Two weeks in Tasmania, can I have more please!? Ending the sizzling Sydney summer with two weeks in tazzy gave the summer holiday a fabulous end. Tasmania is a wilderness and mountain bike gem hidden in the far corner of the southern hemisphere.
After lounging around on our long ferry ride on the Spirit of Tasmania from Melbourne to Davenport, we drove off into the night bound for Derby. The roads were windy, covered in Myrtle Beech trees, lined with HUGE ferns, and speckled with nocturnal Tasmania wildlife ready to hop at any moment. The air was fresh and clean and cars were a rarity... I started to feel right at home...
After lounging around on our long ferry ride on the Spirit of Tasmania from Melbourne to Davenport, we drove off into the night bound for Derby. The roads were windy, covered in Myrtle Beech trees, lined with HUGE ferns, and speckled with nocturnal Tasmania wildlife ready to hop at any moment. The air was fresh and clean and cars were a rarity... I started to feel right at home...
Camping at Derby, we woke to rain and pedaled to our shuttle with the local shuttle service and bike shop: Vertigo MTB. Along the way we noticed the small strip of businesses: two coffee shops, three bike/shuttle shops, a post-office, a bar/hotel, a pizza joint and a general market all tailor towards mountain biking. We also noticed the outside bike was and several public bathrooms and showers. Derby is a true mountain bike destination. We loaded on the shuttle for the Blue Tier Trail for a long drive on wet and muddy road.
About an hour later we reached the summit to buckets of rain. As riders from Humboldt county, rain is an element we've learned to thrive in and were not deterred in the slightest. We rallied down the trail to the flow of the wet and slippery roots and grippy granite rocks through a forest of prehistoric ferns and Myrtle Beech trees. Having numb hands and being soaked was becoming a distance memory of Humboldt Country but this was reminder of just one of the many facets of riding I love: Muddy mayhem with friends.
About an hour later we reached the summit to buckets of rain. As riders from Humboldt county, rain is an element we've learned to thrive in and were not deterred in the slightest. We rallied down the trail to the flow of the wet and slippery roots and grippy granite rocks through a forest of prehistoric ferns and Myrtle Beech trees. Having numb hands and being soaked was becoming a distance memory of Humboldt Country but this was reminder of just one of the many facets of riding I love: Muddy mayhem with friends.
We rolled up to the historic Weldborough Pub for a brew and toastie while awaiting our fellow riders. With a high level of stoke in the room, we loaded our bikes for the shuttle to the Atlas trail for nothing other than another amazing rally.
The next glorious day of Derby we hopped on the other Vertigo MTB shuttle option: Black Stump Shuttles. This option offered three fun runs which drops you at the top of the Derby MTB park trail system. From there, beware, because you've landed in heaven: trail options range from an XC loop around the lake-- Dam Busters-- to full-force downhill option of the voted best EWS stage of Shearpin and Detonate. Three shuttles later, detonating into oblivion, we couldn't resist another run pedaling to the top into the sunset.
Bright and early like a kid at on Christmas morning, I grabbed a flat white coffee and rallied to the top again and again and once more before we decided we absolutely love Derby but, we should probably explore other facets Tasmania has to offer.
Bright and early like a kid at on Christmas morning, I grabbed a flat white coffee and rallied to the top again and again and once more before we decided we absolutely love Derby but, we should probably explore other facets Tasmania has to offer.
the East Coast
The East coast was littered with sights. We ventured to the Bay of Fire and Binalong Bay and ran the rocky staircases to the heavenly view of Wineglass Bay. We captured a glimpse of Maria Island yet resisted the ferry ride to explore the island inhabited only by kangaroos and wallabies. We soon found ourselves in the largest town of Tasmania: Hobart which is located in the south-eastern aspect of Tazzy.
Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary, just outside Hobart, is a great opportunity to lounge with the kangaroos and meet the Tasmanian devils, wombat, birds, echidnas, blue tongue lizards and snakes alike. As a sanctuary, they rehabilitate injured creatures and release them back into the wild. Funded only by entry fees, I was glad to attend.
South Coast
We headed further south of Hobart in search of the southern most tip of Tasmania. We found a wilderness hike to Lion Rock located in South Cape Bay: the southern most aspect. Looking out at the ocean and knowing Antarctica was somewhere out there-- roughly 1595 miles away-- was pretty amazing let alone walking along an isolated beach only reachable by foot. Investigating the map of Tasmania, the entire south western quarter is solely composed of two National parks: Southern National park and Franklin Gordon Wild Rivers National Park only accessible by foot. This limited our exploration but we were okay with that. Tasmania is 42% National parks and World Heritage Sites mostly the south and west... truly the Natural State.
South Cape Bay
The night cloud cover damped our likelihood of observing the Australian Aurora but, a walk on an abandoned beach in the silence of the night broken only to the sounds of small crashing waves was nothing to be bummed out about.
Maydena is located in the southern aspect of Tasmania and is a gravity bike park with shuttles all day. Nothing explains Maydena better than steep, technical, muddy, and a pure thrill: ride and slide the rear tire and ride light over the wet roots and slick rocks. A complete different style of riding than the flowy and rocky aspects of Derby. If anyone says one is better than the other, in my option, they are both equally fabulous... just different.
West Coast Best Coast
The west coast is always arguable the best coast. Essentially pure wilderness, we found a dirty dusty road to the small town of Granville-- a once solider settlement at the end of World War I and is now has only a few residents with various holiday homes. Beautiful, stunning and isolated. Also on this dusty road was the start of the Climies MTB track which we had to save for another time.
Montazuma Falls was a beauty. Slippery shoes kept you keen on your feet on the slick metal bridge. A couple hours away, Crater Mountain was calling: the second highest peak of Tasmania at 8,126 feet. Hiking to the top was a venture and with another 5 minutes of vertical accent to the summit the spooks and goosebumps overcame my determined demeanor as a rain cloud washed over the summit. Feeling defeated, I turned and descended. Shorts, a derby MTB shirt, and slippery tennies were not the best option for the big wet boulders. I took a hint from others dressed in warm closes, beanies, hiking boots, and legit hiking back packs... mountaineering is not my specialty, obviously. Despite my defeat, the views were stunning before a cloud of rain turn the views gray.
We couldn't resist another final day of Derby and what a day it was. We rallied every trail without fail hoppin' along Air-ya-garn and dancing down Kingswall to the beats of trail. Limited by the night, the morning called for a couple last quick runs. 10 laps later I was feeling pretty physically fatigued but my soul was stoked. The magical ferry ride back to the mainland sounded like an opportunity to sleep and dream about Derby...
North Coast
The north coast faces the water way known as Bass Strait which was once a land mass connecting Australia and Tasmania a long, long time ago. Last day on the island, we were bound to see a platypus: the biological anomaly at the Platypus House in Davenport. They are cute critters and quite fascinating but have venom that can put any human in pain for quite some time!
Last night camping for two weeks straight was surreal. It was luxurious to explore Tasmania and ride some amazing mountain bike trails and explore just a few of the facets Tasmania has to offer. If your a hiker, mountain biker, or gravel grinding bike-packer, Tasmania needs to be on your calendar. Hope to be back for another adventure sooner than later! Thanks for the read if you made it to the end and hope you enjoyed the pictures! Cheers