Coast along the Coast - February 2014

We decided to join Paul (Basil) O'Halloran on a pre-election organised Sunday bike ride (Coast along the Coast) in the North West.  It was Regatta Day weekend in the south, so it would be a nice long weekend for us.

Our plan for our first night was to be under Mt Roland.  We headed north up the Midlands Highway and stopped for a picnic lunch on the banks of the Elizabeth River, in Campbelltown.

Ambling through the back streets we saw some fascinating old cottages.  Feeling adventurous we decided to check out some new routes, and turned off the highway just after Campbelltown, onto Macquarie Road.   The quiet country roads were lovely, and we passed the centre of the Tasmanian poppy industry as well.  Eventually we came upon Woolmers Estate and soon were rolling through the village of Longley.

Turning left coming out of Longley, we ducked under the Bass Highway and took the Heritage Route westwards along Meander Valley Highway and Meander Valley Rd, passing through Westbury and  stopping briefly at Deloraine. We discovered we were on the route of the Great Western Tiers Rides, and passed several of the signposts where riders might stop and listen to the podcast descriptions of the local attractions.

Out of Deloraine, we headed west on Mole Creek Main Rd,  now on the lookout for potential campsites. We passed the Melita Honey Farm, and then the Mole Creek Caravan Park, but turned into the hills to cut north through to Mt Roland. The Gog Hills were lovely, but we soon came upon the area known as Paradise.  It is now Paradise Lost, with the previously lush farmlands now overtaken by forestry operations, and the remnant farms looking pretty depressed.

At about this time we noticed a bit of smoke in the air, and my check of the Emergency app mentioned a fire at Claude Rd.  We popped out of the forests onto (guess what) Claude Rd, and the smoke was coming from the west, right where we needed to go!  But as we drove through the Claude Rd village, we passed a bunch of firefighters relaxing with a beer in the CFS shed, and figured that the fire must now be under control.

Arriving at Gowrie Park Wilderness Village, we were underwhelmed by the "wilderness appeal".  The powered van sites were crammed together on a gravel parking area just next to the road,with a couple of token trees.  We chose a more pleasant piece of lawn behind the communal buildings, screened by trees and with reasonable views of Mt Roland towering up behind us.

Next morning we drove through Sheffield and took a quick look at the shops and the murals.  We were due at Turners Beach at 11.30am, so we couldn't linger for coffee.  At Turners Beach we eventually found the meeting point, Gables Park, at the far eastern end of the esplanade.

By 11.30 about a dozen other keen bike riders had arrived, and we met Basil, the energetic Greens MHA for Braddon. We cycled along the Coastal Pathway towards Ulverstone, on a mixture of offroad shared paths and quiet local streets.  It was lovely.

Once at Ulverstone, the protected pathways came to an end and we ventured further west to inspect where the Coastal Pathway could be extended to.  We stopped at the fantastic geological marvel that is Goat Island.  Basil used to be a high school geography teacher, and his enthusiastic description of the geological events of 520 million years ago was inspiring. The colours, twists and folds in the conglomerate rocks were incredible to see.

Basil and the Cradle Coast Authority have a great vision for the shared NW Coastal Pathway, that it be extended along the coast to provide a great drawcard for geo-tourism, food and adventure tourism.

It was starting to rain as we headed Wanda eastwards.  After Devonport we once again left the main road, switching to Frankford Road and other backroads, till we came out on the West Tamar Highway around Beaconsfield. Turning left, we arrived at Greens Beach as the wind was worsening.  We took a site in the Caravan Park in the lee of a permanent van and settled in for the night. Here we discovered that the power cable connection to our bike rack had got caught on something on the road and been torn to pieces, rats! A walk along the beach revealed it is a lovely spot for family holidaymaking, and has great views over Port Dalrymple.

Next morning the storm had passed and it was a gorgeous day.

We rode up along the headland to overlook Badger Head and Narawntapu National Park.  That would be another nice place to visit!  Heading Wanda southwards, we stopped in to see the platypuses at Beauty Point, and also enjoyed seeing the echnidnas there.  It was nice to run into old friends Ken and Dianne there.  We thought we would have lunch at Strathlynn,

but the restaurant was closed, so next we tried the restaurant at Josef Chromy Wines.  What a treat - the food and wines were excellent, as were the views over the vineyard.  After a quick stop at Evandale at the Tasmanian Sauce Company for more of our favourite Kasoundi curry sauce, we were on our way home. One last diversion was taking the Richmond Road from Jericho.