Tasmania - 1 lap (and a bit)

robbieb

Tassie Daddy
Mate, I did the Lake Leake Rd on the night of the 15th, in the car on my way to Bicheno for a weekend with the girlfriend. Glad you had a great trip, I've still got plenty of Tas to sample myself!
 

robbieb

Tassie Daddy
I almost bowled over a deer faun too, would be a slow trip through on the bike after dark. Plenty of Bennets wallabies in the grass on the edge of the road also.
 

MGS12_8V

Getting the hang of it
Well it's been a long time coming, but better late than never. Will do some resizing of a couple of my shots and post at a later date. Great work Pete on the editorial to date.


Tas – Bikes, Bends and Buddhists, and an Indian Summer on Australia’s Southern Isle


The plan was to meet Mick and Pete at the London on the night we sail and man it was a hot one. Unfortunately the London was no more so we hid in the shade of another building and hit the shop for a couple of pine lime splices. No need to go too hard on night one is there.

On my other trips to Tas we had a set plan and tended to go anti clockwise around the isle stopping overnight in various towns. This time the plan was a bit different in that we had accommodation booked at Hobart and Launceston only, and based on weather (or whether) we would head out for the day and back to base at the end of the day. I think this worked pretty well as you can leave your touring kit at home whilst exploring the many roads and tourist spots relatively unhindered, and based on where the weather is best suited. I’ll do this again. With this all in mind, we would make a call on the boat as to the route for day 1 based on the weather.

Day 2 - Devonport to Hobart via Cradle Mountain, Strahan and Queenstown

It’s hard not to love the roads in Tasmania. There are so few straight sections of road, so many distractions in the guise of fantastic vistas, historical townships, the next apex, fury mammals, marsupials and the like, the next apex, and the odd straight stretch that joins the last apex with the next. Kudos must also go to the constabular population of this great place who apparently do not spend their time hanging out in cams, sitting in bushes with radar guns and a mate down the road gathering taxes. The very few that we saw were good for a wave or a nod and no more. We always abided the town speed limits and road with caution the rest of the time. Whilst on the subject, a group of 3 motorcycle cops passed us on their shiny Beemer R12’s heading West from Hobart to enjoy some of their own magic roads. Having just taken a package from my place of employment for 30 years, I might need to look in to that career. Imagine being paid to ride Tasmania. Well done chaps! :clap::clap::clap:

Got into Hobart a smidge later than planned but our host was cool with the wait. The view from Fitzroy House, our accommodation, was spectacular although traffic noise was ever present. We all cleaned up and walked into Salamanca for a stein of lager, the best Souva I’ve had in a long time, talk of the first day on the Island for Pete and the roads we’d done. All agreed it was a great day out and after a short stroll back home, a good night’s sleep was had.

Day 3 – Hobart surrounds – MONA

Clouds spoiled the view but not the spirits when we reached the peak of Mount Wellington. The ride up shows glimpses of the view that awaits but as can be the case on occasions, by the time we got to the top, so had the cloud cover. On the way back there were a couple of stops for photos and somewhere along the way and I was tail end Charlie. Pete lost Mick. I was positive I hadn’t passed him, and Pete was positive Mick hadn’t overtaken him. We decided to go our own way and if all else failed meet up at the servo down the hill. As it turned out Pete had missed Mick going passed him as he sat in a lookout spot. No damage done other than a bit of lost time. Most of the rest of the day was spent at the Museum of Old and New Art. Whether or not you like modern art, or the old stuff, this place is well worth a visit and will make you think. The architecture alone is worth the visit.

That night we stopped in at the Tassie equivalent of the thirsty camel for some take aways and headed home for Pizza.

Day 4 – Hobart to Launceston via East Coast and NE

The plan today was to head up the East Coast, stop in at Coles Bay for lunch, check out the Bicheno motorcycle museum, do Elephant’s Pass and if time permitted do St Helen’s and Scottsdale to Launie. All of the above were achieved and Pete’s RR covers this beautifully. The roads again were fantastic, the drizzle that we started in cleared by late morning and by the time we dropped down into Launceston it was sunny and 30 something.

Whilst Pete attributes my lack of energy to hangover, I was feeling less than 100% by the time we got to Launceston as I don’t think I was taking in enough water along the way. The upside of the Stelvio’s screen in winter, is it’s Achilles in summer. There is simply no cool air available behind the screen and with the air cooled 1200 twin radiating heat, it’s a warm place to be for 8 plus hours in the saddle on a 30 plus day with a touring suit on. To this end I suggested we maybe hit the supermarket and make our own dinner, having a quiet one after another epic day on the bikes so we could do it all again tomorrow. “No let’s go out and grab something” was the call from Pete so off we went. Although our super fit freak hit the gorge for a swim whilst Mick and I wandered to the pub.

The Sportsman’s is a relatively benign pub with nice cold beer and (I assume) good standard pub food. We didn’t in the end get the chance to eat there as the night took a couple of twists and turns before it ended with us walking home from the centre of town on a balmy summer evening with emptier pockets than was probably necessary, and a shirt missing several buttons.

Hey Bro, want to try some pink beer cuz? Ut’s choice!!
Snake bite is apparently the name of this “beverage” and the effect it has on one particular cheery Samoan, when consumed in quantities measured in Litres and not ml as we mere humans tend to do, is unpleasant. It’s a shame because sans grog he seemed a reasonable bloke. At this stage of the evening though it’s all smiles and fun. Pete’s RR covers the crew very well so I won’t repeat that. We left the Sportsman’s with our newly found friends, destination unknown. We were reliably informed by our new host (Geelong Grammar man) that the food was great and the wine just as good. On these 2 points he was pretty accurate. The food was good and the wine both nice and plentiful. Can’t remember the name of the place but I’d probably recommend it.

As the night was drawing to a close it was time to think about heading back home so I ducked off out the back to the loo before the longish walk back to our place. When I walk out there’s chaos. Screaming women crying, another guy trying to calm down and remove a very large, drunk, and now far from cheery Samoan chap from the scene of the crime, and Pete walking back into the restaurant shirt in tatters and looking a bit shocked. After another half hour of apologies, excuses for appalling behaviour, and carry on we walked home to call it a night. :poo:

Day 5 – Launceston and surrounds

Mick has to head back earlier than the original plan so he did the full pack before we headed out to check out the Tamar and surrounds on this day. Taking in the Eastern side down to the maritime museum, crossing at the bridge after lunch and heading back to Launie on the Western side where Mick left us for the ferry.

Given the hour of the day, we decided to take a run at Jacob's Ladder. Pete was concerned the Beemer's road tyres might not allow him to get up there and back safely so the plan was to see how the big Italian went and make the call from there. Once we got to the final car park before the famed switch backs however, there was no way he was not going to have a go.

It's amazing what you can do on slightly deflated road tyres with a bit of patience and skill. Great job getting to the lookout and on to the ski village by the man on the 800 roadie. :clap::clap: This is one dirt road everyone should check out whilst on the Isle of Tas.

We pulled back in to Launie on dusk and had a quiet night at home. Another great day out and about.

Day 6 – Launceston to Devonport via far North West (but not Cape Grimm)

Pete took the lead on the last day as I hadn’t planned anything in particular and he wanted to go as far West as he could get us. Turns out that it’s not as far as the$2 map he acquired on the ride over would have you think. I tried to put the destination into my Strike GPS but it didn’t have a road listed, even including the Hema data it has. Pete’s rr covers the story. Nice road out and back, but no Cape Grimm to be seen. A steady run back along the coast to Devonport covered the last of the riding for our Tassie trip.
The boat ride home was a quiet one once Pete got through the security checks. As Mick had left the night earlier we had the 4 berth room to ourselves which made for more room to spread out the gear but in reality, there was still no room to swing a cat no matter how small or patient said feline might be.

Another great sunrise and beautiful day awaits as we pull into Port Melbourne. The various groups of bikers and some bikies were saying their goodbyes and either heading home, or off to their next adventure. Pete and I were off to catch up with our families and as it turned out, clean the bikes before putting them away for a while.

Great trip. Great company. Can’t wait to get back there!

We’ll be back.
G
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
..... we would head out for the day and back to base at the end of the day. I think this worked pretty well as you can leave your touring kit at home whilst exploring the many roads and tourist spots relatively unhindered, and based on where the weather is best suited. I’ll do this again. With this all in mind, we would make a call on the boat as to the route for day 1 based on the weather.

We’ll be back.



:thumbs:

Thanks for another angle on this.
Seems like a good way to go if there's not too much time on hand, as it saves all that settling-in at night and pulling stumps again the next morning.

Then again....Tassie makes things easy, any which way (and any which road).
 
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