2 stroms tackle Tassie and then take on each other!!

aussieflicker

aussieflicker
Adrian & I've just got back from a very quick blast around Northern Tassie. Left on Thurs pm and got back Mon pm. Had a great time & it was a pleasure to ride with Adrian again.

The route
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The trip over was a bit boozy, we got back to our recliners so late that it was all dark and we couldn't work out how to make them recline - so we sort of forced them backwards - mine cracked.
Adrian after a beer or two
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Got through Devonport and wound up in Penguin for brekky

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Then off to Wynard. Great scenery and perfect weather - in fact we had no rain apart from 10 mins after we'd put the tents up on the West Coast

Wynard Head
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The boys
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Then for lunch at Stanley - friendly guy asked us where we were from and going

Strom at the Nut
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We then headed south to Edith Creek to find the western Explorer.

Montagu river
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Sign after Arthur River bridge on Sumic road - hint - turn right!!
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Adrian on Western Explorer - great road - no dramas
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Set up camp near a stream
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Woke up bright & early to continue South
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Got to the Pieman river, chatting to the barge operator - he was from Mandurah in WA - (small world - where my daughter was born). Living in a bus with his wife and travelling around

"Arcadia" river boat at Corinna - use to be a gunboat in PNG during WWII
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On to Strahan for a Coffee - took 30 mins to get the coffee :bang:

Adrian after Zeehan
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Stroms at Strahan
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Had to get our skates on so we headed East to get to Derwnet Bridge for lunch
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Eventually got to Dee lagoon to set up camp - great location. saw a few trout rising but they were too far out to cast to.
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Next day, headed off to Miena, along the way stopped off at Little Pine Lagoon - reputably australia's best fly water
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Headed down the Western Tiers then we lost each other - i thought we had arranged to meet in Poatina, but as I got my helmet off, i hear a strom go past on the by-pass road. So I jumped back on and gunned it afterr Adrian - no luck in finding him as I found out later that he'd taken a different road. Thanks to mobile phones we arranged to meet in Avoca for lunch. By this time I'd gone down to Campbell town and had to go North up the Midland Highway. As I was approaching the intersection with the Avoca road from the South I saw the familair spotlights on Adrian's bike heading South down the Highway - we greeted each other like long lost souls - blamed each other for the cock up and headed off to lunch
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We decided to head off to Mathinna by way of Rossgarden and Mangana. Thing were going well - great road- interesting sights (old mines etc). Trouble was I led the way out of Mangana on the wrong road. It went the right way but gor progressively worse. Very stoney - very steep - was ok going up but would be a bastard going down. Still the stroms made it to the top
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I'd just got to the top of the track had stopped on a better bit of road
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When the strom equivalent of this happened
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Causing this to Adrian's bike
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Laughed? - we nearly shat!

:poo:

Luckily no damage to us and only a right brake lever + few other things on mine so off we went - we were still talking!!!:cdle

Got lost again (the "down" had knocked the card out of my GPS but eventually got to Mathinna (not really worth it) and headed off to Deloraine passing through some great looking scenery in the upper Esk valley

Upper Blessington
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Had a few sherbets at the "Olde English Inne" ( no English beer )
:chug:

Then off to Devonport to catch the ferry next morning.

Leaving Tassie
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Sunset over You Yangs
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Arriving at Melbourne
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This was a great trip - a "taster" I want to go again - at least a week.

Thanks Adrain for the company and wine!

Jeremy
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
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:glu:glu
....and no quick climb up Jacobs Ladder (Ben Lomond)?
You've GOTTA go back!!
A month...minimum :chug:

You BOTH came off? :eek::eek:
 

adriano

Just through the door
i want to go back!

What a bloody great trip!:clap:1200km's in excellent weather through some of dog's best country.

Jeremy's done a great job with pics, and story - including our bingle.

On a whim about 6 weeks ago, after seeing a few adverts for cheaper tickets on the ferry to Tassie I booked the beast and myself a berth over the easter break. Then, remembering a conversation with Jeremy about enjoying camping, i decided to see if he was keen - 24hrs later i had a travelling companion.

We spent ages planning every last detail.....hmmmmm... make that at least 20 minutes:whistle:

So we rock up waaaay toooooo early for the Ferry - I think we were both really keyed up for it.

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Then, as planned - we needed solve the worlds ills

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after these, the 'recliner' seat controllers defeated us - so at 5am we were ready to hit the ground running - and the weather looked purrrrrrfect.

Here's J in the hold as we docked
with some experienced Tassie racers

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After a few laps of devenport looking for a decent Brecky, we settled on a lap of the Mall, and an ANZ ATM top up, and headed for the Western Explorer. We hugged the coast, and the villages and roads reminded me of my times spent travelling some parts of the coast of England - rich farmland, small villages, and narrow roads - except the weather was sunny:wow:

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Then, after topping off the tanks after Stanley - we headed for the western explorer - a dirt road only recently constructed, with significant opposition from greenies. As an aside - it's been done very well, and as a consequence of the opposition, there are very, very few places to camp a long it's reach - quite purposefully so I would guess - but we found a few likely spots - including our first overnighter

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the following morning with ice on the screens and seats

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The western explorer has been topped with Silicon from a nearby mine, and it's a great grippy white surface - quite unlike gravel.

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Just before the ferry at Carrina (sp?) Jeremy nearly wore a 4wd - that said, we saw very, very little traffic the whole way round, and were only held up in twisties on one occassion for a total of 5 minutes in 1200 kms = remarkable???

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then on the wide, fast run into Zeehan. J's the much more accomplished rider than I - and as an experienced Farm manager, used to dealing in %'ages - J told me i was approx. 10% slower....... as the incident later in the trip unfolded, I wish i was 30% slower.....:doh::wink:

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and another fast run into Stachan

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some fortunates off on a flying trip to the Franklin River?

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It was remarkable the ride through the Franklin Gorge - think of the Dandenongs x 1,000 - not so much the road - but the sense of timelessness - almost primordial, and damp as heck - but firm under the rubber.

My Kids are grown, but I think Jeremy had a strong sense of easter :bt

Thanks J!

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On this tastey note, I'll call it a night and pick it up tomorrow.

ciao, adrian
 

Choccoloco.

Getting the hang of it
So Jeremy has this fascination with oncoming traffic hey....:rolleyes: Leaving Cobar last year in Yathong national park he tried a Semi :looney:

Ah Jeremy, you coming to Coffin Bay? What's next on the hit list :icon-maffick-:
 

KingStrom

Long Timer
Ah, another 2 who have been to the Apple Isle and been "seduced" by the lovely roads and sights of the place!! I have been there 3 times on 3 different bikes and had a ball everytime. I'm yet to meet a rider who hasn't come back from there raving about the place to all who will listen.
 

adriano

Just through the door
Colour film in Adrians camera. Wonders will never cease. :D

Great reports and photos guys.

Cheers Guys, and K1W1 here's one from the old cam at our Dee Lagoon camp spot :gday:
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Ok - after growing our own coffee and the hot x buns in Strahan, we were off to Queenstown for a fill up, and up the twisties - I googled this one:
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now back to the colour cam, and next stop Derwent Bridge - after a 20sec look at the local for lunch, we headed to the Park service, Lake St Clair 'lodge' - and we were not disappointed - huge helpings and a good conversation with Bill & Ben from Flowerpot (only in Tassie :thumbs:). Here's Jeremy at Lake St Clair, and then our camp spot on Dee Lagoon - I think the 'vision' had been set....?

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and at Dee Lagoon 3hrs? later

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Dee Lagoon was a late find this day, and this particular spot came with wood waiting for late arrivals like us:

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to watch the sun set, and swap stories

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and see what some of the abundant road kill looked like before the event

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after breakfast - a breath before hiting the track again

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now this event was scary...... I thought Jeremy was 20kms infront of me, and we mobiled to meet in Avoca - only to hit this intersection 40kms west at exactly the same time......:chug:

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J hit 148 to get here, and my inadvertant top was 155..... panniers? - what panniers ;-)

Then after Avoca, the MC Australian touring atlas suggested a few side roads - excellent twisties, but some piss poor road conditions after about 20kms - gravel and pot holes....

NEVER follow your Garmin or Tom Tom blindly...... we found ourselves on a 6' wide track littered with leaves, branches, rocks and at about 10% gradient for 4km, with no sign of having been travelled for.......hmmmmmm......ever - not even by trail bikes... At the first level area I think we both dismounted shaking in our boots - at least i was.

This track exited steeply up onto a wonderfully wide dirt road about 2kms futher on (Tower Hill Road?), and i couldn't wait to hit it, and or anything else in the way :bang:

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my immediate concern was Jeremy, and his foot underneath the bike - All was OK and he all but laughed, but i know we were both shaken by the whole experience, and tired.

The ride out and around Ben Lomand (sp?) through to Devonport had some pieces of magic, but riding into full low sun was just plain bad news - so Jeremy made the wise exec. decision to lead us into Deloraine, and a welcome sight :chug:

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and onto the ferry on a lake called Bass Straight at 9am the next morning

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and sailing into the sunset, dreaming of how and for how long we could get back to this biking paradise

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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
:clap::clap::clap:

I'm a real sucker for shots like this...TOP STUFF!!

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Thanks to both of you for the yarns and some superb shots....fires up the dreams again!
 
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