Tassie 2003

Well, in a word Tassie was awesome! The Transalp didn't miss a beat and had a really good time touring and looking around. So here goes…

Friday 21st Nov - Dubbo

My trip started on the Friday, at about 5:00am with 100km from home (Bourke) to work (Brewarrina). Work couldn't go quick enough, temp at about 39ºC and sort of steamy. Re-fuelled the bike at lunchtime and left work at 3:30pm sharp, making for Dubbo about 380kms away. Filled up again at Nyngan, a little surprised at how much the throw over saddles had affected the fuel consumption. More boring tar to Dubbo, stopping with my Aunt and Uncle for the night (cheap accommodation!).

Saturday 22nd Nov - Woods Point

Early start today, about 850kms to cover. Left about 7:00am with a few showers of rain before Parkes. Onto Forbes, West Wyalong, Temora and some heavy showers before Wagga Wagga. Pushed on to Culcairn and stopped for lunch in Albury. A quick feed of McDonalds was the order of the day. The rain pretty much held up from here on. Down the Hume to Benalla, then to Mansfield, Jamieson and catching up to Craig and Big Greg on the dirt road to Woods Point. The pub was a welcome sight (even for the non-drinker!). It was good to meet a heap of the tourers and put faces to names. Retiring to bed I realised my mistake, sharing a room with Big Greg and Craig! Earplugs sorted that out, and a good sleep was had.

Sunday 23rd Nov - Ferry

Ian Drysdale talking about his 2WD Africa Twin he is building

A rather easy day today, about 200km to Melbourne with a mix of dirt and tar along the way. Both surfaces provided some excellent riding and scenic views out of the mountains. After lunch at Healesville, a few of us headed to Ian Drysdale's place and factory to check out his creations. The 2WD Africa Twin was starting to look interesting, though the 750cc V8 was really something. The only disappointment was Ian forgot to bring the keys to start up the Demo bike! From there we headed down to the pier and caught up with the roadies at a pleasant little café nearby. Shortly afterwards a heap of v-twinners turned up, again putting some faces to names.

Upon us all firing up and boarding the ferry, I felt a unique feeling that is hard to describe. It was like a sense of pride and belonging. Being part of something special - motorcycling. The rumble of all the bikes telling everyone we were here, heralding the beginning of a great adventure! On board, I settled in with cabin mate Mark Youdale, and took a couple of Quells as advised by many. Catching up with the majority of people in the lounge was relaxing and enjoyable as we made our way out past the heads. Big Greg had a golden moment when he comes out with a chocolate map of Tassie, wanting to know if anyone wanted to share it with him! Time got away and I retreated to bed at 11:00pm, feeling the effects of the Quells.

Monday 24th Nov - Launceston

Up and off the ferry quite early (cabin wake up call at 5:45am, I think?) in Devonport. We headed for a divine breakfast at Anvers, on the way to Latrobe. After some investigation into Craig's chain and sprockets, a few of us headed off for Liffey Falls. Not really up for a longish walk to the falls, Craig, Mack and I continued on and let Paul and Tamsyn check out the falls. We were making for a lap around Great Lake, and the scenic, winding road up and around the mountain didn't disappoint. The dirt section was hard packed and quite open. Back down the other side was just as impressive as coming up, the only exception being some serious brake fade, requiring a go slow till they cooled! Lunch at the pub in Cressy was nice before pushing on to Launceston to check in. After checking out the area, Rob and Steve's invitation to join them at the Roman Baths seemed like good idea. After giving all the hot and steam rooms a go, the various tempered pools were heavenly. Feeling much cleaner and refreshed we headed back and made plans for dinner.

Tuesday 26th Nov - Coles Bay

A biggish day today, covering quite a few touristy places and great roads. A trip down the Tasman Hwy via Targa was awesome up hill, not so good down the other side with the tar starting to lift and getting slippery. Turning off at the C830 cutting across to Nabowla on a great gravel road letting the wheel spin up and power slide out of corners! Some rutted sections added to the flavour as the road crossed over the mountain range. The Lavender Farm was a little disappointing as it wasn't in bloom yet, though some good souvenirs were to be had.

Pushing on to Scottsdale and Derby for lunch though they ran out of pasties! (They are renowned for there pasties). Onto St. Helens, St. Mary's with an awesome run up to Elephant's Pass, tempted to turn the Transalp around and do it again. The Pancakes at the Pass were yummo. Further blasting down some great road to sea level past Bicheno, followed by a picturesque run into Coles Bay as the sun was starting to set against the Hazards (Mountain Ranges). A nice seafood dinner whilst discussing the events of the day.

Wednesday 26th Nov - Coles Bay

Doubling up with Bones and Trish for the two nights was really good experience. I'm yet to meet a couple so full of life and really positive about it. Good people to be around. Excellent cook up breakfasts provided by Mark really did the trick. After doing the laundry, I decided to head off and explore the area. Catching up with Andrew, Chris and Julie, we headed off to check out some of the walks around the Hazards. A casual afternoon of drinks, snacks, and chin-wagging was a good wind down after all the walks. A pizza dinner and off to bed early, to tackle Mt. Amos for sunrise!

Thursday 27th Nov - Port Arthur

Up at 4:00am I understood why no one else was keen to do this. Signed in at the base of the mountain at 4:25am, making for the top to meet the sun rising from the east. The walk (climb!) was graded as very hard and my rock climbing hands and feet can vouch for that! I made it to the top in 50min (pretty happy with that) with time to spare before the 5:28am sunrise. Much to my disappointment, there was too much cloud for a sunrise, though the view was excellent. Back down again and home by about 7:00ish for breakfast.

After loading up and departing, I made for historic Ross to get a picture of the Female Factory, where they make women (just kidding!). Checked out the old bridge and headed toward Oatlands. From here it was back roads consisting of great tar and dirt to Copping. Onto Port Arthur, had lunch and checked out the site. After the historic cruise I came across the massacre memorial and was filled with sadness. I found three names all the same ending and remembered the fellow that lost his wife and two daughters. Unfortunately for Port Arthur, with all it's history and heritage this memorial of recent times is what I will remember most. Dinner was nice down the road at the restaurant where Greg and Craig were staying, then onto the not-so-scary Ghost Tour. Mark and I were doubled up with Kevin and Stephi. After some late talk it was time for bed.

Friday 28th Nov - Hobart

Up and at it rather early, heading to a bakery in Nubeena (?) for breakfast. After doing the Tasman Peninsula loop it was a hasty push for Hobart via Sorell for a Cadbury tour at 11:00am. Now I rate chocolate pretty highly, but I came away from that tour totally over it (well, for a few hours anyway!). They feed you up on samples (Yummo) to saturation level, then take you into a 40ºC room where the refine the liquid chocolate. At this point you are so over it, and quite content just to buy it from the shop.

After checking into the motel, it was time for the Cascades Brewery tour. Mac, Hoppy, Steve and myself cruised on down to check it out. Even as a non-drinker, the tour was quite interesting. After the tour we opted for a quick blast up Mt. Wellington and weren't disappointed. The views were awesome, though be it a little windy.

After cruising back to the motel and cleaning up, it was time to gather and decide on dinner. Down to a totally packed wharf for a seafood dinner, which really hit the spot.

Saturday 29th Nov - Hobart

After waking to another fine day, I sought about attaching my two-headed mate to the windscreen (see photos). Looney's offer to show me around the place seemed like a good idea, so we headed south and back up to Huonville. From here we headed out to the Air Walk (a giant, elevated walkway up amongst the tree canopy). We then back tracked to Huonville (I think?) and took a back road to Mt. Wellington, this time with a camera and no wind.

Another lovely dinner on the wharf in the presence of celebrities. Mark Waugh was queued up behind us. After dinner, Yahoo convinced Hoppy, Sian, Joe and myself to kick on for a while at this English Pub. It served Tetley beer, so I'm calling it the Tetley Pub (how about that). Joe and Sian left after a couple of drinks, so we kicked on enjoying the music and dancing with some of the local talent. We decided to call it a night sometime after 12:00, just in case the Transalp turned into a Pumpkin.

Sunday 30th Nov - Strahan

After brekkie and loading up, I decided to clean the bike and luggage of all the mud accumulated through the Victorian countryside. Caught up with Mark and headed out to Russell Falls (nice) and further on to Junee Cave (average). Deciding not to do the Strathgordon run, we backtracked to Westerway and took another back road to the A10. It was getting rather windy on the way to Derwent Bridge, where we caught up with many others at the pub for lunch. Very big and beautiful building with great food and atmosphere. Surprising was the fact that we could see snow way up on the mountains, but it wasn't all that cold riding in jeans. Hoppy, Mark and myself took off through some really great windy stuff on the way to Nelson Falls (good). Even this guy in a Subaru was getting into it, with only Mark getting past him. We pushed on to Queenstown through some of the most scenic country I've seen. If it weren't so smokey (fires on the west coast) it would have been perfect. Queenstown had a really eerie, desolate feel about it. For some reason it reminded my of Mad Max, and was glad to leave it behind. The road to Strahan was again, great and a good way to finish the day. After dinner we retreated to our cabin to celebrate Timmsy's birthday.

Monday 1st December - Strahan

After a big cooked up breakfast (thanks Mark) the first thing you need to do is go on your first ever plane flight on a little Cessna, right? WRONG! The take off was fun and the views were good for about 20min, until the turbulence was starting to get the better of me. After another 20 min we landed up the river, and I had successfully restrained myself from spewing through shear will power. We took off again for the 30min flight home, and everything was good for about 10min until I could hold it no more and proceeded to fill my vomit bag! It was great to get back on the ground and savour being a ground creature. After resting for a while, Paul and myself headed down to the beach for a ride on the sand. This was great fun, putting in some good power slides and only fell over once whilst turning around. Seeing that the tide was coming in, we decided to head back. After washing the bike and not doing much, I took Mark back over to Queenstown to pick up his bike (train trip). On the way back we swapped bikes for a while, having a go on the 1150GS Adventure – very different to the Transalp. It was off to bed early after a pizza dinner.

Tuesday 2nd December - Stanley

An early start was made to get to the river cruise. An easy run to Zeehan and onto the sandy/gravel road to the ferry. I was having a ball on this road, powering out of corners and fishtailing over a couple of crests, when I came into right-hander too hot. I ran wide and put it down. No damage just pissed off! The cruise was good learning about the area, but was cut short due to smoke obscuring the view ahead so we headed back saving a hat from drowning on the way! Mark and I decided to do the Western Explorer (well most of it), with the rest of the trailies taking easier routes. The countryside was very burnt and black. The road was a mixture of alternating sandy/gravel or hard gravel. The open sections were the sandy, still allowing 90-110km/h, though the crosswind made it more challenging! Clouds were looming, so we cut it short and made for a very windy Smithton and Stanley. Checked out 'The Nut' and the great views it offers. A fine dinner of scallops and steak before retiring for the night.

Wednesday 3rd December - Lemonthyme Lodge

Up early and off to Wynyard for fuel and money, the weather was just verging on rain, but didn't last for long. I had been told about this Hellyers Gorge Rd. and how good it was and they weren't wrong. After going through, I about faced and went back for another lap, passing Greg going the other way. Pushing on to Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake, I managed to get in their well before they shut the road. Very picturesque up in there with patches of snow on the mountaintops. After having lunch at Moina, Greg and I swapped bikes for the ride to the Lodge. The first bit on tar was good, adjusting to the bike. The dirt section was a little different though. Everything was great, powering out of corners until I powered out of this left-hander followed by a right-hander. Too fast in and ran wide and put it down. No damage to the bike, just the embarrassment of doing it in front of the owner (Sorry Greg) and coping a ribbing about it for a while. Dinner was very upmarket and flash, but I suppose it's good to splurge every now and then, especially on when you're on holidays!

Thursday 4th December - Lemonthyme Lodge

Up early again and off down the road for a quad bike tour in the Cradle Mountain area. The tour was ok, really bumpy though for most of the two hours. By this time Mark and I were ready for lunch and again Moina was nearest and most convenient. Others turned up for lunch also and the idea was to make for the King Solomon Cave tour later on. So Mark and I took the road to Sheffield (great downhill rd, 25km/h corners!) for some cash. Not making it back to the cave in time, we headed to the Marakoopa Cave for a 1 1/2 hr tour, which was really fantastic. Mark deciding for dinner in Sheffield, I took the back roads home, and fanged back up the hill to Moina. Dinner again at the lodge, with a delicious steak and this divine chocolate dessert.

Friday 5th December - Ferry

Well it was quite a shock to believe this was the last day in Tasmania. I was determined to make the day an adventure and just ride around and stop as I pleased. I explored the roads out to a very scenic Leven Canyon. Then took some back roads to Sheffield and got a photo with the two-headed manikin. Caught up with Cathy and Jackie at the antique shop. Onto the Axeman's Hall of Fame in Latrobe, had lunch while I was there. Back to Anvers to stock up on fudge. Went into Devonport, did some shopping and checked my email. Fuelled up and went around to the ferry terminal side of Devonport and killed time at a Café. Hoppy turned up, and after a while we headed down to the terminal. Dave S. was looking as vibrant as ever after a night driving the porcelain bus. Hoppy and I stocked up on Pizza and boarded with everyone else by cleverly jumping the que. After getting to the cabins and showering, I decided to get some of those chocolate maps of Tassie and took three back to my room! I then watched the sunset with many others, reflecting on the past two weeks, which had gone by so quickly.

Saturday 6th December - Home

Up early and down to the food bar for breakfast before most. Off the ferry and regrouped for good byes. I was keen to get moving, as the trip from Melbourne to Bourke was about 1000kms. Hoppy was keen to get home also, so we teamed up for the ride out. After about 15min, we realised we were heading the wrong way on the M1 and about faced. Onto the boring, yet efficient Hume highway until the Seymour exit where I waved Hoppy good-bye. From here it was a rather numbing ride home via Shepparton, Griffith (lunch), Hillston, Cobar and home to Bourke by 7:00pm. I was very lucky to see no live wildlife on the road.

In Essence…
Well, the trip was great. Excellent roads, company, food, weather and an appropriate level of organisation. I couldn't pin point a favourite moment, too many off them! Whether it be the sense off achievement after climbing the Hazards and being in awe of the view from the top; that buzz you get from a really great section of road; or enjoying some of Tasmania's natural beauty.

The only thing I would change for next time, is take Belinda. Sure it's great sharing such a trip with a bunch of good friends. But, I envy those who shared it with their companions.

Definitely be heading back there some time, as there is no way you can see all that place in two weeks!

More photos from the Tassie trip can be found here.

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