heard that the weather is pretty consistently dry on the eastern side of the island and that there are some amazing beaches.

However, after some research we also realised that the roads on that side of Tasmania can be busy with holiday traffic and our nemesis – logging trucks – so we decided that weather isn’t that important anyway (!) and changed tack with a plan to head south ‘down the middle’ and then up into the central plateau for some more mountainous riding and hopefully quieter sealed and unsealed roads.

To get up to the plateau we wended our towards Launceston via the Tamar Valley wine region, including a stop off at Platypus House, a small ‘home’ for platypuses and echidna (the world’s only monotremes; one of the three branches of the family mammalia). At this point we had been lucky enough to see a couple of echidna in the wild – it was great to see their platypus cousins up close, as well as learn more about these fascinating creatures. Both species lay their young as eggs which hatch, and then they produce milk to help them grow – how’s that for an odd combo!

We really liked the heritage city of Launceston itself, as well as the beautiful Cataract Gorge which sits on the edge of town and fitted in a quick bit of wine tasting!

Then we rolled onto Longford, a small town with a rich history, including the farm of Brickendon. The farm is part of the wider Australian Convict Sites UNESCO World Heritage ‘site’ and gave us a fascinating and thought-provoking insight into Tasmania’s convict history.

Climbing, gravel and hydro-electricity

From Brickendon we headed up to the small village of Poatina.

I had phoned up the ‘chalet’ the night before to see if we could camp outside (internet research suggested this might be possible). It had looked like an interesting spot and the best launching pad for getting up into the Great Lakes/Central Plateau region. The village was originally built to house the workers who created the hydroelectric infrastructure, and more recently in the 1990s bought (in its entirety) by a Christian based youth organisation.

We were made very welcome on arrival, and given advance notice that a function (the village Christmas party) was being hosted at the chalet later that evening. Matt (of course) asks if we can come. We’re told that this would need to be OK-ed with the organisers so carry on with getting set up, thinking nothing more of it.

Until a couple of hours later we receive an invite! Despite my inner groaning (attending a party where we don’t know anyone in a small village in the middle of nowhere in Tasmania is not necessarily my favourite way of spending an evening after a day of cycling!) – Matt convinces me that ‘this is where the magic happens’. And we can’t not attend anyway as we have asked for an invite (thanks Matty).

We duly arrive at 6pm and as it turns out, enjoyed being made to feel very welcome by the whole village who are a very tight knit bunch, connected by the Christian group I mentioned above, and (it turns out) by a love of copious quantities of food (including some of the most delicious puddings we’ve had in a long time). Thank you Poatina for making us so welcome, for the Secret Santa gift and for all of the yummy food!

Up high and on gravel

The huge Christmas party spread meant that our planned dinner became breakfast (!) and we were well set to tackle the biggest climb we would end up doing on Tasmania (and in fact in all of Australia). From the top we stayed up high for the night (at over 1,000m), with a brilliant camp spot in Miena around the back of a hotel (read pub/motel) where we enjoyed drinks with a view!

The landscape from Miena felt very much like the Australia we had been searching for. We enjoyed some fab riding the next day along gravel roads with the plateau stretching out on either side of us before we started descending into lusher forest and eventually to another hydro-town, Wayatenah.

Apart from a big storm (the tent leaked a bit, obvs) – this place was also incredibly welcoming (can’t blame the residents!) We sampled our first (and it turns out only) chicken ‘parmi’ (parmigiana, an Aussie classic of breadcrumbed chicken, topped with tomato sauce, ham and melted cheese) a couple of drinks with the locals and other caravan park residents at the tavern.

Mount Field

Our destination the next day, once we had dried off, was Mount Field – one of Tasmania’s first national parks and another incredible spot for wildlife spotting as well as some amazing flora.

We made this spot our home for two whole nights to really make the most of the opportunity to do some walking, as well as an out and back ride further up the valley to a totally rad downhill MTB centre at Maydena. Alas we were VERY ill-equipped for doing any cycling there at all. Everyone else had full suspension mountain bikes and downhill helmets and were catching transport up 800m to then zoom down the epic trails to the bottom (on repeat). Given our lack of suitable equipment we sadly (luckily) just enjoyed a coffee and the opportunity to soak up the atmosphere and views.

Mount Field is also known for its spectacular waterfalls…

…Giant trees, echidna and platypus. We saw lots of echidna here just going about their daily business, plus a platypus for real, in the wild. Magic. There were of course, as we have become used to on Tassie, LOADS of wallabies bouncing about all over the place!

Hobart (the first time)

From Mount FIeld it was a beautiful rolling ride along the Derwent Valley to the state capital of Hobart where we pitched the tent on the show ground (which also has a caravan site).

This turned out to be a building site around the back of Bunnings (a big DIY chain over here), but somehow with spectacular views of Mountain Wellington (and epic sunsets).

We had two missions to accomplish – the first was to secure two bike boxes ready for our departure in a few days. This was accomplished with relative ease from Rolls Cycles (YES!).

The second was to meet up with Ciaran, an old friend of mine from school who now lives in Tasmania. I hadn’t seen Ciaran for nearly 20 years somehow! It was an absolute joy to catch up over beers and fish and chips at the waterfront and see and hear more about his life over here.

A pointless loop for a change

It’s been very rare on this trip that we do a multi-day loop with A to B generally being the way we travel. But having a few days ‘spare’ before our flight meant we could cycle in a big circle, just for the fun of it! (Yes, I know this whole trip is just cycling in a big circle, just for the fun of it…)

First stop was a ride south out of Hobart, hugging the coastline and onto a ferry over to Bruny Island. We spent the night camping on the very narrow ‘neck’ connecting the north and south parts of the island (or maybe they’re separate islands?) enjoying the beach but unfortunately not spotting any penguins.

We were bought some beers by our generous motor biking neighbours and connected with an American family on a very similar trip to ours – great to meet them (less so the three Spaniards/South Americans in their three separate tents who talked until late at night and then again early in the morning – one of the joys of camping)

Back to the Tassie ‘mainland’ we continued our coastal loop, via Gordon (a place, not Al’s Dad) where we enjoyed a wet evening of oysters collected and prepared by our motorhoming neighbours (Tasmania has been GREAT for freebies!)

Our last night of the loop was spent in the Huon Valley at a farm campsite which as well as being home to familiar farm animals, also hosted three ‘retired’ Tasmanian Devils who had been part of the breeding programme as part of efforts to protect the species following the devastation of Devil Facial Tumour disease. We had been lucky enough to see a (dead) Devil already (I say lucky, because it’s rare to see them in the wild – the amount of roadkill we’ve seen on Tasmania has not been lucky, just completely normal…) Seeing these guys up close was pretty cool – they’re the only living marsupial carnivore and lived up to their uniqueness by being like no other animal we’ve seen before.

Our last day of cycling on Tassie was a couple of substantial climbs up to the saddle of Mount Wellington from where we had a brilliant descent into the island’s big smoke of Hobart. A really fun ride and fab way to finish up the cycling.

Hobart take two

We had two nights in Hobart planned, our first two nights spent indoors on Tassie having enjoyed varied camping since arriving. Our apartment hotel was lovely and a great base for doing the all important pre flight admin of cleaning and packing the bikes and all the kit, as well as exploring Hobart properly including Salamanca Market, Battery Point, the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery and a real highlight – MONA (Museum of Old and New Art).

We visited the Museum via the dedicated ferry service and splashed out (Matt Cope Consulting Christmas Party generously funded the whole ‘event’) on the ‘posh pit’ – an exclusive part of the boat where you enjoy flowing drinks and nibbles. We enjoyed the contrast of having been slightly sweaty/messy cycle tourers earlier in the morning to bona fide posh people the very same afternoon (with only the forehead helmet dents to give me away!)

MONA itself was like nowhere we had been before. A completely immersive art experience – it’s definitely somewhere that divides opinion but we loved it!

And all of a sudden… that was it. We were packed and ready to depart Hobart, Tasmania and Australia after just over six weeks in this incredible country on the other side of the world.

So what’s next?…

Well we thought it was about time we ‘went home’ – Kia ora Aotearoa New Zealand!