Tasmania Trip Wed. 4^th to Sun. 15^th March, 2009

I’ve been reminiscing a lot about Tasmania since I got back home – remembering the amazing landscapes we had as a backdrop to all the great roads, the hysterically funny conversations and situations, as well as the occasional ‘difficult moments’ and some of the yummy food we had in the most unexpected places.

The west coast imagery sticks strongly in my mind – it’s nothing like I’ve ever seen - the expansive wilderness so amazingly beautiful, so fresh, so fertile with an abundance of water everywhere you looked – rivers, lakes, streams running down mountain-sides, water trickling down rock faces, water in the atmosphere and the clouds heavy with rain. This is where we had to carry our wet-weather gear all the time and at one stage, it got so cold many of the riders purchased some warm inner gloves at Cradle Mountain. The roads on the west coast are incredibly smooth, lots of twisties and demand your full concentration. The successful completion of a day’s ride here was enormously satisfying.

The Tullah Chalet where we stayed on the west coast had the most beautiful view of a lake with mist rising from it in the morning, mountains in the background and the silhouette of trees – quite magical.

Hobart I shall remember for its harbour eateries – yummy fish and chips and gourmet pizza. Hobart is also where Paul Southwell spat the dummy at Misho and me for being so late for dinner… sorry Paul, but we got very lost as a result of misdirections from locals. Still brings a smile to my face when I think about it, although at the time everyone got very cranky with me – I was trying hard to please all the people all the time; but alas cannot be done… I ended up pleasing no-one. All has been forgiven.

Launceston had a lovely vibe for me, kind of reminded me of Fitzroy/Carlton. The Sportsman Bar, a modernised hotel, was a great find – excellent food with a talented, young chef preparing very tasty and stylish meals. We returned there several times.

Another gem of an eating place which we accidentally stumbled across was the Happy Belly Deli in St Mary’s on the east coast where the delightful owner, Clare, prepared some of the yummiest gourmet foccaccias which I haven’t tasted since Lygon Street, and excellent coffee too. We were all enamoured by the food (and some by the owner… Peter Feistl, I think it was) that we made a special effort to return there for a another “hit” before departing; although unfortunately Peter, who was so looking forward to re-visiting the deli, was unable to make it due to an incident which rendered his bike unrideable… bit sad really.

Ben’s rides were always long and challenging – dirt, rocks, gravel, mud, tunnels, twisties – you name it he found it! Nevertheless, satisfying to having completed the journey safely… apart from the odd ‘incident’. The statistics were not looking good... every second day and I was praying to whichever god would listen – “please don’t let it be me”… my prayers were answered. Dave’s ride also had its challenging moments but we were rewarded with a most relaxed and delicious lunch overlooking the beautiful Peppermint Bay…. life felt so good.

Mount Wellington was amazing: riding through the mist on the way up and then the vista at the top - above the clouds was something I hadn’t experienced before; it was visually stunning and felt exhilarating.

The boat ride to and from Tassie was an interesting experience. Misho and I shared a room with Ron and Julie (a most delightful couple) and on the way to Tassie, we had just about fallen asleep when Ron and Julie came into the room… all quiet, then we hear Ronnie’s voice muttering - “oh shit… oh shit” and next thing we hear the sound of Ronnie throwing up in the toilet. I found the whole episode so funny but had to try very hard to suppress an outburst of laughter, out of respect for a sea-sick Ronnie. In the morning we found out that a few others had been sick that night (many pale faces upon disembarkment); apparently it had been quite a rough sea ride. Not having been on this boat before, I didn’t know what to expect so I thought the rocking of the boat was normal; only realised how abnormal it was when we had a smooth trip back.

The diversity of people who came for the Tassie trip was great – a lot of fun was had. I highly recommend the trip to anyone who hasn’t done one yet – great roads, fantastic scenery, good food, interesting mix of people - all delivered by the wonderful MSR committee members – Ben, Paul, Ian, Peter and Dave – many thanks to you and all the friends who came, for making Tassie such a wonderfully memorable experience. Special thanks to Misho for helping me gain some of my riding confidence back by patiently leading me during many of the rides – (and Dave on one occasion) – it was a gift for me.

Pina Garasi