Betten On Bike: DAY 11 - 1 MARCH 2015 DEVONPORT TO STANLEY

Day 11 – 1 March 2015 Devonport (Mersey Bluff) to Stanley

Cycling Stats: 127 kms

Average Speed: 26 kms per hr

Beautiful blue clear skies greeted us this morning after last night’s storms. It was however very cold with a gusty wind blowing.

As always Walter & Steve left at 7am. Gill & I decided to walk the scenic Mersey Bluff walk along the coastline.

We had made a plan to stop at Burnie for coffee. The best made plans are made to be broken and on approaching and driving through Burnie I made a management decision to continue on and when able I stopped at an appropriate place and we discussed the alternate plan – to drive to Wynyard another 20 or so kilometers further. Wynyard is a sleepy town and we found a place to park in the main street and found a local bakery. Sadly the coffee was awful and the bakery treats also not up to scratch. Oh well we have been very lucky to date so this was just one day when things didn’t go to plan.

Gill rang Steve to see how their day was going – not great as they were battling strong head and cross winds. So we were to stop where we could after locating them 20 or so kilometers up the highway. This we did and after a coffee and a snack Walter & Steve felt much recovered and ready to battle on in the difficult conditions. Walter said that even on some descents he was flabbergasted to discover that due to the strong head winds (15 -20 knots) he had to peddle downhill. Unusual, as normally he can get into an aero position and just coast down the hills. Walter & Steve told us later that they passed fields where onion crops had just been harvested and the smell of onions was very pungent. They also noticed many chewed carrot ends. This, they concluded was as a result of loose carrots falling on the side road from the piled up mountains of carrots on the back of trucks which transport the crops. Those dropped are eaten by possums and pademelons (small wallabies) and only the chewed ends remain.

Gill & I arrived in the beautiful township of Stanley and found their RV free camping ground and I then set off and booked into our cabin in the caravan park 600 mtrs away. No dogs allowed there, so tonight we are in separate locations. Walter arrived about a half an hour later and he was pretty shattered – he said it was a hard day in the saddle and likened it to the rugged relentless winds he incurred when cycling down the West Australian coast.

Anyway ride was completed for the day and everyone was keen to explore what Stanley had to offer – firstly the famous Nut. So we decided on the chairlift because the guys were a bit fatigued and Gill has a big blister on her toe. What a sorry lot we are !

The gusty winds made for an icy cold ride up on the chairlift. The guy in the souvenir shop told us that we shouldn’t worry about the gusty winds because our weight would stabilize the chairlift – I felt like I was contributing because I have put on a few kilos over the past few months so this would on doubt stand in our stead.

We were advised to tackle the 2 kms scenic walk at the top in a clock-wise direction and this is what we did. Wow – the views were incredible. The low dense scrub like vegetation made me think of what we had seen on The Nullabor.

The wide vast views over Bass Strait and the rugged coastline were breathtaking.

Disappointingly we don’t have too much time to explore everything Stanley has to offer.

We had dinner at the famous Stanley Hotel and enjoyed the local seafood which was fantastic.