Headed off round 8.30 this morning to meet the water taxi at Swanwick that would ferry us across the Moulting Lagoon. We arrived extremely early which gave us a chance to enjoy the view and chat to a local who was there fishing with his son. His son looked to be about 10 and proudly informed us that he holds the record for the largest Bream caught (not sure if this is local, Tas or worldwide). Apparently the bream down here are huge – and live to over 80 years old – which seamed extraordinary to me- however entirely possible that they’re now laughing about the oldies on the tandem who fell for it hook line and sinker!

The ferry was actually a tinny- so we had a bit of manoeuvring to get the bike on.

The trip over to the other side of the lagoon only took about 10 minutes, but it saved us about 50km of hard uphill slog back-tracking out of Coles Bay. Once on the other side we had to wade from the boat to the shore with bike in the air and put everything back together on the beach. It felt like quite an adventure

Where we ended up was Dolphin Sands- a long peninsula about 25km out of Swansea. One of the upsides of this route was that we passed by the Melshell Oyster farm- so of course we felt compelled to sample their produce (or one of us did!)

This neck of the woods is tinder dry- with bushfire warnings all along the way. The road passes straight down the middle of this fairly narrow peninsula with dunes hiding the beaches- however a small detour revealed the incredible beaches that we continue to be awed by.

Arrived in Swansea in time for a late lunch at the bakery that moonlights as the local Tavern

Arrived at our new little home mid afternoon. The most GORGEOUS little cottage on the outskirts of Swansea. The cottage is set amongst an equally beautiful wandering cottage garden in full flower- and OMG- it has a bath!!! I couldn’t get into it quickly enough to soak the battle worn muscles!

Cottage all set up with breakfast provisions including a home baked loaf of bread and eggs fresh from the chickens bottom. Have two nights here and I don’t know how we will leave when the time comes!

Three nights in Coles Bay has given us ample time to rest our saddle sore rears and explore Freycinet – and to do some much needed washing!

Coles Bay itself is tiny- three shops in the Main Street- a general store, a fish & chippery that doubles as an ice-cream parlour and a cafe. We are frequenting all three regularly- sometimes doing a ‘progressive meal’ having our seafood then moving next door for coffee- just as well we’re exercising lots!

The town is teaming with grey nomads and all the traffic that entails.

Eager to have a day without riding yesterday we started with a Wineglass Bay Cruise and walk. We opted for the Freycinet Discovery tour which had a much smaller boat and less people than the giant cruising catamarans (aka floating feedlots).

We were so pleased with our choice- turns out the tour operators were a couple just starting out in the area with their boat that they’d had purpose built. We were on their inaugural tour- which was very special. Wonderful personalised service and only three couples on the tour- all with a similar sense of fun. Turned out to be a fab day and really exciting to be part of their new beginning.

The cruise went from Coles Bay around the rugged (and turbulent) national park coastline dropping us off in the serene waters of Wineglass Bay (more like a lagoon). From there we did the 90 minute hike across to Hazards Beach where they picked us up again.

And today we approached the bay from above- riding up through the national park and then hiking the last couple of Km to the Wineglass Bay lookout. The climb up was hard on the lungs and the climb down hard on the knees- with terrain similar to the Grampians. But the views were definitely worth the climb!

Now back at our cabin getting our workhorse ready for the next leg to Swansea tomorrow- it’s amazing how much can explode out of your bags in three days- it’s like trying to get a genie back into the bottle!

Rain or hail: NONE.
Wind: almost NONE..
Sunshine:continuous!
Hills: mostly small ones.
Tired but happy campers: two!

We had the perfect riding conditions for our trip down to Coles Bay today.
Given there are no shops between Bicheno and Coles Bay we stocked up at the bakery before leaving – including two of the what have become mandatory iced apple cakes.

The first half of the ride was through farmland- mostly flat. This part of Tas is noticeably drier than the northern areas we’ve come through.

Saw some interesting signs along the way

Once again had a magnificent lunch spot well worth the detour and the big gravel climb

Arrived in Coals Bay mid afternoon in time for a walk around town and the waterfront. We are staying in a cabin in the caravan park near Oyster Bay for the next three nights. If the weather holds we might even venture in for a swim!

One thing we have realised is that Freycinet is huge, so seeing it without a car will be a challenge. So have booked a Wineglass Bay cruise and climb for tomorrow.

With over 80k to cover today we set off (relatively) early- 8am ish.

We hugged the coast all the way down. For the first 40k the wind was behind us and riding was easy. First stop was at a shipping container transformed into a coffee spot- full of both locals and tourists- and we soon saw why- best coffee we’ve had so far.

Reached our halfway point at 11.30 which as fortune would have it was the Iron House Brewery. Fabulous views and a great place to rest our bones for an hour- mind you, had we known what was to come we might not have lingered quite so long.

The east coast is certainly spectacular- gorgeous pristine beaches one after the other- but the winds were punishing. By mid afternoon they had reached the threatened 45-55km/hr, which was great when they were behind us, hard work when they hit us front on, and downright scary when they hit us from the side. A few times we had to get off and walk as the wind blew us into the gravel shoulder.

With 10km to go we gave in to exhaustion for a while- rode down to the beach, devoured our bread rolls and hedgehog slice and let the sun and food work its magic before setting off again.

We arrived in Bicheno round 5 very windswept but nothing a shower, pizza and beer couldn’t fix.

Off to Coles Bay tomorrow- a much shorter ride thank goodness.

Well, had our last day of our mini break here in St Helens today. After a day of absolute slothfulness yesterday- eating- sleeping- reading – we got back on the bike for a short ride the ‘other, way around the coast towards St Helens Point.

We hugged the coastline the whole way and with the superb weather we were treated to magnificent views- this place is just glorious.

On the way home stopped on the wharf for a fisherman’s basket – and a lovely couple from the Gold Coast (who spent the day passing is on the road) shared their oysters with me. As for Benny- when in Rome…..eat chicken burger of course!

Now starting the task of re-packing the panniers ready for an early start tomorrow while listening to ‘For the Term of His Natural Life’ on audio book in prep for our visit to Port Arthur.

A big 83km ride to Bicheno tomorrow.

Tim arrived at 9 as promised to pick us up to transfer to St Helens. We felt a bit sheepish skipping this leg until we drove it- after which our sheepishness turned to relief. The road was very narrow with lots of blind curves- we would have been sitting ducks! The views were spectacular though.

Took just over an hour to get down to StHelens and find our little cottage (home for the next three days). After some bike maintenance (aka cleaning the grit out of everything), determined not to be total slugs, we set off for an afternoon ride to Binalong Bay.

A very hilly ride (is there any other type down here?) but we’ll worth it. On top of that the weather was perfect (at last) warm and sunny with the most amazing cloud formations.

And the best thing of all is man cooked dinner!

We left the beautiful Bridport at 9 this morning in a bracing 1.5 degrees (wearing all our clothes on top of each other) but with a promise of sunshine poking through the clouds.

We had highlighted maps in hand ( yes paper maps do still exist) as mobile reception will be scant from here on in. 

Earlier in the morning, when buying said map, David had got chatting to a guy who was in charge of road maintenance who plotted out a route for us guaranteed to minimise trucks and maximise sealed roads- so we set off confident of an easier day ahead.

The first 40k was an absolute dream- tail winds all the way, gentle undulations and no rain or hail!

Then we rode through Mt Horror National Park (I kid you not). While true to promise there were no trucks- the hills were the most challenging yet. We quickly became thankful for the steady albeit light rain as it kept us cool. We knew we were working hard when we could literally see the steam coming off our bodies! We’re definitely developing legs of steel.

We ended up biking AND hiking up the 14km of gravel roads in the national park before reaching tarmac again. 

The final part of our ride was through the most lush farmlands I’ve ever seen- David though it resembled the Scottish highlands, with very round, gleaming cattle, who I’m convinced must have two legs shorter than the others so the can keep balanced on the steep hills.

About 10k out of Derby we came across the tiny  Winnaleah Pub – a quintessential little country pub with a raging log fire. The publican was a delight and the couple of locals who were in the bar mapped out a shortcut to Derby for us – and then came out to see us off on the tandem.

Arrived in Derby round 5 absolutely thrilled to see our cottage had an open fire.  Derby is an early 1800s town founded for tin mining and has many of the original cottages standing. In 2015 it became home to a mountain biking culture and now is full of what look like wealthy, near middle-aged mountain bikers (the MTB equivalent of MAMILs) all of whom seemed to be at the pub tonight.

After hearing so many cautions about safety on the road from Derby to St Helens (a pass similar to the black spur shared by cars/trucks/bikes alike) we have decided to take the easy/safe approach and have booked a shuttle over the pass.  It will also be quite nice to give the legs a rest from the hills for a day 😀

After listening to rain on the roof all night we woke up to sunshine- so a quick bowl of porridge and we were off.

The lady at the caravan park suggested an alternate ‘back roads’ route which meant the first 40k were off the main roads. Lovely ride mostly through farmland with some glimpses of the coast- saw only 8 cars, 2 trucks, one caravan and 4 kookaburras for the first 3 hours.

Stopped for a hearty (and much needed) lunch at a tiny General Store in Pipers Point where we met Rosanne- a Kiwi who had left her job and is cycling around Australia for the next 18 months- she was also on day 2. Very envious- definitely buying a lottery ticket this week!

Once back on the main road surfaces were easier to ride but traffic increased. We’ve now got savvy to the log trucks- we hear them before we see them and pull off the road standing until they pass- their back draught is strong and this stops us wobbling.

The elements set in with about 25k to go- 5 hail storms swept through- again pulled over and huddle it out – no shelter in sight.

Arrived at our cabin in Bridport round 4.30 very wet and a little bit frozen, but nothing a hot shower couldn’t fix.

Have cranked the hearing up to 30, laid out all our wet clothes and come to the pub for dinner- hoping our shoes will be slightly drier tomorrow.

Distance travelled: 65.7km
Sore butts: 2
Aussie wildlife sightings: 5.
Live Aussie wildlife sightings: 0

Set off a bit later than we usually would to avoid the peak hour traffic (or that’s our excuse). Headed north following the West Bank of the Tamar Rover. There aren’t a lot of side roads here and those that there are ,are generally very steep as they Veer away from the river- so we stuck to the main road.

About 10k out of the city we did manage to follow a tiny side road that wound its way along the waters edge through tiny little fishing towns. Absolutely beautiful!

We certainly experienced all the elements today- being close to the river big squalls rolled in regularly bringing hail, rain and huge winds- then they’d clear as quickly as they started leaving bright sunshine. Our wet weather gear certainly got a work out, as did we.

While traffic heading out of Launceston was heavy but the highway had a good shoulder and people gave us plenty of room HOWEVER this changed as we got further north and began to share the roads with the logging truckS- who were merciless. Something we’ll need to get used to over the next couple of days as we head through the mountains.

Stopped in at Georgetown for a bowl of salty hot chips (nothing like salt, fat and carbs after a long rode) and the makings of an omelette before heading up the road to our caravan park. Now nestled into our cabin with heating cranked up hoping David feels the need to cook dinner before I do- but from the sound off the snores- unlikely!

Tyres fixed – ✔️

Lost mobile phone retrieved from car hire company- ✔️ (And not N’s)

Successful practice ride – ✔️

Did what we thought would be a cruisy 13km ride along the banks of the Tamar toward Cataract George. It soon became apparent that the biggest challenge we will face on this trip will be the wind. We managed to cop a head wind on the way there and back. So arrived home looking like we had had face lifts – gave true meaning to Mum’s old saying “if the wind changes your face will be stuck like that”.

The Gorge itself was gorgeous- we did the 7km walk around the edge – too narrow to rode so poor old David had to push the bike – unfortunately I couldn’t convince home to push it with me on it.

Arrived home pretty pooped wondering how we’ll make the 60 km tomorrow with a headwind.
currently in a pub waiting for my Atlantic Salmon and hoping We’ll have the energy to climb the (enormous) hill back to our B&B.