Hobart - Melbourne
30 October 2014
Master Map
I was feeling a bit like the Angel of Death. While I'd been in Hobart, another very old friend and former colleague died. I wanted to go to the funeral, but I couldn't do it and make the ferry.
Having loaded the bike, I went for one final coffee with my son before heading back to the east coast. I'd decided to retrace my steps; it was a better alternative than the highway and time and the weather militated against the alternatives. The Hobart-Orford Road offered its usual entertainment and, although I stopped briefly in Orford, I pressed on to Swansea before stopping for coffee.
Maria Island from Orford. There are some good anchorages there for the sailor.
Schouten Island and Freycinet Peninsular where there are more excellent anchorages.
The Lake Leake Rd, as promised, was better travelling east to west. I had it pretty much to myself and made the most of it. It was cool when I got to Campbell Town and stopped for lunch. I also bought a couple of bottles of what I hope will be excellent Tasmanian white wine to take home.
As I left Campbell Town, the weather looked foreboding and, sure enough, very soon after I turned off onto what my parents used to call 'the back road', I stopped to put on the wet weathers again. I needed them for all of about 10 minutes! I've always liked the back road. It runs through a remnant eucalypt forest, much of which has been cleared for farming land. It's a fertile plain, nestling below an attractive mountain range.
The Great Western Tiers
On the back road north-west of Campbell Town
Mt Roland — not a particularly good photo, but I need one of a mountain!
Somewhere along this road I stopped and took a photograph that won me a SuperBrace fork brace in a competition.
The rest of the trip to Devonport was pretty, but uneventful. I was mostly able to stay off the main highway and, as I always do, enjoyed travelling through Tasmania.
As an added bonus I had the shared cabin to myself.
