Mel-bin and around

Note: Pictures are borrowed from various places from the internet, I'll explain later

I quickly learned that Melbourne is not pronounced Melbourne, but rather as Melbin. Oddly enough though the Bourne series of movies is not pronounced as the Bin series. However you want to pronounce it though I had a great time in a fun city and it's surrounds.

Fitzroy was probably my favorite spot in the city. It was artsy, hip, and fun. Folks were riding bikes everywhere with fun baskets attached, lots of good cheap eats, a pretty hopping night scene, and good people.

The Rubik's Cube building at the Melbourne Museum - across from my hostel

I was lucky enough to meet some kind souls local to the area and got to spend some time hanging in the suburbs of Melbourne having a good time. Not spots you'd find on a tourist map, but my time there was most memorable (Thanks Jen and Kath!).

I got in a cruise of the Great Ocean road to see sights such as the London Bridge (the section closest to the shoreline broke off several years ago so it's more like the London Arch now), the Twelve Apostles (of which only 8 remain standing), the Blowhole, Thunder Cave, and numerous other picturesque sites along the way. It was a beautiful drive. (Thanks Jen!)

The Twelve Apostles along the Great Ocean Road

Wee Jasper

Janet and Bess at the Stables

For Easter weekend I headed out to Wee Jasper to spend some time with Janet (Bryn's Mum) and her partner Neil. Janet owns the only business in town, The Stables tavern, and Neil lives and works on his own sheep farm. There was no shortage of things to keep you busy and I got to learn a bit about taverns and sheep.

After a morning cup of coffee a bit of time would be spent moving sheep from one paddock to another. The young ones were due for drenching (de-worming) so the dogs (Arny and Maggie) would step into action at Neils command and round them up while he helped out the ones that couldn't help themselves. They aren't the brightest of animals. I even got to help pull some heads out of fences. A field full of grass and they need to try and eat what's on the other side of the fence...? Maybe they think the grass is always greener on the other side too?

Late morning to night was spent in the holiday rush at The Stables. The beer was always flowing, bags of ice were flying out the door, and we couldn't cook the pub food fast enough. I got handy with the fryer, learned to make a good quick steak sandwich or lamb burger, and washed my weight and then some in dishes. Definitely the most productive few days I've had in several months.

Janet does a great job of keeping it all running smooth and Neil helps out with anything and everything. They're a good little team and have great set-up out there in Wee Jasper. It was beautiful country and I'm glad I made it out for a visit.

Thanks Janet and Neil!

Sheep country (although they were all in the paddocks obviously not shown in this picture)

The Rest of the West

of Tas that is.

My tour of Tas - complete!

Last time I blogged I was off to the Hastings Caves which did not disappoint. Stalactites and stalagmites galore and even a few glow worms. There were tons of other intricate cave formations within it. It is one of the few dolomite caves, most in the region are limestone, and it was discovered by timber workers in 1917. After a quick dip in the thermal pools I headed north to line myself up for Mt Field. Got an early rise and decided to head out on the tarn circuit hike. It was beautiful! Chock full of pandani's, alpine likes, and alpine tarns. All the grey-white eucalyptus snags reminded me of Torres del Paine and the pandani groves look like a page out of a Dr. Seuss book, just green instead of pink or blue.

Stalactites in the Newdgate Cave

Twilight Tarn in Mt. Field National Park

I attempted to line myself up for another day of hiking on the other side of the Overland track trail, but it was pricey to camp and you had to ferry out to the good spots so I opted to roll along. I stayed at Burbury lake and met 2 older couples travelling that wanted to feed me and make sure I was warm for the night. They were really sweet. Morning saw me cruising early through the barren hills of Queenstown. A stellar example of what strip mining can do to a place, but it's been gussied up a bit and seemed like a pleasant enough town. Next was beautiful Strahan were I considered a cruise up the Gordon River and passed it up to keep moving along and do some more hiking. The next stop was just outside of Zeehan for a hike along an old mining tramway to Montezuma Falls. The falls were tall and best viewed from a huge suspension bridge across the ravine.

Montezuma Falls

I spent the rest of my time in the Northwest region which is full of picturesque farmlands, shorelines, and forests. The evening of the drive out I got treated to an amazing sunset full of colors. There were lots of little stops along the way here. The lighthouse at Table Cape, Rocky Point National Park, and a hike to the top of the Stanley Nut. I really wanted to slide into the Tarkine Wilderness Dismal Swamp (a 360ft slide into the forest), but rain that day kept the slide closed so I pushed on into more beautiful farm lands to the rugged west coast and walked the beach at Green Point as surfers braved the cold waters.

The lighthouse on Table Cape

The Stanley Nut

Time flew by and before I knew it I was Launceston bound once again to drop off my little rental car, have a shower, and wash up some clothes so I didn't commit any aromatic offenses on the flight back to the mainland.

Green Point

Trading Pedals

Sorry to report that I whimped out. I broke up with my (rented) bike yesterday, traded it in for petrol powered pedals, and have to admit that I'm not that torn up about it. I'd heard horror stories of the climbing on the west side of Tas and with a weather report calling for showers all week I opted not to lug that blessed bike through the rain for the next few days. That said I did get in a great ride of the East Coast and back inland to Launceston.

Speaking of, when I got into Launceston I lucked out and met yet another good natured Dutchmen looking for someone to head to Cradle Mtn. While the weather wasn't the greatest we got in a great hike around Dove Lake and a few other side tracks. With all the rain the rivers and falls were all swelled with water and quite dramatic. I also got in the hiking tracks at Cataract Gorge in Launceston. A beautiful natural feature tucked in right next to the city.

Dove Lake boathouse

Found a cheap cheap car for the week (thanks to a tip from Niek, the Dutchmen) and am out and about cruising the forests and coasts of the west. Covered Mt Wellington outside of Hobart yesterday and this morning found me soaking up the sweet smells of the eucalyptus canopy after last nights rain. It was quite relaxing to cruise through the beautiful forest roads listening to symphonies on the one radio station that still came in. Had a great morning walk through several tracks in the mixed forest, including the Tahune Airforest walk through the canopy. Off to the Hastings caves now...

View down to the joining of the Picton and Huon rivers from the Tahune canopy airwalk

Eaglehawk Neck to the Bay of Fires

Been rolling north in my exploration of Tas and taking in all sorts of sights.

My last day in Eaglehawk Neck was spent on a cruise to Tasman Island and Cape Pillar. The dolomite cliffs and cave were stunning. Even more so though was the abundant wildlife along the way: dolphins, sea lions, fish, albatross, and various other birds. You could see large tuna breaching the water as they were feeding, dolphins and sea lions chasing schools of fish through the turquoise waters, birds diving for fish, etc...

The next day it rained, it poured, and the old sheep snored. I struck out for Orford and Triabunna in spite of the conditions. A good chunk of the riding was on dirt roads, one of which was closed for a wash out, so there was very little traffic. The Weilengata Forest and Rainforest Walk along the way were beautiful and the mist and rain just added to it. Somewhere along the road between there and Orford I picked up my first leech (sneaky little blood suckers!). The weather finally broke, but not before I made my way into Triabunna for the night so while the ride was wet, I at least had a bout of sun to dry my things.

From Triabunna I was off to Maria Island (pronounced ma-rye-ah) for a night. After a brief ferry ride I rode down to the painted cliffs which are beautiful limestone and sandstone cliffs that have been eroded into all sorts of neat patterns of color. Then it was down the dirt path to Encampment Cove. When I arrive there wasn't a soul in sight, but I had come across someone headed my direction. Lucky for me, he's a very sweet English chap (Chris) and we had an entertaining evening taking in all the wildlife. The place was teeming with wallabies, possums, cookaburras, a few wombats, and I even spotted a tiger snake on the way in.

Painted Cliffs on Maria Island

Next morning I rode the 11k back to the Ferry landing with time to spare so I hit up Fossil Cliffs that hold all sorts of fossilized shells and signs of former sea life. I was on the ferry with an older couple (Anne and Peter) from Launceston that were out as volunteers to keep the island buildings in order. They were very kind and gracious enough to give me a ride up to my next campspot at Mayfield Bay Conservation Area.

From Mayfield I headed north with my sights set on the Freycinet Peninsula. I took a detour to a beautiful berry farm overlooking the sea for a fresh scone and ran into Chris again. I learned that the ferry I was supposed to catch to the peninsula was no longer in operation so Chris gave me a ride around to the peninsula. I stayed 2 days in Freycinet and got to soak up the scenery and beaches with a hike of the full Freycinet peninsula circuit and Hazards beach circuit.

After leaving Freycinet I stuck out for the Douglas Apsley water hole which provided a good days ride along, the coast, a scenic hike to the Douglas Apsley Gorge and a cool dip at the end of it all.

Now I'm in the Bay of Fires Conservation area and trying to decide where to go next, but for now I'm gonna rest for a day or so!

Eaglehawk Neck

Pedaled to Richmond for Day 1 and landed in Eaglehawk Neck for Day 2. It's pretty much the last town (if you can call it that) before Port Arthur and is known for the dogline. The neck is a narrow land passage connecting Port Arthur to the rest of Tassie. Since Port Arthur was a prison ground they protected the neck with lines of rabid dogs to prevent escapees from making it to the mainland.

The riding so far has been good. My rented steed is definitely below par in performance and requires a maximum amount of effort for a minimum amount of speed, especially uphill. I've been entertained by the wildlife crossing signs and variety of roadkill. This is a carrion eaters dream, an all you can eat buffet of rabbits, foxes, kangaroos, bandicoots, possums, birds, lizards, wombats, and tasmanian devils. Nothing quite like the smell of week old death on a hot day. Guts splayed and eyes no where to be seen.

The countryside here is beautiful and I have to laugh a little about their references to busy roads. Relative to stateside cycling tours this is some of the lightest traffic I've ever seen. Spent some time yesterday checking out some of the geological wonders of the area: the Tasman Arch, Devil's Kitchen, the Blowhole, and Dootown (a collection of homes that are all named something or another with 'doo' in it). Staying at a cute little backpacker/cyclist place with the resident sheep, aptly named 'come here', as my neighbor. It's complete with a recycled rainwater water system and composting toilet that believe it or not does not smell.

The stay so far has been nice, but it down poured all night and morning. Got everything hanging up in the kitchen area to dry while I'm out for the day. I'm chilling at a local hotel overlooking Pirates Bay using their computer for a minute before heading out to see the Tessellated Pavement and Dogline. Was hoping to do a boat tour of Cape Pillar and Tasman Island, but it's not running today so I'll hit it up tomorrow then head out of town the following day. Believe it or not, I'm not heading to Port Arthur. I did a penitentiary church and prison tour in Hobart and that was enough of prison cells and gallows for me. Prisons - No thanks!

Going Tassie!

Landed in Hobart (Tasmania) Tuesday morning and got everything lined up to launch my next adventure - cycling Tasmania! Got my bike packed up and I'm heading out of Hobart momentarily. It's no 'little blue', but it'll get the job done and the rental came complete with panniers, lock, lights, and helmet so I can carry my stuff and stay safe.

I'll update along the road as I come across internet. Should take anywhere from 3-5 weeks depending on how many sidetrips I take.

For a peek at some maps and routes I'm taking check out:
www.discovertasmania.com/__data/assets/.../CycleTouringMap.pdf

I'm out!