platypus121
Tour Pro
Yes, I found that out later. I made a too snappy judgement based on what was going on when I arrived.
My loss. (Gives me another reason to get back to Tas later, though ... not that I need any more!).
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Birtles vs Tasmania
- Thread starter platypus121
- Start date
Yes, I found that out later. I made a too snappy judgement based on what was going on when I arrived.
My loss. (Gives me another reason to get back to Tas later, though ... not that I need any more!).
.
platypus121
Tour Pro
After some final comparative tests at the Ross bakeries, we head for the east coast and Swansea. Not far along the way,
those last two coffees forcefully suggest what the answer to a nagging roadside question might be …
… I’ll be spending it behind a bush at the side of the road.
Looking back from the first stopping point, the gentle hills east of Campbell Town.
Lake Leake is a real time-warp. DIY buildings around the lake are happy reminders of a time when you could load up
the ute with timber and corrugated iron and head off to build a holiday home, a fishing shack, or just a shelter to
escape to at the weekends - all without reference to a thousand pages of building regulations.
The big backpackers at Swansea is seven years old. It is great value: clean, cheap, modern, and loaded with facilities for
low-tech travelers. It is also empty, except for me and a jolly French girl who is seeing the island from her mountain
bike with its toy trailer. Whenever the going gets rough, I think of gutsy characters like this and realize how easy
I have it, touring on fast, comfortable, reliable Birtles.
The Spiky Bridge south of Swansea, another convict creation. The reason for the spikes is unknown but it sure makes
a good deterrent to free-style skateboarding.
Then, for no apparent reason, a meeting with a Tasmanian Tiger !!
It is ridden by Dave, whom I met on the AusTouring trip around the South Island of NZ last year. As his group of
riders speed by, I recognize his helmet and jacket that I had often ridden behind on the NZ trip (few ever got in
front of Dave). Dave recognizes me by my white helmet, but I guess the postiebike is a bit of a give-away as well.
Good to meet up again, even better that it was by chance on the road.
Nine Mile Beach, looking towards the Freycinet Peninsula.
Bicheno Motorcycle Museum and Restoration.
An unexpected gem.
http://www.bichenomotorcyclemuseum.com/museum.html
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platypus121
Tour Pro
Too busy keeping Birtles away from that mountain bike.
platypus121
Tour Pro
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After a dose of dazzling restorations what else is there to do but to ride? And ride we do. Up the Elephant Pass,
not stopping for photographs, or for pancakes as instructed (sorry Pete, corners like these will always trump pancakes),
Turn right at St Marys township and down the sinuous St Marys Pass. Whooo!
St Helens, Binalong Bay, then double back, taking the long way to Eddystone Lighthouse - a big loop though
Pyengana with its Pub in the Paddock, Weldborough, Herrick and Gladstone.
The dirt roads between Gladstone and the lighthouse are a treat.
Grant Point
Wish Birtles had enough room for some of the old books in here !
Bay of Fires, looking south from Policeman’s Point
Eddystone Point
The most beautiful light so far, and what a spectacular location !
It feels like the edge of the earth.
It’s not long before Birtles wants to head into the rough stuff again, and somewhere in the Mt William National Park
he rips the reins from my hands and bolts into the bush.
Courtesy of Alan and Judy, Bridport becomes our base for the next three days. My first meeting with Alan and Judy
was at a campsite in Queensland last year when they called me over to have breakfast with them.
Alan tells me of a local lady who nurses injured animals back to health and how at the moment she has a couple of
baby wombats. Say no more. Receiving care at Norma’s Ark are not only wombats, but joeys, possums, and
an assortment of birds including a tawny frogmouth.
The frogmouth was rescued from a car grille. All the time I was there, it sat stock still on a bookshelf, only opening
its eyes at the sound of the camera shutter.
Norma spends all her time (and, I think, all her resources as well) on getting the animals back to the point
where they can be released. What a wonderful person, it was a real privilege to meet her.
.....................................................................................................
Another sortie out from Bridport takes me through Legerwood and Ringarooma on the back road to Pyengana.
Autumn poplars
There’s quite a story to the sculptures at Legerwood. Nine trees were planted in 1918 in memory of soldiers
killed in WWI - seven for individual soldiers, one for Gallipoli and one for the Anzacs. By 2001, the trees were considered
to be unsafe and felled. Their stumps were carved into likenesses of the fallen soldiers, some in their military roles
and some in their roles in civilian life.
John Simpson Kirkpatrick - “the man with the donkey” at Gallipoli - is there amongst the Legerwood figures, and there is a
specific memorial to him at Scottsdale. If you really must to have a war hero, there could be none better than Simpson.
Our last trip out from Bridport explores the roads around Lilydale and ends up at Low Point.
Rick and a worried dog roll silently up beside me at a George Town servo. His CT has just died. We do some checks.
Fuel and spark ok. Compression - non-existent. Rick reckons he has blown a valve. The way the motor spins so freely,
I reckon he has blown the whole top off the piston! While he phones for a pick-up, I check out his modifications.
The headlight nacelle is a tank for a Chinese scooter, and pup’s carrier is a lawnmower catcher - looks like a
Victa Mastercatch 510SP/4 to me, probably the third production run, somewhere around February/March 2005 … but hey,
what do I know about lawnmowers?
Enamor, George Town. Had to laugh … Enamor?
Maybe it’s just my NZ pronunciation.
Low Head Lighthouse, another classic.
Leaving Bridport. Hill view while heading to Launceston.
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twowheeler
two wheels are best
Brilliant stuff 
....and you're taking the B-King!!
FANTASTIC pics, eh? Get the feet twitching!
One of those years, I'll make it a winter trip down there. Some dusted-over Western Tiers, Mt. Welly, Frenchmans Cap and all the other peaks would be just incredible.