Rosebery to Queenstown

The Ride

Well into the rugged West of Tasmania now, the next few days would be gruelling. Particularly as the weather was set to chuck it down for days. This was a hard day on the bike. I could have stopped at Zeehan or gone on to Strahan (pronounced, "Strawn")  as many cycle tourists do, but I didn't want to go on the boat at Strahan up the river as it was too expensive. So I skipped Strahan and headed for Queenstown via Zeehan.

See Full Ride Details

04:53:04

44.25

9.0

35.8

Heading into Queenstown

As well as 44 Miles, I had the greatest elevation gain today of the trip (except, climbing Mt. Donna Buang later which was without bags) at 4497 ft / 1370m. There were 3 big hills, the worst being a 300m job about halfway between Zeehan and Queenstown.

 The Town - Zeehan

First stop Zeehan, notable for its huge mining museum. I had a look in there, and it's worth going to. I bumped into the American cycle tourist I met last night at Rosebery. He was doing the Western Wilderness trail up the C249 up to the North West corner, which is for real hardcore cyclists. Not for me then!

The Camp Site - Queenstown Cabin & Tourist Park

Official Web Site 

Well, this was about the worst camp site on my travels. A truly terrible camp kitchen, the only thing in there was a paid for BBQ. BBQ's in Australia are usually free even in public places. To have to pay for a BBQ in a camp site where you've already paid is insulting. The site was up for sale and it wasn't hard to see why. The owners were hardly ever there and clearly didn't love the place.

One consolation was a covered area near the tent where I could at least sit and avoid the rain. Also it had a secret electrical socket hidden on the ceiling beam so I could recharge the phone battery. I became an expert at finding these.

No surprise that I am the only one here with a tent. Believe me, that Sun did not last long.

 Lunch at Queenstown.

 And.. standard dinner at Queenstown! I've switched away from "Space food" and towards dried pasta and rice foods. Just add water and cook. A little butter helps too. It's lighter to carry this kind of food.

The Town - Queenstown

The town has 2 IGA stores in close proximity. Most other shops close at the weekend and early during the week. I arrived on a Friday night! It's an odd town but typical for West coast Tasmania I think. The main tourist attraction is a tourist train that goes to Strahan. It had only been open 3 years but was struggling to stay alive. The price was ridiculous, and that was for 1-way. A bus brings you back.

Queenstown is also famous for its hills that have no trees on. They look horrible but it's only 1 hill heading East towards Lake Burbury (my exit path) that is afflicted by mining (apparently fumes killed the trees). 

The rain continued non-stop and I was having to dry the tent with kitchen roll and sponges every day, and dry all my stuff in the laundry. I was getting soaked during the rides too with my non-functional cursed stupidly expensive coat weighing me down even more as well as getting me wet.

I tried to wait for the rain to stop but clearly it would not. After 3 further days of continuous rain I gladly moved on, leaving behind the least celebrated part of Tasmania.

Many cycle tourists avoid the West coast of Tasmania. I have mixed feelings. Had it not rained for 6 days I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more. The hills are severe and the water is toxic with heavy metals (many rivers have "DO NOT SWIM" let alone "do not drink", but apart from that there's a rugged charm to it. The locals are as rugged as the territory.


The Characters


Well a boy came up to me and said something. I didn't understand. He repeated. I still didn't understand. The 3rd time I got it. "Nice Bike". Although it sounded like "Noyce Boy". The accent here is strong.