Devonport to Deloraine

The Ride

Somewhat refreshed, I headed to Deloraine, a small town south of Devonport, where I planned to stay a night. I had pre-planned a country route to avoid the highway, which would have been quicker but dangerous as there wasn't a hard shoulder for most of it.

See full ride details

03:36:40

37.22

10.3

32.6

The River Road at the start was especially nice, and the countryside around Dunorlan, which has some history about it. The hills are rolling and pretty.

The Camp Site - Deloraine Apex Caravan Park

Camp Site Information

I was delighted to find the park adjacent to a beautiful river, and decided to stay for 3 days and explore the area. The camp site was pleasant and had good kitchen facilities.

I had some company too. Seems like I camped right where these guys like to hang out.

It was at this spot, later that evening, I saw my only Platypus of the trip. They are very difficult to find and most Tasmanians haven't even seen one.  They are black and shiny, and have a bill very much like a duck, as the popular name suggests "Duck Billed Platypus". Unfortunately I didn't get a photo.

 Deloraine has a lot of artwork dotted around the town. Here is some of it.

 This was more like it! I'm in Tasmania, it's hot and sunny, and in a great camp site.

 Kiera the Black Swan, named by me.

 This Caravan Park is notable for a train line running through it! This is the way I walked to my tent, over the line. The trains are slow and don't come often, so the lack of 8 foot high fencing and lack of signs everywhere about not trespassing, fine $200 are quite refreshing. In general Tasmania is laid back when it comes to rules. They expect you to use common sense, which is quite right.

The Food

A quick look at what I was eating. Something for breakfast?

:Psychologists wonder why we always see faces in inanimate objects like sausages and steak?

 That was dinner, chicken stir fry.

 This is the type of food I took on the road with me, anything that can be cooked when only water is available. I removed all the packaging to save space and weight, ending up with NASA style silver pouches. From now on I would called it "Space Food".

The Kitchen was pretty good except the Kettles tripped the electric.

It's not bad to wake up and see this in the morning.

 

The Town

Deloraine town is small, but has plenty of shops and cafes. Deloraine Bakery in the middle of town is somewhat lacking character, with frosty response from the women working there. The food is OK but not as good as many other bakeries I have been to.  

There is an interesting second hand store tucked away off the main street selling all kinds of odd things.

It has a good swimming pool just up river from the camp site, that I visited a few times.


There are also some nice bike rides around the area, River Road was a particularly nice one. 

The tourist information place (the Great Western Tiers Visitor Centre) is situated next to an impressive life-sized model horse.  From here buses can be booked and boarded to Launceston.

The Characters

Fruit pickers! By the dozen. Many of the campers here were actually working at nearby fruit farms. I'd have given it a go if I was allowed to work in Australia. The fruit pickers have a long, hard day. They have to get up around 5 or 6 AM and work a good 12 hour day. Most of them are tourists from Europe and the USA. They head to the kitchen to eat, where I met them, and head off to bed early.