The Highlander - a 6 Day Cycle of Tasmania - Summary

I am back at home now from an amazing ride in stunning Tasmania, the route of which I called "The Highlander" for reasons which should be obvious! I am sharing a summary this latest adventure for anyone else planning something similar. 

I did film parts of this ride and will edit a video shortly....

First of all, this was the overall route:

I did this with 5 days riding, totally self supported carrying all my own food, water, and camping gear etc. I also had 1 rest day sight seeing in Strahan.  Although my daily distances were lower than some of my other tours, the hills made this quite challenging. Here are the stats, and you can look at the route in more detail on each journal page below:

• Day 1: Devonport - West of Cradle Mtn
• Distance:  87.75km
• Ascent: 1939m
• Calories Burned: 3448
• Day 2: West of Cradle Mtn - Strahan
• Distance: 125.27km
• Ascent: 1323m
• Calories Burned: 4164
• Day 3 : Rest
• Day 4: Strahan - Lake St Clair
• Distance: 134.15km
• Ascent: 2034m
• Calories Burned: 4766
• Day 5: Lake St Clair - Meina
• Distance: 62.33
• Ascent: 812m
• Calories Burned: 2055
• Day 6: Meina - Devonport
• Distance: 122.29
• Ascent: 782m
• Calories Burned: 3818

The Grand total (Including riding from home to the ferry)

• Distance: 602.79
• Ascent: 7017m

The Bike

I travelled as light as possible, but this set up includes tent, sleeping back, cooking gear, tools, up to 5 litres water (with a small camelback not pictured) tools, down jacket, food, power supply for devices. I may share the full gear list later.

Some useful links:

• http://www.cyclepeter.com/cycling-tasmania/
• http://www.pedals44.com/tasmania.html
• https://www.willyweather.com.au/
• Information about taking bike on the Ferry
• Awesome route planning

The Highlander - Day 6 - Back to Devonport

It was luxury sleeping inside last night. The food and accommodation here were very good, a bit of a treat. Although there is no breakfast at the hotel, there was a little shop nearby that did toasted sandwiches so I could get something basic. Outside it was proper cold...just above zero and with a biting southerly wind. I was not in a massive hurry to leave and had a hair brained theory that any ice on the road might melt once the sun had been on it. (Lots of things wrong with this theory, but in particular: there not much sun and so it was a total crap).

Anyway, I got going about 9am, riding along the Highland Highway next to Great Lake. No cars passed me for ages and I had a slight tailwind that became more than slight later on. I was wearing a good outer windbreak layer but I had no thermals, so just committed to keeping moving and using mainly pedal power to stay warm. A mechanical would have really sucked...but no such issues with Casper The Magnificent (my bike). At the head of the lake there was a short sharp climb with a few steep switchbacks but I was actually kinda grateful as the climbing effort kept me warm! 

Once on the top it was all alpine scenery with the wild Pine Lake reminding me much of tarns in the South Island of NZ. Soon I passed the highpoint of the highway at 1250m, and a finger wrenching, ice blast descent began. What goes up, must come down.. and oh my down did we go!  A long screaming descent hugging the left hand side of the valley, I lost count of the switchbacks, most at 25km/h... and my fingers burning from holding the break levers in the cold. No question of an ear to ear grain on my face however...that descent was INSANE 😀. This descent was the culmination of all of that effort on day 3 climbing from Strahan.

At the bottom there was a very small steep uphill and my legs just totally failed to work...it was very weird...I had to stop and rub them. Perhaps it was cold...I am not sure.  

The cute town of Deloraine eventually emerges at the bottom here, 67km in one hit from Miena, but I was still cold to the core when I stopped, sitting in a patch of sunshine nursing a hot coffee. The town was much warmer than up on the plateau, probably 18 degrees or so, heaven! The town has a very pretty river meandering through the town, with an immaculate garden on each bank...total contender for 'Village of the year' methinks. (Hot Fuzz reference)

In fact somewhere on the way down I recall tearing past a sign referring to the area as 'The meandering valley' which is probably apt if one is not descending on a bike at silly speeds.

After a nice break in said town, I opted for 6km on the highway 1, followed by Railton Road. The highway saved a lot of faff with a very indirect route otherwise. Highways are never great but it was over fast and most of the time the shoulder was just wide enough to feel OK.

Railton Road passed through quite agricultural areas, very few cars but the odd big truck annoyingly. There is still a bit of up and down here. At Railton, after making turbo speed progress, I lay on the lawn and soaked up more sun, thinking about the trip.

Devonport is close from here, just 24 km. There is a Tassie trail option on the edge of the town and it was probably the best option. I had scant info on it with my GPX file being a bit of a guess at this route. I opted to stay on Railton Rd...bad choice, it was very busy, lots of trucks...why do they use this B road?? But the shoulder was OK for most of it.

At Latrobe I had heard there was a good cheese shop so I called in there...one thing really lacking from this fast paced itinerary was some samples of Tassies finest produce. This was a pimped up IGA and was off the charts good, I could have purchased the whole shop. I left with a few treats to enjoy with my wife when I get home.

Leaving town there is a good bike path along the river for the final few kms into Devonport...what a day...what a trip!! As has been the case on every multi day ride I have done, the first few days are physically uncomfortable, then after day 3 or so, the body adjusts to the regular punishment and in fact even starts to thrive. Because us humans are designed to keep moving. Thank you Tassie for being such a stunning, wild, and friendly place to cycle.

I have a summary post to follow with some technical details for others planning a similar route.

Day 6 Summary:

• Distance: 122.29km
• Meters Gained: 782m

The Highlander - Day 5 - Miena

It got really cold last night but with a down jacket on and in my sleeping bag I was ok. My sleeping bag is rated to 10 degrees for 'comfort' and it was under 3 overnight. I also had a silk liner which adds a few degrees for little weight. I crashed by 8 and didn't get up till 7 so that's a decent night's rest 😛

It was a chilly start packing up though, my movements carefully watched by a friendly wallaby. I had a good chat with him/her. As you do when travelling solo. 

Deciding to give the lodge a miss (it looked great but more for couples or the retired!) and rode 5km to the Hungry Wombat Cafe up the road...this was great! Best coffee of the trip so far, a yummy breakfast roll and a good pie. ( Yes, pie for breakfast, don't judge me!!).

After procrastinating there for quite some time and catching up with my wife online, I finally moved on with the outside temperature now reaching the stratospheric heights of 8 degrees. Some misty, sleety showers were around, but the glimpses of the semi alpine plateau were still sensational. 

There was a bit of  nasty traffic on the A road though and for the first time on this trip I felt in danger when a big truck was roaring up behind me. I caught it in time in my rear view mirror as there was a smaller truck coming the other way...no room to overtake for either vehicle...thankfull for thick tyres I pulled in to the gravel shoulder to try and get out of the way of both trucks, but in the end that wasn't needed as the truck behind me saw the danger and breaked rather than overtake. I must say I will never intentionally tour without a rear view mirror. They are a more valuable piece of safety equipment than a helmet IMO as I have ranted on here before about this.

Soon it was time to depart the main road, I turned off down Marlborough Rd and pulled in to the tiny store at Bronte Park for another coffee. It's a very basic shop with fishing gear, a few soft drinks and a few basic takeaways. As I sat out the front nursing my coffee and trying to stay warm, an elderly-ish pair of old ladies joined me with their gorgeous 2 dogs. One was a huge Rotweiler and incredibly friendly and gentle. Apparently both are rescue dogs. I ended up chatting to these warm strangers for a good half hour whilst patting their dogs.

Climbing north from Bronte Park

Part of the Tasmania Trail

Eventually I got going again, and the B road here quickly turns to metal, and starts climbing fairly steadily. This section of the ride is part of the Tasmania Trail, it's quite a long climb, a bit more than expected and in places a very bumpy ride. [Disclaimer: I am a very average gravel rider at best!]. There was more great scenery, changing, from bush with big tall gum trees to some very dry looking stunted alpine trees and then opening up to a windswept plateau with alpine grasses with small lakes at the top. The road is pretty shoddy in this last part and I came off at low speed trying to climb a steep section where some newly laid gravel was too thick for my tires to grab...and I am riding a gravel bike! It could also be true that I suck on gravel.

Exposed alpine plateau near Meina

Some road workers saw this effort and quipped 'Don't worry mate you are only 4km from the pub'..  oh yes, music to my ears. Maybe after their efforts the road will improve too.

More sleet/rain in this last bit and I do believe the temp dropped further, so when Meina emerged I was cold and happy to stop. Originally I had planned to either keeping going east a bit and then vere north and camp at a designated site by the lakes, or, turn onto Highland Lake road and camp stealth style after knocking off a bit more distance. But the weather forecast has it dropping below zero here tonight, and I'm just not kitted out for that. So took I the soft option of a hotel here, and I am writing this next to an open fire. I have been eating dinners from my supplies most nights but will enjoy some fresh food tonight.

Hearty Country Hotel Food

Tomorrow I need to cover the 125ish km to Devonport for my evening ferry. Looks like about 700m up and 1500m down as I leave the plateau. The cold will be the challenge, I won't leave too early to give the roads a chance to de ice, and will also take it pretty slow on the downhills.

It will be the last day! And this seems almost a shame...I am just starting to get used to riding back to back each day...such is the nature of these things. But I am looking forward to getting back to my awesome wife and our cats. 🐈

The Highlander - Day 4 - Lake St Clair

After a great day's sightseeing it was time to get going again, but not because I had run out of sights to see! My itinerary is quite tight.

So I was ready to go as soon as the sun was up, keen to get the section to Queenstown done before much traffic was on the road. As predicted by my host at Stahan, it was indeed hilly and winding, but only a few cars and 2 coaches went past me. Nearer Queenstown however, the mist got a bit thick and at that point it was probably too dangerous to cycle as there was almost no visibility. I was close to the town then and mostly downhill so just kept going. Down in the town the mist was all clear.

Between Strahan and Queenstown

I stopped for second breakfast and I was also very cold, so I decided not to leave until the fog was off the hills. In the end that did not take long at all. After breaki, I had a short look around town, mostly mining stuff on display. This was also the time to make sure my supplies were all good, as there is nothing east of here till Derwent Bridge. I topped up with as much water as I could carry, then started the big climb out of town. 

It was fun! Lots of switchbacks but a few not so steep places to recover. On pulling into the view point an old lady took my photo and realising she'd been caught taking my picture, called out 'you are crazy you know?'. I wish I had had called back 'I'm not crazy, I'm a fire engine' but I didn't think of it at the time.😂

Heaven

Casper...ain't she pretty?

After the descent down this hill things levelled out a little for a short while at least, and looking back to the mountains there was a breathtaking view:

Yes, more stunning Tassie!

Soon I was back in the trees and climbing again, I called in for a rest at Nelson Falls. Seemingly a good spot to 'feel the serenity' which was a tiny bit tainted by a large group of 3 wheel motor bikers. They were perfectly friendly of course. 

It's a short 10 min walk up a beautiful fern laden path to the Falls...well worth a stop. 

After a little snack I got rolling again, hills-a-plenty from here, the big one being about 30km from Derwent Bridge that takes you up and over the great divide. For anyone reading this planning their own trip, don't go from Strahan to Derwent in one hop unless you're a bit of a masochist...you are talking 2000m plus of climbing and it's also 130km ish.

The Great Divide

The divide was awesome, shades of greens and browns with the late day sun soaking a few small but pointy nearby peaks. I was heaving for breath and had consumed at least 4 litres of water since Queenstown. I didn't have much left either, meaning I now had to get to Derwent Bridge.

Map

The good news was that Derwent Bridge was only 20km from here so I kept going and there were a few nice downhill bits to help me along. On hitting Derwent I turned left and did another 5km to Lake St Clair after seeing there was a national park campsite here. There is, but it's kinda hidden. Take the track behind the visitor centre and its 10 mins from there. Unfortunately there was a "no bicycles" sign at the start, but I had little choice being right on the end of my energy. I wheeled the bike up the path feeling okay because I had pre paid a park pass for camping. [On reflection, perhaps the sign applies to the Overland trail]

It's a beautiful spot, but there are no facilities at all and no water save for the lake..I boiled some for my dinner and had a little left for breakfast.

There is rain forecast for early morning and snow to 1200m. I mentioned earlier that I am not really decked out for such cold weather, so I booked a place indoors only a short 60-70km away for my penultimate night tomorrow.

Wow what a day.. an epic ride, I think my PB meters climbed, and some spectacular scenery. Tassie sure is special.. and I suspect I will be asleep by 8pm after today...

Day 4 Summary:

• Distance: 134.15
• Meters Gained: 2034m,  a new PB again! 😅

The Highlander - Day 3 - Sightseeing in Strahan

I had been looking forward to this part of the trip ever since failing to make it just before the pandemic hit. I had booked a cruise up the Gordon River, and really looking forward to seeing this very remote bushland up close. Years ago, one of the captains about Melbourne's punt commuter ferry for cyclists would tell me sea shantys (OK, maybe they were just stories, but he really was a genuine salty old sea dog and therefor a shanty is appropriate ) about him sailing his boat across Bass Strait, down the west coast of Tassie and into this wild harbour. I used to love these chats, and it was partly his stories that inspired me to ride down here.

Hells Gate on the left here, a very narrow channel

We started off with a visit to Hells Gate, so named by convicts getting shipped to the penal colony further up the harbour. It looked mighty treacherous as the harbour is huge, 5 times the size of Sydney harbour, and the tide has to funnel through a narrow channel with rocks on one side and sandbanks on the other. Coming through in a sailboat in the early 1800s would take some serious skill.

No such ssues in our jet powered tourist palace, which then goes way down the harbour to Sarah Island, the site of Australia's oldest penal colony, and by any standards especially rough as only the worst were sent here. It seemed so close to shore, but papparently not so easy to swim with iron shackles on. If one survived the swim, the terrain to any kind of civilisation would be nearly impossible to pass. No first nation people lived here, but did pass through for its resources. There were many escapes though and some were even never caught...but for most escape ended with 100 lashes at best, or death.

Sarah Island - former Penal colony

Sarah Island - Ruins

The shoreline - so close! So stunning

Walking  around the island, now thickly Forrested and save for a few brick ruins showing few scars from its former life, it is hard to imagine putting a penal colony somewhere so remote.

Equally interesting was the piece on cultural history on the boat. A bit of a shame it's just a recording, given the local people were here so much earlier than the penal colony. The area was abundant with natural life and I especially enjoyed hearing more about the more complex seasons that the first people used to sustain the environment here. But 90% of the tour was about logging, penal colonies and white men, with 10% left for the other 30,000 years of human history here, its seemed more than a little unbalanced to me.

The Wild Gordon River

Heritage Landing Walk

True Wilderness

Putting those thoughts aside, my goodness this area is breathtaking. The forest huges the river, and some of the Huon Pine's here are more than 1000 years old...simply incredible. 

Ancient Trees 

As for tomorrow, I am expecting it to be the hardest day of the trip. When I checked in to my accommodation yesterday the kind owner tried to talk me out of riding the next stage altogether. It is always hard to know what to do with advice like this, local knowledge is gold but when it's not from a cyclist's perspective you may be getting the views of someone who thinks "push bikes are only for the pavement" despite only the best intentions.  People tend to either woefully underestimate bikes, or, think of their capabilities as the same as what they experience in a car... "It's 15 mins away and totally flat" for example.

However, I will respect the advice to a degree, and be prepared do a shorter day...it's a heck of a lot of climbing anyway!!

The other issue is that it's due to get much colder with a bit of snow forecast down to 1200 soon, and I haven't really got the gear for sleeping or riding that cold. So, I'll go as far as I can tomorrow, with a chance of being off the highest bits before the cold arrives. Let's see how that goes!

The Highlander - Day 2 - Riding to Strahan

It got quite cold in the night but I got my down jacket on at 2am and slept well after that. It was overcast but not too cold once the sun came up. It took me a while to pack and I had a light breakfast before rolling down the rest of yesterday's epic big hill at 8am.The road was really quiet and occasionally the sun poked through gaps in the clouds. There was some more really stunning scenery around here, its lush, green and wild.

The Highlands

I made good time to get to Tullah for a coffee break. The lakes around the town were just stunning...mirror flat this morning and reflecting autumn colours from the trees. It felt like Scotland from some walking I did there with friends years ago.

Lake Rosebery near Tullah

After Tullah there is another major hill before the mining town of Rosebury. The mine seems such a shame in such beautiful forest, and I found the town a bit depressing, maybe from that or the takeaway shop. I was also a bit flat from the last hill too and wondering how realistic Strahan was as a target. I'd  stopped at a public toilet next to a playground where a family were settled in and a little girl was having a serious tantrum about something. Of course I have no idea what it was about, I only caught her closing statement: 

OK THATS IT I AM NEVER, EVER LEAVING THIS PLAYGROUND!

I guess we all feel like that from time to time. 😆 But leave I did, the coffee was bad and there were lots more wasps.  Many more ups and downs followed, passing another big mine and plenty more forest. But, once I got to Zeehan and had a banana, Strahan suddenly looked pretty doable for 43km more and only a few small hill climbs away...plus it was only 2pm...onward! 

The trees really changed here too, and after cresting a small hill I whopped for joy with a glimpse of the west coast and the wild ocean beyond. Looking west out to sea from here, if one was to travel on the same latitude, the next landmass you would hit would not even be South Africa, but South America. 

If one were to swim West from Tassie...

For Geography nerds, its about the same latitide as Punakaiki in New Zealand, going East. (And rather a lot closer relatively speaking). 

After a specular final hour riding, seeing very few cars and constantly changing terrain, eventually I rolled into Stahan.. make sure you book something if you want to sleep inside here. Also a lot of business are still struggling with short staff from the lack of seasonal workers, and covid shut downs. Getting a meal out is also not easy at the moment...it feels like how Melbourne was around January.

4800 calories burned today, a solid effort. Everything is a bit sore but I have some sightseeing on the Gordon River to look forward too tomorrow and a chance to rest the legs.

Day 2 Summary:

• Distance: 125.27
• Meters Gained: 1323m

The Highlander - Day 1 - Cradle Mountain Area

I slept badly on the ferry, I just could not get comfortable...the floor would have been better than a recliner chair I think. Thankfully, it was over before too long and I had a big breakfast then got changed back into my cycling gear. Soon we docked at Devonport and I was rolling off the ferry towards the hills.From my last fateful visit I remember the first climb being one of the steepest and it smashed me this time too. There probably is a better way to leave Devonport, don't follow my route!!

The roads were very quiet though and every vehicle that passed me seemed to be an early 90s era Ute with a flat bed on the back, painted white. Yes, that specific. The road had no shoulder but most drivers were good with their overtaking decisions.

Soon I hit the notorious Gentle Annie Hill described in my last visit. Whilst far from gentle, I did not find it too bad this time, but there were plenty more to come! I stopped for a coffee at the only services (later correction: The Cradle Forrest Inn is also a  possibility a bit further up the hill) between Devonport and Cradle Mt and had a decent rest and a top up of water. 

Approaching the Highlands - Mt Roland

The hills just after this village were very intense, a 14% incline in places and quite a slog up to Cradle. Finally the road levelled out a bit (relatively speaking) and the highlands scenary rather suddenly opened up like pealing back the top of a can of peaches. It's really pretty up here with stunted sub alpine trees, mosses and thick spongy grasses that you just want to lay down in. All so very green everywhere you look.

At Cradle Mountain I rode up to the visitor centre cafe and I stopped for a coffee and sandwich  and made use of the only place I have had mobile reception since Devonport to let my wife know all is well.  As was the case at a few places on this route they could only take cash at the time, some problem with their connection...take some cash in case.

I couldn't see where you could get free water here, I tried the bathrooms but there were warning signs over the taps indicating it was not tested, and it looked suspiciously brown. So instead I went to the tiny grocer at the camp site and paid a lot for bottled plastic..such an annoying shame. I needed enough for an overnight camp and probably at least a few hours the next day. Once all full, I moved on westward.

There was another very substantial and steep hill about 10km down the road and I was having bad asthma and had to stop 3 times to calm down my breathing. I took this as a sign it was time to stop and found a great spot to camp...still wheezing like crazy, the worst asthma I have had since a teenager.

My Garmin tells me this is my PB for meters gained [later edit: not for long as it turned out] and I can sure feel it. The old body is telling me that a big rest is needed overnight. A delicious dinner of freeze dry Mediterranean lamb washed down with an electrolyte drink followed while I watched the sun go down in perfect stillness and serenity...no one around, the only sounds my horrible breathing. But that was an amazing ride today!

Day 1 Summary:

• Distance: 87.5km
• Meters Gained: 1939m 😮

The Highlander - Day 0 - Departing Melbourne

It is always such a crazy scramble on the last few days of work just to get things lined up OK so I won't be worrying about it while away. But away I am! There is something really magical about riding out your front door without getting in a car...or even a plane.. and still feeling like you are off to see the world.

In this case, at least just for today, I am only riding to the Ferry terminal...but this feeling of adventure is there for sure.

It was a nice ride in, a little over 30kms and with a trip on the punt across the Yarra. The laden bike was getting a lot of attention from the cycle commuters on their way home from work, which is exactly how I normally use the punt myself. One passenger had just got back from a hiking trip in Tassie and was pretty concerned at my description of the route. As am I, becuase I have gone from the excited planning stage to the omgwhatthehellareyoudoing stage. I get this on every big ride and have learnt to recognise that the feeling is temporary. Once you get underway and get the first 100km done, the body takes over. The mild panic is there because with every adventure there are unknowns, and that is why it is an adventure in the first place!

Since my last big ride, the body is not so young now. I have an arthritic right knee that gets quite painful, and asthma has returned a bit...so I'll be managing these things whilst hopefully still having a really good crack at pushing myself.

I am on the spirit of Tasmania now which is an overnight sailing and docks in Devonport at the perfect time of 6.50am. After this, it will be a ride up the massive climb to Cradle Mt to get things started. Ouch. I have not done big hills for a few years so it will definitely be a challenge. Henceforth from this point on, I shall call this trip...The Highlander....Game on.

Day 0 Summary:

• Distance: 37km
• Meters climbed: 0

What happened next? Apart from Covid....

 2 full years have gone by since my last attempt at a decent cycling adventure. In that time, so much has happened, and so much has not happened! 

Melbourne was not a great place to be in terms of restrictions during the peak of the pandemic, that was long and harsh here. The worst part for me was the "5km rule" where you were not allowed to be more than 5km from your house, and for no more than 2 hours of exercise. I did try and get creative, giving "suburbing" a go (Riding every single street in your suburb) which was very unexciting but about the only option. Mt fitness fell away as a result, until finally I got a lifeline indoor trainer to attach to a bike set up indoors...that helped me claw back fitness a bit.

I also contracted covid eventually myself, although I did not notice it much except for a return of childhood asthsma which only re-appears if I exercise very hard. Unfortunately that seems to happen more frequently now.

Anyway, the main reason for this post is that I finally have another trip planned! I am heading back to Tassie to take on a circuit of the highlands. Its the shoulder season there and I'll be crossing my fingers on the weather, but really looking forward to another adventure.

This weekend, I had a practic run with an overnight ride to the nearest national park to home, with a pleasent nights camping. I did this bikepacking style, which was great...my only issue being not being able to carry enough water...there were no places to get it on this route. I'll re- think this set up for Tassie where there will also a be a few stetches where it is scarce, and I did not have much room spare for food...I may go with a more traditonal pannier touring set up I think.

It is great to be out and about again though, just magic....

Next update: hopefully after Tassie!