Total: 263km
Weather: Sunny 37degrees
Today followed on from the first few days, bloody hot. I much prefer this weather then cold and wet though. This morning I got up nice and early to ride up to the waterfall. When I first woke up I had a bit of pain in my lower/middle back, wasn't sure if it was because of the way I slept or aggravated from the bike. I was eager to ride up to the waterfall, for two reasons- because I could leave my gear at the campsite and ride without the load but also so I could get back early enough to ride the 75km to Strahan.
I woke up the fella from Melbourne and after a while he finally surfaced to head up the mountain. I think he still felt groggy from catching the boat over so unfortunately he didn't go the whole way up. I went ahead and became a little agitated as the waterfall was actually a fair distance away- 8km ride there and then a 9km walk. I decided to pull short due to time and go in the bottom of the waterfall for a swim. This was great and to add to the setting I saw a cute little wallaby running on the track and occasionally stopping and staring at me. I've never seen a wallaby like that one before, short and stumpy.
This mountain range in west Tassie is really amazing. This reminds me of Pucon- Chile due to the vast amount of lakes and rivers, the Dandenongs- East Melbourne due to the ferns and other similar vegetation and also the Grampians due to the abundant wild life. It amazes me that this is part of Australia and many of us are not even aware of its beauty. The majority of young Australians will have most likely traveled abroad before experiencing this, my self included. The only difference between Tassy and overseas is the culture here is very laid back and very quiet.
The people in Tassy are very welcoming and kind people. An example of this is today when I stopped in Zeehan for a breather. I was wearing these dicky bike shorts, sandals that look like deep sea diving boots and a tight cycling jersey that looks ten sizes to small. Back home if someone wouldn't point out what I'm wearing they would certainly let me know in other ways. Here I'm naturally waiting for a reaction cause I know that it is certainly different to the ordinary yet people come up and ask me how I'm going and seem to be really interested in my story.
I eventually made it into Strahan, a beautiful little seaside town in West Tasmania. On the ride down I experienced a few highs and lows. The ride provided some amazing scenery of the landscape, in particular when I finally reached the coast. The downfall was a mass pine plantation on the way into to town. You can see all the deforested land and in addition can see all the environmentally damaging pine trees. These pine tress have certain acids that prevent anything underneath it growing. This whole landscape was dominated with them, meaning that not only wild life would struggle there but also water ways, vegetation and soil conditions would be affected to. In hindsight I'm aware there are many worst problems, especially environmentally.
Tomorrow I am going to get a boat ride into the Gordon river, which will explain the local history and also provide a buffet of local seafood. I asked the lady in the campground, she told me the price so I then went into town and sussed it out a bit more. By bartering a bit I managed to get 10% off. I've been tight lipped about it as a few of the others in the camp area paid a lot more!
Good fortune- Pulled up ok after a stinking hot day
- Got a few good swims in some amazing fresh water rivers
Bad fortune- Spending unexpected $ for the cruise
- Old Melbourne mate nearly died of exhaustion on the bike ride to the waterfall
No comments:
Post a Comment