Well today we cracked the Hundy (103k in 5hrs 10min, destination Orford) thanx to a couple of extra k's down a road just past Swansea to Kate's Berry Farm. And I can tell you that those couple of extra k's were well worth it! This is definitely a must do, must eat stop if you're ever in the east coast region. Hef can highly recommend the Blueberry Pie!
The Zulu finally read his weather beads right and the raging headwind he had promised arrived with force today about 30k into our journey. It was like this for the entire day, including the final 30k into Tarabunna along a section we named "The Malborough Straight of Tasmania". We became that desperate that we pulled up stumps in the middle of nowhere to munch on our fresh cherries and bananas just to get some reprieve from the belting we were taking!
On a good note though we again saw some awesome sights - definitely an advantage of staying at B&B's and travelling by bike. Attraction 1: the spike bridge, built in the early 1800's by convicts - Looks very cool. Attraction 2: The Lair, just past Kabuki tea house, this holiday house will set you back $1,800 a night (personally I think you'd get better value haggling Hef for an FX 7.6!). And finally Attraction 3: the shoe fence. In the middle of the Malborough Straight other delirious travellers have started throwing their shoes out the window to make this random drive by feature!
I can honestly say that all four days so far have been different and challenging in every way, but I've never enjoyed such an adventure in all my life and we're kind of hooked on the bike touring thing!
Can anyone read weather charts? Sneaky Pete here, filling in for Kittstar, who informs me that the internet keeps getting blown off the wires in Orford, Tasmania. I checked the weather stats for today that they would have encountered and found this snippet...
Take a look at those wind speeds and directions!!
Does anyone know what direction it is between Bicheno and Orford? I've had a look on a map and I reckon it's roughly SSW. So I'm sort of working out why Kittstar had a wry little chuckle when I scoffed about a little 100k ride into a 'bit of wind'. Not sure how long this day's ride took but I think Kitty mentioned 5+ hours into an average 50kmh (roughly) headwind, straight on the nose along terrain similar to the Malborough stretch. I am happy to report they are still alive...
So who's up for a quick trip around Northeast Tassie with Kittstar and Hef?
