Tasmania MK III

We arrived at Devonport after a mild overnight ferry trip from the mainland. I had taken a motion-sickness tab for the trip just in case which made for an interesting experience when combined with a few beers. The next day with a slightly stuffy head, I met up with the rest of the crew after getting off the ferry. We headed off to Tullah where we were to spend the next three nights.

We had only gone a few kilomteres when I was corner marking for what seemed to be much longer than usual when I got word that Misho had run into a ‘roo! Not a good start but fortunately his bike was rideable.

On the way to Tullah we took in Cradle Mountain where the weather was perfect (apparently a rare occurrence). Pity the rangers caught up with us and were livid that we hadn’t paid the park entry fee! We sorted this out amicably and were on our way without any bloodshed.

Accommodation at Tullah was good but the meals were a little overpriced given the quality. My parma got sent back to the kitchen after someone informed them that ‘Mark’ had already eaten, not realising that there were two ‘Marks’ on the trip (although mine is spelled with a ‘c’). We made sure for the duration of the trip that this didn’t happen again. I briefly considered changing my name to Mike but thought better of it, thinking I would probably not hear my name being called and miss my dinner again!

The Tullah Resort is located next to the scenic Roseberry Lake and a crew of mining surveyors were using it as a base for their helicopter operations. This was great entertainment but unfortunately they didn’t offer us any rides (Pina did ask!). We contented ourselves with watching the day’s video, taken by Mark (ZX-10) and myself using our bike mounted GoPro cameras, on the big screen TV while having a few (many?) well deserved beers. This became the daily routine on the trip (the video – well, the beer too.)

The rides around Tullah for the next three days were fantastic, especially the Lake Plimsol Road with its good sweepers and decent surface. A bit bumpy in places, especially on the Street Triple with stock suspension, but good nonetheless. Day tours included variously a trip out to Reece Dam, another to Corinna and the Pieman Ferry, the Zeehan Tin mine and tunnel, and another day to the Hellyer Gorge and the Stanley Nut. Perfect weather and great roads throughout.

Our next three nights were spent at a beautiful place in Maydena called the Giants Table incorporating a series of man-made ponds that had platypuses which seemed to almost magically appear on cue when anyone approached the water leading us to speculate that they were remote controlled props that were activated by a proximity detector. The meals at Maydena were fantastic; my steak(s) were done as ordered (medium-rare).

The next few days were spent carving up the local twisties, including a trip to Mt Wellington which was completely fogged in and wet. We all had to make it up to the summit for the obligatory ‘group photo’.

We also went to Bruny Island which involved a short ferry trip. They unloaded the cars first which meant a lot of overtaking. (You’d think they would realise this and let the bikes get off first.) We had lunch at some place after which most of the riders tackled ‘only 23 km’ of dirt road to the lighthouse which turned out to be slightly more than that. I (and a few others) sat this one out and talked bikes the next hour or two while waiting for the explorers to return.

Ben led us on a great loop out to the Lake Leake road via Bothwell and Poatina and back. I’d heard rave reviews from mates about how awesome the Lake Leake Road is with its great sweepers and it was very enjoyable.

But my favourite Tasmania road I discovered towards the end of the trip. It was on this ride that I began to think it was time to upgrade the bike to something with a fairing (well other reasons too, but that’s a long story – I’m sure I bored a few with my constant deliberations on what my next ‘steps’ should be). That evening Cliffy mentioned he saw a demo 2008/9 ZX10R in Hobart for an awesome price so I impulsively decided to have a look at it the next day with an eye on trading my 675 in if the deal was right. The bike had been standing there for months but when I arrived, someone had bought it the day before. Some things weren’t meant to be it seems.

Mark had come along with me and we both rode up from Hobart on the freeway (boring as hell) to meet the crew at Campbelltown where we continued on to our final accommodation for the trip at Beauty Point. It was on this trip that I discovered the best motorcycling road for me: St Helens to Derby. It had sections of repeating tight hairpins with decent sweepers in between. A great road to get one’s ‘knee down’, if you’re into that kind of thing.

The last few days involved some great local roads and another trip to St Helens, some sight-seeing (Leven Gorge), Pyagana Cheese Factory, Columba waterfalls etc. A refreshing break of routine given we hardly had time to stop for sightseeing and taking pictures along most rides (most of my pictures are of servos and pubs).

All up the entire trip was fantastic. I had been itching to ride Tasmania and was glad to get the opportunity to do so. My fellow riders were great company and decent riders and I thank them for sharing the experience with me. Also many thanks for Ben for leading basically all the rides on all the best roads Tassie has to offer and the Club for organising the trip.

As for the outcome of my bike upgrade deliberations: I have placed a deposit on a new Daytona 675R today which should be here in April/May. All I need to do now is get a decent price for my Street Triple. It will be sad to part with it; it’s been a great bike and is still a lot of fun to ride, but it’s time to move on.

Marc Marais