Betten On Bike: DAY 10 - 28 FEBRUARY 2015 SCOTTSDALE TO DEVONPORT

Day 10 – 28 February 2015 – Scottsdale to Devonport

Cycling Stats: 170 kms

Average Speed: 29.5 kms per hour

Yet another heavily overcast morning when Walter & Steve left at 7am. Gill arrived at 8am and as I left the motel unit lo & behold a cyclist all kitted up ready to mount his bike is standing at the door of unit next to ours.

This English cyclist from Sheffield was on the point of leaving to cycle to St Helens, to climb all those climbs and then descend - in reverse to what Walter & Steve had cycled yesterday. He had waited until 8am as he thought he might be a bit warmer leaving slightly later. Wineglass Bay was mentioned and he told us that he had visited there in 1991 when there was no formal walking track and he had walked through the forest to reach the look-out. He reminisced that back then he saw many snakes, birds and they had fed the paddy melons crisps (English for potato chips) in the dirt carpark. Disappointed was he as he had re-visited in the last week and now there are designated walking tracks and many many tourists visiting compared to all those years ago. We wished him a good ride, after I asked if he wouldn’t mind if I adjusted his helmet straps and I adjusted the straps so that the plugs were under the ear lobes. I just couldn’t help myself but he was happy and agreed that the helmet now sat more securely and more comfortably on his head.

No fixed plans to meet up with Walter & Steve as shoulders on the roads are hard to come by here so it is difficult to find places on the road to stop and they are often a lot quicker getting to points than they anticipate.

So Gill and I agreed to get a lot of the kilometers under the belt and stop at Exeter. It was cold – water cold with grey heavy thick cloud. Our original discussion included a stop at Bridport which is supposed to be a lovely coastal town. We knew we wouldn’t see Bridport at its best today so opted to drive straight through to Exeter which is about 100kms from Scottsdale.

We arrived before the local Exeter show got well underway so were very lucky to get a handy park in the main street near the coffee shop. After coffee & shopping for dinner we intended to push on but surprisingly the guys arrived. They were certainly making good time today. So we sat and heard about their ride to this point. They had enjoyed the ride across the Tamar River over the Batman Bridge, Walter had enjoyed seeing all the apple & pear orchards, vineyards and the rural nature of the landscape. There were also many many kilometers of dense forests.

After driving on about 10kms we were stopped – the road ahead was closed due to an accident, a large truck was on fire and a crane was assisting in the recovery of the truck, a friendly young policeman told us. Walter & Steve were allowed through 5 minutes before because they would be able to get past. He asked where we were heading and said to wait as there would be a local in the line of cars behind us who could lead us via an alternate route. A white land-cruiser was going that way but they were in a hurry so we had to travel fast. Easier said than done. I was conscious of keeping in eyesight of the land-cruiser over the winding narrow roads & dirt roads but making sure I didn’t lose Gill who is towing a caravan and can’t keep the high speeds on the climbs. Anyway after some time the land-cruiser stopped and someone hurried over – follow this road until the bottom and then turn right and that’s the highway to Devonport. I quickly thanked him and off he ran, quickly jumped back into his car and sped off.

Once we returned to the A8, after 10 kms we came across Walter & Steve and gave them a wave and headed off to find Mersey Bluff Caravan Park in Devonport.

The rain started to pour down and after half an hour or so the guys arrived wet and cold but feeling good after completing the days ride.

Our accommodation tonight is very quirky – straight out of the 50’s. An old caravan with an annex consisting of a living area and an ensuite affixed to the front of the caravan. This cute little room with its plain glass and 2 large leadlight windows provides a rather lovely view over the bay. Its very cute but spacious so because of the rainy weather the four of us can comfortably enjoy our dinner tonight out of the rain.