East to Hobart
I was pleased to leave Strahan. This is a pity because I had high expectations of the place.
It is relatively short ride to Queenstown, albeit there is a bit of a climb. It was hot and the newly tarmac road did not make for a pleasant ride.
Queenstown
As you approach Queenstown you can see the devastation that the mining has caused. There are a number factors. The first was the impact of the mine itself, with the resulting slag heaps. The next issue was the felling of the trees within the vicinity. The trees were cut down to provide fuel for the smelter that processed the ore. The fumes of the smelter were toxic and killed most of the remaining vegetation and regrowth. Finally, because the vegetation had disappeared, there was nothing to hold the soil and it was washed away by the torrential rainfall that is feature of the area.
The result of the above was a severely scarred landscape, of bare clay and rock. Albeit, there has been some re-vegetation the landscape continues to be severely scared.
Once in town, I looked for the camping ground. The route to the ground took me over the river. It is a bright orange colour, and doubtless lifeless. What a mess. Checkout the photos.
At the reception I asked if there grass where the tent area was, as it appeared that the camping ground was all gravel. I was assured that there was grass. I made way along the path to the tent area. There was a tiny sliver of grass along the fence. A tent was pitched up against the tent and two bikes were nearby.
As I pitched my tent the owners of the bikes arrived. They turned out to be a couple from Luzern in Switzerland. They too were somewhat disappointed with the ‘grass’ or rather lack of it. We had a quite a long chat about our experiences on the road. They were shocked by the narrowness of the roads in Tasmania and the size of the trucks. They told me that they thought it was “very dangerous” and would not recommend touring Tasmania by bicycle to any of their friends.
I headed into town for a meal at one of the pubs. It wasn’t a bad meal.
Ride to Derwent Bridge
As I rode out of Queenstown, the place looked more derelict than ever.
The road leads up the mountain above the town. From the bottom it looks like a daunting ride. Surprisingly, the gradient is not too bad as the road zig zigs around the contours of the ridges.
As I reached the top of mountain, the air became thick with smoke. I had heard that a major fire had been through the country between Queenstown and Derwent Bridge. It appeared that they were still going.
As I rode on, I was passed by lots of Harley Davidsons, obviously part of the HOG ride, I had come across in Strathan. They are seriously noisy bikes.
The weather got hotter and hotter as I progressed. How was it that on the two toughest climbing days of the trip, the temperature was over 35 degrees???? One saving grace was that there were plenty of opportunities to get water from the pristine streams that cross the road.
At one point I came across an area of bush that had recently been burnt by the bushfire. The trees were still smoldering and the air was thick with acrid smoke. Again, have a lot at the photos.
Derwent Bridge
It was quite late when I finally made it into Derwent Bridge. There is very little in Derwent Bridge apart from a hotel. This place has some really basic accommodation. That was all I needed.
I ordered a meal and had a long one-sided conversation with the owner who complained about tourist numbers being down, the Tasmania Government, the Carbon Tax (he was unable to explain how that had an adverse impact on his business given his electricity was hydo-power) and a litany of other issues.
In the morning, I rode the 5 or so klms to Lake St Clair. It is another beautiful spot.
On the way back to Derwent Bridge I noticed a snake on the side of the road. I had seen lots of dead snake on the trip so far. They obviously like to warn themselves on the hot road surface. Unfortunately for them, the drivers of cars and trucks are happy to run them over.
I though the snake on side road was probably dead given there was a lot of flies about. I also thought I would make a good photo it appear to have been only recently killed and was not quashed. I circled back to take a photo. As I approached, it started to slither ahead of me. I immediately turn around and peddled as fast as I could. I was a Tiger Snake. As many readers would know, if you get bitten by a Tiger snake, you can kiss your arse goodbye unless you are within minutes of getting antivenin.
It would be really good to do the Cradle Mountain to Lake St Clair walk.
Tarraleah
After Lake St Clair, I head on to Tarraleah. Some friends who had travelled through Tasmania last February, put me on to this place.
It is an ex-hydroelectricity town that was built to house the construction workers. When that dams were finished, it limped on for a awhile before, becoming derelict. Someone bought the whole place but could not make a business of it. They sold it to the current owner, who has made it work. The houses have been refurnished and the old administration offices have been converted into a pub. There is also a café and gift shop. It also has a golf course.
The place is used primarily for conferences and weddings. They do offer accommodation for travelers and there a camping ground for vans and tents. Their URL is below
I pitched my tent behind the pub and headed in for a meal. Given there is no competition, they can charge a bit over the odds, but the meal was very good. One of the bar staff was girl from Finland. She spoke the best English and was more knowledgeable about the local area than any of the other bar/restaurant I had met of the trip so far.
Downhill to New Norfolk
The next day was big ride.
Fortunately there was lot of downhill. The route took me through Gretna to New Norfolk which is on the Derwent River.
I stayed in an Irish Pub. All I can say is that they served Guinness.
Into Hobart
It was a relatively short ride into Hobart along the Derwent River. I had expected this to be a lot better than it turned out. The countryside and the river are actually quite bleak. Also the northern suburbs of Hobart are very down at heel.
There is a bike path for the last 20 or so 20 klms into down town Hobart. It is also fairly bleak, passing through mainly industrial areas.
I checked into my hostel/hotel in the Hobart CBD.
Garmin Links
Queenstown to Derwent Bridge
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/439155932
Derwent Bridge to Tarraleah
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/439897763
Tarraleah to New Norfolk
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/440386094
New Norfolk to Hobart
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/443700994
Flickr Link
billrider2013 