See the Hike in full
The next morning I decided to do a hike up to the mountains that were in
view yesterday. There is an excellent trail going up there from the
camp site. It's a big climb and an all-day hike.
Here's the map. What can go wrong?
It starts off rain forest...
It all changes as
you go up. I climbed over 700m so went through dense forest, then
sparse forest, then alpine scrub at the top.
That's the best
photo I could get near the top. After that the weather suddenly closed
in, I almost got stranded on the top, couldn't find my way down, and was
on my own. It was pretty serious.
The problem was, the little orange triangles you see in some of the photos help you climb up the rocks, but on the way down these are obscured from view (especially when you are in the middle of a cloud).
What happened was I kept losing my way and ending up on the edge of a precipice, which was very scary indeed. After repeated backtracking and by referring to the GPS crumb trail I
found the critical rocks going down and made my way.
The Ride
So.. finally on my way to Gowrie Park. Until I was a few miles down the road and realised I left my phone charger and battery in the camp kitchen!
Those retrieved, I was faced with the Gog Ranges. A mountain range considered not particularly tough by the "Giro Tasmania", but that was written by Triathlete freaks not by Mr. Blobby on a 55Kg bike.
See Full Ride Details
The bottom of the first big hill. Hmm a river, beautiful I must admit!
The first hill was around 300m climb. That was bad enough, but the
steepness was around 20% on the hairpins. Disgracefully, I had to get
off and walk. Except, it was almost impossible to walk as well. The bike
just didn't want to go up that hill, I had to drag it, and stop to
rest. I was unfit still, and this was a struggle.
I
then stopped by the entrance to a farm. The farmer came out and said,
oh, you've still got another one to go up. He was right but it was only
100m climb.
Made it up the first hill. Looking quite pleased. Just one more...
OK I'm over the top of the second hill, now Mt. Roland is in sight. Gowrie Park isn't far away.
The Camp Site - O'Neill's Creek, Gowrie Park
Here we are, arrival at the site. A free site, with a great view of the 3 mountains. Roland, Van Dyke and .. another. There is a toilet, and a sheltered area for cooking. Not bad for a free site! (In fact I only found one better free site in all of my travels, that is Hamilton, that even had the luxury of a shower)
Apart from the scenery, the absolutely awesome thing about this camp site was the wildlife. As you can see it's basically bush. At night, it is the play pen of every indigenous creature in Tasmania. It's quite a sight, and such a shame my camera phone cannot take night photos.
No I don't know what this is either.
The Characters
I met Debbie, travelling with her 2 daughters, who was escaping from the bush fires in the Dunalley area. She was very kind and took me to a couple of places. Sheffield, the nearest town, to stock up on water and supplies. Then, Tasmazia. It's actually a family maze attraction, but we were there for the Pancake Parlour!
If there was one item of food I'll never forget from this trip, it's this. It had the weirdest name, something very long, like "The boar". Anyway, Debbie's daughters loved it and I have to admit I tucked in too. It consists of many pancakes rolled up inside, with ice cream, cream and many sweets, with wafers for good measure.
The Town
Not much else at Gowrie Park, just another (paid for) camp site, very good facilities there, I had a look around. Sheffield is the nearest town, shame I didn't take a photo, it has an almost "wild west" feel to it, seems very old and untouched.
Camp Fires
Ahhh... how to keep warm, cook food and boil water for tea all at the same time. Camp fires are not allowed in many places, and never during fire restrictions. So you have to make the most of it when you can.
The Ride
It was a hot few days coming up,
temperatures well into the 30's. At least today wasn't far, and the
ride was broken up by a few attractions along the way. Probably the most
interesting all-in-one day of the whole trip!
See full ride details
The view out of Deloraine, heading towards scary looking hills.
Note the bike pump is intact. The valve fell off shortly after this photo, never to be seen again.
Melita Honey Farm, Chudleigh
The first stop is at Chudleigh, at the Melita Honey Farm (website)
Hard to argue with their Manuka ice cream, I have to say. Particularly on a hot day.
You can watch the bees at work which is fascinating.
Here's the outside, and ...
...Don't know if this is related to the farm, but there's an organ knocking out tunes at a fantastic volume!
Trowunna Wildlife Park
website
Just a bit further along the road heading towards Mole Creek, is a fantastic Wildlife Sanctuary.
The entrance is announced with a giant Tassie Devil.
This is more of a sanctuary than a Wildlife Park. Do not expect great facilities, but if you love the native Tasmanian animals, you will be delighted. The animals are largely rescued here and later rehabilitated into the wild.
First stop on the guided tour are the Wombats, where the ranger actually lets you hold a baby wombat, which is incredibly cute. Her name? Puffin!
Then on to the Tassie Devils, where the ranger holds one himself, and if you are lucky you will see feeding time (not for the faint hearted). The Park was the first to identify the long incubation period of the facial tumour disease; they play an important role in protecting this iconic species.
Tassies Devils like to bathe too!
He's sizing me up for dinner...It reminds me I met a rather crazy traveller who told me that Tassie Devils were the perfect partner in crime. If you want to get rid of a dead body, feed it to the Devils. They eat everything. Flesh, bone, erm.. clothes? And they don't leave a trace.
There are echidnas, koalas and many other native species here.
You are free to roam amongst the Forester Kangaroos and Bennets Wallabies and feed them, which delights children and adults. The rangers are extremely knowledgeable and friendly here.
P.S. If you're on a cycling tour, beware it's quite a difficult climb up to the Park on a steep gravelly track.
Alum Cliffs State Reserve (Gog ranges)
I went past it today but didn't visit till the next day, and a good thing as it's a long steep climb up there, and a long walk after you lock up the bike, so it would be necessary to carry all the bags!
There is a spectacular viewing platform once you get there (about 800m from the car park).
Mole Creek Caves
I decided against visiting just yet due to budget reasons. However both caves are not far from the camp site and are well worth visiting, as I was to see them later.
The Campsite - Mole Creek Caravan Park
Official Website
This camp site is quite small but has decent facilities with a camp kitchen. There is a cute brook running around one side of the camp site, shallow enough for children to play in.
However, shade is a big problem here. Those with tents are herded to the brook side, in full sun all day with no shade. Meanwhile, those in RV's/campervans get the luxury of tree shade, when they already had the shade of their vans.
As I stayed here three roasting hot days (sorting out a way to Launceston to replace my bike pump), I think the tent took a real hit and suffered UV damage.
Another issue for some might be lack of mobile phone signal (Telstra). There is nothing here, not even in Mole Creek. You can eke out a signal if you climb the hills e.g. at Alum Cliffs. This was a problem when I had to book a bus (see later). They do have Wifi if you ask but it's very weak.
The Characters
I met a lovely girl called Lee. She was photographing water features and National Parks and helping out with the aftermath of the Tassie bush fires, what an inspirational woman! I was to meet her again later on Bruny Island.
The Town
Well, we're talking about Mole Creek here. We're getting away from civilisation a bit. No mobile signal, one small shop, a couple of pubs, and no bus. Wait - there is a bus! You have to call for the bus, otherwise it doesn't come this way. Thankfully someone in the shop knew this and gave me the number. Then I had to borrow a land line from the camp site to book the bus.
Another bus ride to Launceston
Well, the valve decided to fall off my brand new and expensive pump. I rode all the way back to Trowunna searching for it, to no avail. So, you can't do a cycle tour without a pump. I had to get the bus to Launceston, the nearest place with a bike shop.
Of course it helps if the lovely bus driver lets you take the bike on the bus. Saved me a 3 mile walk each way, thank you very much kind lady!
With a new pump I was able to go on my way.
