Chris and I spent two weeks in Tassie just after Christmas, touring by motorcycle with three other couples. I left on Boxing Day late arvo and rode with the three other guys to Kaniva Vic, where we stayed overnight at the Kaniva Midway Motel, which was a good cheap place to stay. The following day re rode to Melbourne and caught the evening ferry to Davenport, arriving at 0600, and headed to Angoves for a beaut cooked breakfast. On Sunday we rode across the high country and into Hobart where we settled into our accommodation unit at Salamanca. The ladies flew in to Hobart at 4.00pm. We had four nights in Hobart, wandering the dock as the Sydney Hobart boats arrived, explored Hobart a rode to some "new for us" destinations. The Tassie weather was very kind to us for our tour, with just one wet day and one rainy night. We had the wet day for our ride from Hobart to Southport, which for me completed a desire to ride to the most northern, southern (Southport), eastern and western paved roads in Australia. We also rode from our Salamanca accommodation to Kettering, Verona Sands, Cygnet and back across the middle to Kettering again. What a great day. When we left Hobart we rode to Mt Field National Park and walked to Russel Falls and then on to Bronte Park for the night. We had a contented evening sitting by a huge log fire, drinking red and playing cards. I was in heaven! From Bronte Park it was Lake St Clair, Derwent Bridge and Greg Duncan's Wall in the Wilderness (wonderful is an understatement), Queenstown, and Strahan for two nights. Some of our party elected to go on the Gordon River Cruise, which Chris and I have done before and loved, but we chose to ride the Zeehan, Reece Dam, Rosebery loop. It certainly was a great day's ride, good road and beautiful scenery. We left Strahan and headed through Hellyer Gorge to Wynyard and Sisters Beach on the north coast. At Sisters Beach we stayed for three nights on a house right on the beach front and 180 degree views of the ocean. We rode to Arthur River and back the same way, but later that day one of our party found that the road is now paved to Couta Rocks and back to Smithton via Roger River. Next time perhaps. Our cheese and wine and dinners on the verandah watching the full moon rise over the ocean were a highlight of the trip. We spent a lazy day exploring the north coast and had fish and chips on the lawns at Devonport, waiting to board the Spirit for the ride home. The boat ride back to the mainland was glass smooth, and a 5.30am disembark from Melbourne had us clear of traffic quite early. The company went their separate ways and we had two lovely nights in the Grampians. We rode home on the Saturday, a day which was forecasting the wettest day in Adelaide for 40 years. It was dry when we left Halls Gap at 0700, but the showers set in after Horsham, and we were alternatively wet and dry for the rest of the day. It wasn't too bad and we kept nice and dry. The only difficulty was when my CB failed when the connection into the Uniden radio broke, but I've since ordered a replacement cable from Dale, and my CB is back in business again.
There were two large cruisers on the trip, and a Suzuki Bandit, and we all carried our "dearly beloveds" as pillions. I got to ride the Bandit one day, as was very impressed with it's smooth power and sharp handling, but Phil was glad to get his Bandit back, and I preferred the ST. We agreed to agree that they are both good bikes, but designed for different purposes. For a fang through the hills, the Bandit would be great, but to tour Australia, the ST is king.
This was my fourth bike trip to Tassie, and I wouldn't need much encouragement to go again.
Here's just a few photos.
