Tasmania Cycle Tour – Day 11 – Tee Tree to MONA
40km, 530m elevation
I felt some mixed emotions when I woke up this morning, knowing that it was time to start cycling into Tasmania’s capital city, Hobart. The dark skies and light rain seemed to reflect how I felt. I’ve had such a wonderful time exploring this history-filled part of the island that I’m sad to leave it behind.
Continue reading “Crazy Modern Art and a “Secret” Hut on Mount Wellington”
Cycling Tasmania Day 10 – Dunalley to Richmond
57km, 680m elevation
I haven’t talked much about where we’ve been staying on this trip. For the most part, we’ve been just showing up and seeing what we can find or booking a day ahead of time. That gives me a lot of flexibility in cycling and I love the spontaneity of it. Last night we stayed at Casilda House B&B in the picturesque town of Dunalley. It’s a lovely spot, right on the water with beautiful views out to the bay. We really lucked out on this B&B. Not only is it a lovely place to stay but no sooner had we paid than another hopeful guest showed up. Casilda is the only place to stay for miles. We almost had to sleep in the car (well, Sil in the car and me under my bike)!
Continue reading “Cycling Tasmania – Day 10”
I’ve finally found it! The endangered, elusive Tasmanian Devil!
Today I visited the Tasmanian Devil Unzoo where you can get up close and personal with some of Tasmania’s wild creatures. It’s more than just a zoo. Or, I should say, it’s not a zoo at all. I’ll get to that but first the exciting part – I got to watch two Tassie devils wait in anticipation of fresh food then devour a chunk of wallaby! They’re such interesting creatures. About the size of a small dog, they look really cute and cuddly. Yet, they have the strongest jaws next to a shark and can tear tough meat and crunch through bones as if they were toothpicks. They’re carnivores but they don’t hunt. They scavenge for food.
Continue reading “I found the Tasmanian Devil!”
Cycling Tasmania Day 8 & 9
Taranna to Coal Mines National Heritage Site – 21km, 410m elevation
I took a day off of cycling yesterday to visit the World Heritage Site, Port Arthur. A day of learning about Australia’s convict history is just what I needed. Port Arthur is especially significant because it was the first in the world to create a separate prison for boys. Before that, boys as young as nine years old were locked up with hardened adult criminals. You can just imagine the results. Now it seems crazy to lock up kids at all but at the time just the idea of separating them from adults was revolutionary.
Continue reading “The life of a convict – World Heritage Site Port Arthur”
Cycling Tasmania Day 7 – Murdunna to Port Arthur
51km, 850m
It’s my 7th day of cycling in Tasmania and I’ve reached the end of the Tasman Peninsula. Only a week into the trip and I feel like I’ve already hit a milestone. This is the furthest southeast that you can go in Tasmania. The next stop is Antarctica.
Continue reading “Crashing Sea Cliffs and Peaceful Bays: the Tasman Peninsula”
Cycling Tasmania – Day 6
Triabunna to King George Sound
78km, 1500m elevation
Most of the roads I’ve cycled so far in Tasmania have had a fair bit of traffic. It is the height of the Australian summer after all and tons of folks from mainland Australia come to Tasmania to escape the heat. Today, I took an entirely different path.
Continue reading “Getting off the beaten track in Tasmania”
I decided to take a day off cycling to see Maria Island by boat. Maria Island is the oldest penal settlement in Tasmania and it’s also famous among geologists internationally. Plus it’s surrounded by hundreds of dolphins surging through and jumping out of the water! At least it was today for the lucky folks who joined Skipper Steve on the East Coast Cruises tour of the island.
Continue reading “Dolphins sighted at Maria Island!”
Day 4 of my Tasmania Cycle Tour – Coles Bay to Triabunna
89km, 800m elevation
I really wanted to catch a boat across the narrow channel of water that splits the Freycinet peninsula from a place called Nine Mile Beach — who wouldn’t want to visit a place with a name like that! I stopped off at Kent’s house and inquired about catching a ride. He used to take cyclists across but it turns out that he sold his boat a few years ago. That’s too bad. Fortunately, Sil is driving, so we just put the bike in the car and she drove me up to the Coles Bay junction so that I wouldn’t have to repeat that section of road.
Continue reading “Lavender Ice Cream and Sauvignon Blanc (Day 4 of Cycling Tasmania)”
Bicheno to Freycinet National Park
51km, 330m elevation
My first two days of cycling in Tasmania were hot and sunny. The sun is particularly intense this far south. When I woke up today, though, it was drizzling so I lazed around and got a leisurely start to the day. It’s actually nice to have some cooler weather and a bit of cloud for a change. As I heading south of Bicheno, I passed by lots of farmland and sheep pasture. It’s quite dry but also scenic and enjoyable riding.
Continue reading “Cycling Tasmania – Day 3”
St Marys to Bicheno
46km, 530m elevation
I started my second day of cycling around Tasmania with pancakes! Mount Elephant Pancakes is a locally famous country restaurant at the top of Elephant Pass that serves up piles of sweet and savoury crepes to hungry visitors every morning. I went with the “Banberry” option – bananas, strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries with a generous dollop of cream and ice cream! What a way to start the day. Oh, the restaurant is for sale – for just $1.4 million, you could be the proud owner.
Continue reading “Cycling Tasmania – Day 2”
Eating Snow Around the World 