Betten On Bike: DAY 12 - 2/3/15 WYNYARD TO ROSEBERRY

Day 12 – 2/3/15 Wynyard to Roseberry

Cycling Stats: 120 kms

Average speed: 23.5 kms per hour

We left Stanley at 7.30am travelling in our vehicles as Walter & Steve would start today’s ride from Wynyard as they had cycled the section from Wynyard to Stanley as part of yesterday’s ride.

We stopped at the Wynyard turnoff, which is also the turnoff to Yolla, the direction we are heading today. The guys were keen to start and they were fully aware of the challenges of today’s ride – even Gill was apprehensive about driving the caravan over the extremely narrow winding road which is just hairpin bend after hairpin bend and steep climbs, too many to count.

Gill and I had a plan today too – this was to fill up on groceries as we had been told that the more remote western side of Tasmania would be very expensive and there are none of the big supermarket chains there. So off to Woolies we went.

No coffee stop in Wynyard today- as we were keen to get on the road and our experience there hadn’t been too good yesterday.

Our timing was near perfect. We arrived at Hellyer Gorge and saw the guys standing by their bikes. So Gill put the kettle on in the caravan & she had bought some hot cross buns, all enjoyed by us in the cool forest rest point at the gorge.

The boys continued on their way and we decided to do the short 15 minutes walk which was very pleasant – giant ferns and a meandering path which comes out and runs beside the rocky flowing river until it reaches the bridge.

We wanted to push on and get to Roseberry, as there really wasn’t anywhere to stop on the narrow very winding roads. We came across lots of road works also with some stretches of gravel road.

It was good to arrive at Roseberry – a mining town nestling in a green-forested valley and we checked in & unpacked, set up. Walter & Steve arrived around 3pm pretty spent but pleased and satisfied at their achievement of tackling this rugged section of western Tasmania.

Walter told me that they climbed a total of 1,948 metres with the highest point climbed being 750metres. The last climb located 15 klms from Roseberry was a 4 kilometre climb which had a gradient of 10% before descending into Roseberry. At their last stop at Tullah Steve was really keen for a beer but Walter advised Steve not to have that beer as the ride wasn’t done yet so he opted for a coffee instead. Later he was glad of this decision as that big climb was yet to be tackled.

Steve, Gill & I decided on a walk to the township and then we thought we would have a look at Stitt River Falls. The signage was a bit misleading and we followed what we thought was the path leading to the Falls for about 1km. We stopped a cyclist to check and we were dead wrong – we should have taken the road that our caravan park is in and followed it down and crossed the bridge. The Stitt River Falls was right behind our caravan park – within cooee of it in fact. We did have a big laugh about it though. Even though there hasn’t been much rain lately it was still a pretty place to visit and the tall steel girdered railway bridge above us was impressive.

Walter & I cooked tonight – a Thai red curry, which was hearty and warming as the nights are now quite chilly. Every cabin has an electric blanket on the bed, which is so very cozy as the climate has a decidedly wintery feel about it.