18/02/2013
Gave all the family a goodbye hug and left this morning for Bruny Island. Went via Cygnet and then, via a back road that I had spied, to Kettering. Every new road I travel amazes me!! Not just because it's a fantastic road to ride but for the scenery. Most of the little roadside farmlets were growing their own fruit & veg, and a lot had either signs up or roadside stalls offering their produce for sale.

With the trailer back on I felt more comfortable taking the occasional bit of sand on the  corners without the clenching of the bum muscles :-). This back road had some of the most magnificent homes, set with landscaped surrounds and/or on peaks with spectacular  views. Too soon I was at Kettering (passing the fruit & veg place that I would buy my sourdough from on the way back). As I pulled up at the ferry terminal gate a woman came out and said "you're just in time, the ferry leaves in 5 minutes!" I paid $10 for a return ticket for the three of us, me, myself and Irene :-) seriously !!  Nahhh  :-) I travelled for free and so did the trailer. The bike was $10 return :-).

Leaving Kettering

The ferry trip was only 35 min in slightly choppy water. The ferry was smooth as and the trip seemed like only 15 min..

 Oh, did I mention that it was a beautiful day ?? Turns out it was 35c !! Lovely!! I headed off to Alonnah and then Lunawanna in slightly undulating countryside that looked like it could do with some rain. The sealed road was pretty good until I reached the penguin rookery before Alonnah where the road became gravel.  The trailer didn't sway too much in the corrugations but the 4x4's speeding past raised dust plumes that had me pull over on several occasions. In some sections the gravel was that loose that the bike became a bit skittish and the butt muscles had to work overtime :-).  Back onto a sealed road  I upped the pace again. I passed through Alonnah, then Lunawanna,  just out of town the road turned back to gravel. I was OK until a damn huge loaded truck came towards me without slowing a little. I had to stop as I could not see and after that I thought "buk buk buk buk!!" and turned around and headed back to the ferry terminal. (I know, I know...chicken!).

Pulled up behind one of the 4x4's that had overtaken me in a great hurry :-)For all his rush, he had missed the ferry!! I walked into the small shop for a cold drink and spied the hot pies (probably didn't need the pie as I had eaten enough dust !!) . Tried the wallaby pie. A thin home made crust, chunky meat in a thick gravy topped with mashed potato and chutney. Yum yum !!. Back at Kettering I stopped to pick up a loaf of sourdough rye with molasses to throw into the esky and downed a bottle of ginger beer with chilli. Nice bite :-)

I then headed to Mt Wellington on the old Huon road. What a great run that was going up. An even better run coming down!! The view at the top was spectacular and it seemed as if all the south west was on display!! Met quite a few motorcyclists at the top who were interested in the trailer, the solar panels and my esky conversion :-)  I met one couple travelling on an overloaded BMW K1200. She was rapt in the trailer but I think it offended his thought of having his sports bike pulling a trailer :-) She wanted to know what gear I had in it and then looked at their overloaded bike and then at him.... I think there may be some discussion on the rest of their trip...

Pano from the top of Mt Wellington covering Hobart & surrounds

The Notorious 

I sent Kate a MMS showing Hobart from the top of Mt Wellington and then rang her. She said that the crew of the Notorious (the replica Portuguese carvel that was berthed in Franklin) would be at the Wooden Boat Trust to talk about their boat and that an invite had been extended to us.

Russian Longboat

        

  What could a bloke do ?? I headed back to Franklin and stayed the night at Kate & Adams - again!!! :-) I WILL BE LEAVING TOMORROW !! There was a reasonable crowd there but unfortunately no discussion on anything to do with the boat :-(

 

 19/02/013
A couple of good rolls of thunder woke me up at  about 0430 and I could hear - RAIN!! Bloody hell!! why does the weather man have to be accurate here in Tassie?? I was not looking forward to heading off in the cold rain. I stayed at Kate & Adams until 1300, the rain had temporarily stopped, and headed to Hobart and then to New Norfolk where I had planned to stay the night.

It was raining when I reached there so I continued to Hamilton. Raining there as well, so the next stop was Tarraleah where I stayed last year. By the time I set up camp it was bloody cold. ( Shivering cold!!) A couple slices of the rye and molasses bread, some nice cheese and a glass of red (Oh.. and a few of the fresh prunes that Kate loaded me up with :-)) and into bed for me!! Boy it was cold!! It bought back vivid memories of when I stayed there last year. About 2200 I got up and put on my thermals, woollen socks AND a pair of gloves,Brrrr).

20/02/2013

 Out of bed by 0630 (it was too cold to get up any earlier!) and the whole place was shrouded in heavy mist. Everything outside was wet and cold! I grabbed the gear to make a tea, the container of veg soup (still frozen)and the bread and headed to the kitchen to warm myself up! No wonder I felt cold, it was -2 degrees!!!!! (that's MINUS 2 degrees!!)

 I met a couple  in the kitchen who had slept with 2 layers of clothes on! and they were from the NSW highlands!! I didn't feel as much as a wurst then :-) I had to wait until the mist cleared and rotated the tent to let each side face the sun to dry off so it was 1015 before I left Tarraleah. In thermals AND the rainproof over-pants and jacket on to keep the cold wind out. Mr Blimp had nothing on me :-)

When I reached the Wombat Cafe at Derwent Bridge (just the other side of the 'Wall in the Wilderness' I refuelled and shed all the warm clothing. Just my kevlars, Darwin riding jacket and warm weather gloves. By then it was beautifully warm (24 degrees) and sunny. Lovely. (It was here that I had to fix the damaged water pump on the Hyosung last year).

It was just passed here that the great riding became fantastic riding!!  Curve after curve. I stirred the paddle up and down between 5th and 2nd gear from one sharp corner after the other. It came to my mind as I was setting myself up for each curve "put your left cheek out,.... put your left cheek in,..... - put your right cheek out,..... put your right cheek in and do it all again" :-).

 Just so much fun and 86km of it!! Queenstown came and went. Another 36km of sliding from one side of the  bike seat to the other.Bliss :-)

First copper mine outside Queenstown. Trees killed by acid rainss

I reached Strahan about 1500 and went and booked a boat trip up the Gordon River to Sarah Island for tomorrow and the steam train ride up the mountains to Queenstown on Friday. Booked myself into the Y for three nights and relaxed for what was left of the day.What a great day!! As the Toyota ad says "Oh what a feeling, Bike Riding !!!"

21/02/2013
Headed into town to the local bakery and had a coffee after having started the day with a hand full of fresh prunes. I had paid extra to be on the top deck by a window and, which included free tea/ expresso coffee and nibbles throughout the day. Lunch was provided as well .

Strahan Harbour

We headed off to Hell's gate under a beautiful clear sky. Boy, could this cat move!! I sat in the co-pilots seat for a while and saw that we were travelling the equivilant of 56km/h yet it seemed that we were just dawdling along. I went to the bar for a coffee. "Would sir like a hot muffin with that?" Yes Please "What seat are you in" "there's no charge for that sir" Lovely I thought with a smile. The only thing I had to pay for was the beer I had at lunch. Did I just mention lunch? A beautiful smorgasbord of a large assortment of salads, cut fruit and piles and piles of cold meats and even greater piles of smoked salmon. They called us up in groups of 6 and you loaded up with whatever you fancied. I fancied the salmon (lots of it). As a certain tray emptied they just kept bringing out another loaded tray!! Once everyone had been up they then replaced all the trays and then invited people up for seconds. I just had to get up for more of that lovely smoked salmon :-) I then wandered back up to the bridge with 4 cracker bikkies each topped with a large roll of salmon :-) (oink)

Hell's Gate to the left. The ONLY entrance/exit to the harbour. Between the headland and the lighthouse

The Sorell lighthouse

We went up to the mouth of the harbour up to what was called the Macquarie Heads through Hell's Gates. A very narrow opening into the harbour. There were rocks and sandbars everywhere and in the days of sail, ships sometimes waited weeks for favourable conditions before attempting to pass through Hell's Gates to get into the harbour.



 
From there we went back up into the harbour, passing large salmon and trout farms on our way to Sarah island (a  horrific prison island for re-offenders). The commentary was fantastic with the guide explaining the life on the island in an entertaining way. (The book 'For the Term of his Natural Life' was written by an inmate on this island). This prison was used before the one at Port Arthur was built. Not much remains of the buildings as much of the brickwork and stonework was relocated to Port Arthur. Some was taken by locals as building materials for their homes alone the coast in later years and some damaged by vandals. It's all protected now!!

Solitary Confinement

Bakehouse

Prison, mostly destroyed by  vandals

   From there we travelled up the Gordon River to a bush walk through the forest. We passed a huge log that was, apparently, over 2500 years old and  had only fallen down in the late 90s. Apart from the new growth over the log, it was still suitable for quality lumber!!

The Gordon River

The under growth was so thick it looked almost impossible for anyone to walk through!! No wonder escaped prisoners had a hard time. Shooting at these prisoners was, aparently, an acceptable passtime.....

 An early evening for me and I hit the sack after a meal of cabbage rolls packed by Kate :-)

22/02/2013
Another breakfast of fresh prunes, museli and a mug of tea and I was ready for the train trip to Queenstown. What !! It's only 0630 !!

 I have 3 hours to kill before heading to the  train. I went for a walk into the rainforest (3+ metres of rain a year here!!). It was a 40min walk each way and by the time I go back I was hungry again... Off to Banjos (the bakery) for a coffee and a toastie.

  Went to the train station, - still too early :-) and went to have a look at the small loco that was going to take us. It was a diesel and not a steam train and I was a little disappointed until I found out that it would only take us up the lower slopes to a stattion called Dubble Barrel.




 Aparently trains are pushing(?) to get up anything greater than a 1-in-40 slope. (That's a 1 metre rise in 40 metres). After Dubble Barrel the slope would be 1-in-20 and only the steam trains were equipped with an ABT system. That's a middle rail with cogs to pull the train up the mountain and too keep it going slowly down the mountain (which  was a 1-in-16 slope).

On the ABT line

Any boy's dream job.

Could not get to photograph too much as the glass windows reflected to much but the scenery was beautiful. We stopped at Dubble Barrel for lunch ( brown box) and watched as both the steam train and the Diesel were rotated on the manually operated turntable and reconnected to their respective carriages.




The Diesel going back down with the people who had travelled down from Queenstown and the steam train travelling up to Queenstown with us who had come from Strahan. The commentary was great with amusing stories of different people and experiences during the construction of the line. It was a great experience, not on the same scale as the boat trip, but great in it's own right.

One of the 35 odd we had to go over

King River

The Queen River, Killed by early mining practices

Back to Strahan by coach by 1615 and the end of another magic day. If I did this again I would do the train ride first, though from what I hear, it may end in April as there is some arguement over who was going to continue maintaining the line and the trains. The local business say  that it's the state govt's responsability and the state govt say it's the Federal govt's.  It would be sad to see it closed....

Off tomorrow to ???? Somewhere northwards I think.

04/02/2013
Pestered by Krystal and Rekysha to take them for a ride, somewhere !! :-)

Rekysha was first and with instructions to 'lean with the rider' we headed off about  9-ish for Cygnet and points beyond. Without the trailer and even with Rekysha relaxed on the back I took to the corners with some care as the roads were wet from overnight rain.  Through Cygnet and on to Kettering where, as the road dried out I rode with a little more exuberance :-)

At the Kettering marina

We pulled into Kettering for a hot drink and to check the ferry times to Bruny Island. Watched the ferry come in and then back to the Cydnet - Margate road. Stopped at the intersection to pick up a loaf of sprouted rye sourdough and then off to the 'train' at Margate where we had a wander through some of the carriages.
Feeling peckish and seeing as Hobart was only 20min away we headed there for lunch. After a Thai curry we headed back to the bike and came across the original Cascade Brewery building. I had heard that the Captain Bligh cider was being brewed there but to my dismay, the building was undergoing renos and was empty !!!!!

The Bruny ferry

A quick burst through the pass, taken at the legal speed saw us passing everything in sight and too soon we were passing through Huonville, Franklin and then home.. Rekysha had a smile a mile wide.

Krystal

05/02/2013
Another sunny day and it was Krystal's turn today !! Again a 9-ish start and we headed Southwest. We passed through Port Huon and Geeveston on the way to Dover where we stopped for a drink. Krystal had relaxed by now and was no longer hanging on for dear life :-) We took the back way to Geeveston via Surveyors Bay and Police Point. Fantastic narrow road with corner after corner. Magic !! Saw some beautiful small beaches and the numerous salmon farms in the bay. Saw my first snake in Tassie!.

Morning tea at Geeveston

We pulled up at Geeveston to refuel the bike and ourselves. Stopped at a little bakery that had a reputation for good pies. Today must not have been a good pie day as the curry pie I had was a sorry imitation. We called in to the local lolly shop where Krystal got lost :-) then into the timber museum to purchase tickets for the Tahune tree walk. Instead of having to fork out $50.00 for the two of us we / I only paid $22.50 (concession) and Krystal ended up being free as she signed up as being a local. :-)

Tree Hugger !!

The road to the tree walk was absolutely magic. Krystal, by now was relaxed and a professional pillion :-). The tree walk was fantastic. From the ground the trees were giants and from the tree walk they still towered into the sky. The only change I would make is to pack a pair of good walking shoes into a backpack. Riding boots are not made for walking!!

From the tree walk platform

A quick refuel for the body and we were off again. On the way back I spied an echidna. As I pulled up I looked back I saw Krystal was running back to where we had seen it go off the road. She hadn't waited for me to stop the bike but had leaped off the bike !!..... It looked like half a spiky ball and resisted Krystal's attempt to pick it up...  Lucky she was wearing good leather gloves :-) She eventually got her fingers under and picked it up.  After a quick couple of photos she put it down where it again anchored itself with its extremely long claws.
 We rolled back home about 4-ish. Another great day on the bike :-)


07/02/2013
Decided to go into Hobart to find the Captain Bligh cider brewery today.  I travelled there via the old Huon road. I think my maximum speed was less than 80km/h and in most cases less than 60km/h due to the number of twists and turns in the road. 

I passed a couple of blokes in a paddock cutting planks so I turned around to have a closer look. Fascinating !!  They were cutting 50 x 100 mm greenwood planks from a large log using a portable  cutter on rails.  Got their card for Adam & Kate. They will cut to order.

I found the building where the brewery was supposed to be...  Must be a mythical brewery!! I came back via the Huon highway as there was a large forest fire near Mt Wellington and the smoke was too thick to see through.. The sweeps through the pass were taken at near toe scraper angles. Great !!



09/02/2013
We headed into Hobart to have a look at the Wooden Boat Festival at the waterfront.Rekysha stayed home - crook as. Krystal came with me on the bike and the rest went by car. The place was chokkers with people, and boats! they were packed in like sardines, everywhere!! There static displays of wooden boats of all descriptions... from row boats to high speed power boats and small sailing boats galore :-) Some of them were works of art. The finish on them smoother than glass and the attention to detail was amazing.

 

In the marina there were canoe races, row boat competitions with single occupants in small row boats and multi oared demonstrations in much larger boats. I enjoyed watching the boat building competitions by kids and teenagers. Some of these boats on display were for sale and there were a few 25 - 30 footers that appeared to be outfitted with every gadget that would gladden a seafarer's heart.


Unfortunately we had to call it a day at the marina and headed to the botanical gardens to allow the little ones an opportunity to burn a their stored up energy. Having been held captive in their strollers or by a firm handhold by the adults, and by threats of the withholding of treats, they were ready for the open spaces of the gardens :-)

Krystal was happy to be pillion again. Something that wouldn't have happened if Rekysha had been with us today.





10/02/2013
Rest day (?) Most of today was spent in the kitchen with Kate preserving plums and greengages, making pickles and drying apricots :-) Oh yes, and pickling the largest garlic cloves I have ever seen!!

























Following that Adam and I  went up the paddock to cut down a large wattle that was on it's last legs. It was destined to become firewood for the coming winter. Not thinking, I loaded up the wheel barrow with cut timber and when I lifted the handles, away it went and ended up spilling it's load. It was too steep an incline!! Down on a 'slightly' less of an incline, reload the barrow and I was right after that. :-)

Lumberjacks or Flapjacks ??

Ended today feeling slightly cactus !!!

31/01/2013
A couple of times through the night the only things holding the tent in place were the pegs in each corner. The woman in reception said she was worried that the tent would take off.. As it was, at about 0300 it then started to rain. Bloody Hell, did I bring it down with me ?

At about 0630 I started to roll / pack up everything in the tent  hoping that it would at least ease up. Not until 0900!! By that time I had a bowl of hot museli heavily laced with dates and a hot tea.

I was fiinally out of there and headed to Port Arthur via Sorrell.

Just South of Sorell I saw the first evidence of the bush fires. Not much, just a couple of kilometers of burnt bush and hillsides then everything was green again. But after about 10km it was in your face. Buth sides of the road and as far as you could see. The speed limit had been reduced to 40km/h and there were men and machinery here and there cleaning up along the road verges. Twisted, melted guide posts in piles over a meter in height were along  the roadway here and there.

Then I saw the first burnt home. Then another, and another!! Some had tents and other temporary shelters erected near the pile of rubble that once was their home. Just terrible. It bought tears to my eyes. Then I was passing through Dunalley. Homes everywhere, burnt to the ground. Here and there, in among the charred ruins was a home, untouched!! Why? How?

There were people with their trucks and loaders starting to clean up some of the home sites but most were still untouched. Several had blue checked flagging around  them. The bakery where I had a coffee and a bite to eat last year was just a pile of rubble. As I passed through the middle of the town I came  across an amazing site! A large area, probably 2 acres had been cleared and fenced off and was filled to the brim with workers, vans,  trucks, heavy equipment and several new buildings being worked on. One was being lowered onto stumps. It looked like a busy anthill!! It was the new school being built and the person I spoke to at the servo opposite said that they were two weeks ahead of schedule and would be ready in time for school next week. Unbelievable!! And apparently, most of the workers were volunteers! Backpackers were there by the dozens helping with the cleanup.

The other side of the town, on the way down towards Port Arthur was the same. I passed a beach side resort that was nothing but a pile of rubble and homes where the surrounding sheds and vehicles were burnt to the ground but the home was untouched. All along the road verges the large trees were being cut down and the smaller ones were being shredded into mulch by equipment hanging off the ends of backhoes and similar equipment.
As I approached and passed through Eaglehawk Neck there were large areas that had been untouched by the fires. The area just through the neck had been burnt but there did not appear to be the same wholesale destruction of the forests that I had seen earlier.

Pirate's Bay, Just before Eaglehawk Neck

By then it had been raining for the past 10km and continued to alternate between  rain and drizzle for the rest of the day. I called into the White Sands park to call iit a day but the woman there was not interested in allowing me to stay the night. When I asked for a powered tent site she  said they had none.I then asked for a powered site and apparently that was for caravans (?) and I had a tent!! I then headed towards the Port Arthur van park  (spied an interesting  letter box! :-)). It was still raining/drizzling and I set up camp at Port Arthur.

Saw this on the way to Port Arthur. Bark Shingles

This was it's mailbox 1!

01/02/2013
 It rained ALL night and had  to pack away the tent wet.. I had issues with a  few leaks and a seam that had separated, possibly due to the heavy winds the night before. I didn't go  to the old prison site, It was raining and I didn't feel like walking through the ruins in the freezing rain. Man I was cold!!

It rained most of the way back to Sorrel. Pouring at Dunalley!! It stopped about 5km out of Sorrell and I actually had a glimpse of the sun !!

On the way through Cambridge I saw Anaconda and decided to call in and get some stuff  to fix the leaks and the separating seam of my tent. I asked for repair equipment and was diirected down to the other end of the building where I spoke to a bloke about  the leaking seam and the separating stitching. I mentioned that I had bought the tent through Anaconda online about 4 months ago but had only used it since I had arrived in Tasmania. After asking whether I was an Anaconda member and checking online he told me to just  go and get a new tent. I was flabbergasted!!!! But wasted no time in taking up the offer !! I did purchase a tube of seam sealant though. I handed in my wet tent and walked out with a new DRY tent :-)

Refuelled and headed to Franklin. Met up with kate and the kids at Huonville and after a coffee went to Franklin where I'll stay for a couple of days.




02/02/2013

Went into Huonville wiith Kate to pick up some sourdough bread this morning and found that Targa Tasmania was on and running through Huonville today. I stood in island in the middle of the street and watched them come through. Magic!! Lambos, Porsches, BMWs, Ferraris, Alfas, Renaults, and everything in between. Later I sat in front Kate and Adam's place and watched a few go passed :-)