Our first taste of the Apple Isle, and it tastes good.

21/10/14

Grab a coffee and a seat, this could take a while.

I woke up to the sun rising behind the ferry as we sailed in into Devonport. The disembarkation was a lot faster than loading and we were on solid ground in no time. Uncle R was given a breakfast recommendation by another passenger so that was our destination. After a few detours, and about an hour’s riding, we found our breakfast venue wasn’t open. Just to finish things off Uncle R went inside to check, and set the alarm off. I hope this won’t be the standard for the rest of our Tassie trip.

We found finally a café and devoured breakfast while we waited for our Tassie tour guide Dave to arrive. Dave rolled up and had Uncle R's wife Sandy on the back of his BMW.

DISCLAIMER: OK, I was told this was a boy’s trip and I told my wife Suzanne the same thing. I’m probably in trouble now, but not as much trouble as Rex and Uncle G are when we get home because they were the ones who told me it was a boy’s trip.

After breakfast Dave took us for a little ride. Tasmania is an amazingly beautiful place. Everything is so green, and all the old buildings are in excellent condition and almost sparkle they are so clean. We wound our way along Tasmania’s serpentine roads, with huge smiles on our faces.

We rode through Sheffield, a little town known for it’s wall murals. Here are a few...

This is an extinct Tasmanian Tiger.

You can read more about them here:

http://australianmuseum.net.au/The-Thylacine

Sheffield also has an outdoor gallery following the same mural scheme featuring more local artists:

You can read about Sheffield's murals here - http://www.sheffieldmurals.com/

Ok, all the artwork was pretty cool, but the highlight of my day was meeting Ricco...

Ricco is an inside pet and actually enjoys a cuddle. His owner said Ricco doesn't sleep on the bed, but it gets bloody cold here in winter, so I'm not so sure.

With the Alpaca cuddling out of the way it was time to go and wearing out the edges of our tyres by visiting some scenic sites including a Hydro dam and Cradle Mountain. We took a quick hike around "The Enchanted Walk" at Cradle Mountain.

The water here is crystal clear.

This is one of the dams which make up a part of

Tasmania's hydro electric system.

Everywhere you look in Tasmania is an oil painting waiting to happen.

Another quick blast saw us park our bikes outside the Mole Creek Hotel. We just made the lunch cut off and to make it easy we all ordered the lamb pie with chips. If you're ever there, go a lamb pie. I can wholeheartedly recommend them.

 Sandy has added some glamour to the trip, and Dave has added some height.

A short stint had us on a dirt road with a planned stop at Alum Cliffs. 

A little bit of dirt road.

Uncle R on his Harley wasn't impressed.

A short 800 meter walk made me realise just how unfit I am now. I was puffing like steam train and sweating like a sinner in church by the time I'd finished our little walk. I will make the effort and address this when I get home. Luckily the view was worth it.

It was now time make tracks to our home for the night. We rode down the driveway into Dave and Jan’s house in Deviot, overlooking the Tamar River. Now I want to move to Tasmania. What a house, with a superb view.

The Tamar River from Jan and Dave's outdoor area.

Dave produced some nicely chilled home brew and our day was complete. Or so we thought...

We now met Jan, a go getter pocked dynamo, who is Dave's partner. Jan had prepared a huge meal for us all and it went over a treat, especially the salads. On the road we haven't enjoyed much in the way of salad or vegetables, so we tucked into like we'd never seen anything green before.

Dinner was accompanied by some very nice wine, and a lot of laughs. Dave and Jan are great people, even if Jan used to work in insurance. I think I can almost forgive her, as long as she feeds me again when we get back there on Sunday night. Dave then broke out his home brew whiskey. Now I don’t mind a wee dram now and then, and my favourite whiskey is Tallisker, but I've always found home brewed whiskey is pretty terrible. Until now. Dave has nailed it and has made the best whiskey I’ve ever tasted. I now have a new favourite. 

I found out over dinner that Dave and Jan are coming along on our Tassie tour and acting as our guides. How good is that? The put a roof over our heads, fill us with good food and wine, ply us with whiskey, and then act as tour guides for a week. Motorcyclists really are the best people.

Tomorrow we'll ride somewhere. Where? I don't know, and I don't really care because I know wherever we go, it's going to be brilliant. I'm living a charmed life right now and I'm having a ball.