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.

Arrived at the airport early to allow for delays due to the normal bikes in bags confusion. Forty-five minutes and $90 excess baggage later  we watched with trepidation while our green machine slid off into the oversized luggage abyss, hoping like heck she’d come off safe and sound at the other end….. and she did!

With 5 hours to kill before we could check into our B&B, we decided to rent a car and do some exploring. Set off along the Great Western Tiers Touring Road – beautiful little towns full of  old cottages, cafes and craft galleries. Pored over the realestate windows for that perfect renovators delight but sadly no luck!

Arrived at our gorgeous cottage in Launceston late arvo – three hours later (and much groaning) we had the bike set up…..almost…

Note to selves- if you’re going to buy a new super dooper pump, test it out before you absolutely need it! We now have great bike with two flat tyres! Never fear- have located a bike shop and will be on their doorstep first thing. 

Two years, three knee surgeries (for the old boy) and lots of hard work and training, and at last we have our next cycling adventure on its way.
On Cup Day we head south for 3 weeks cycling the east coast of Tasmania.

For the first time we’re totally self directed- carrying everything with us (no baggage transfers). After much cursing and paring back we’ve managed a respectable 26 kg of on-bike carry on – which will gradually reduce as we apply the toothpaste and butt cream (not to the same place!) we have squeezed everything into 4 pannier bags, a frame bag and a handlebar bag. David’s clothes came in at 4.1kg- 200g less than mine. The rest is tools, first aid & electronics.

As usual we’ll blog as we go internet coverage pending- just 8 sleeps to go!