WIMA Victoria: Moira's Excellent Adventure

Moira's Excellent Adventure

Some of those who headed to Tasmania for the WIMA AGM took the opportunity to take a short riding holiday on the fabulous winding roads of the Apple Isle. Our club captain Moira obviously had a good time...

From the moment we arrived down at the ferry to start out on our trip to Tassie, things were happening! Rebecca from Sydney had her gear change lever fall off on the Westgate Bridge (trusty BMWs???), and had to do a mad taxi rush down to Coburg to buy a new one and get back to the ferry before it left—who said motorcycling trips were cheap? The Moto Guzzi Club were also travelling over on the ferry, and we did a bit of drinking with them that night. Some people managed to get sick without the aid of alcohol, but I didn't find it a rough crossing. There were 15 bikes assembled the next morning for our ride to Campbell Town to meet the Tassie WIMAn. Bruce, Angie (ACT) and I, together with Jackie and Sonia from Tassie, did a runner from the main group at this stage, because I'd organised a state reps meeting before the AGM. Minutes from the AGM will be printed in the national WIMA newsletter—please read through them so you'll know what's going on.

We all had a fabulous weekend at Cambridge—lots of drinking, eating and partying 'til late, etc. We didn't go just to party though, so on the Monday we set off to do a bit of riding. Did the Hobart big, lunch on the wharf (crayfish), a ride up Mount Wellington (clear, with stunning views), and a quick blat down the 'rubber' road to Opossum Bay (sticky, with nice sweepers). We then set off up the east coast to Swansea—mostly traffic-free roads with constant curves and good views. We dined in style at the pub in Swansea and set off to Jackie and Brian Logan's place, about 15 kms out of town. This was our only bit of night riding, and I'm glad, because there were hundreds of small animals in that short stretch. We enjoyed fabulous hospitality with Jackie and Brian, together with their daughter Nadine. The next day they took us for a half-day ride further up the coast through Bicheno (lunch stop) on to St. Marys and up Elephant Pass, where we stopped for another feed of pancakes. We then headed back to the Logan's and finished off a day of feasting with a seafood BBQ (and more crayfish!).

By Wednesday time was running out for us, so we took the Lake Leake road to Campbell Town, took farewell of our hosts, and did a quick spin down the Midland Highway. Unfortunately, due to a mix-up, we missed our turn-off and ended up riding along the Derwent Valley, which was very picturesque. After lunch at Hamilton, we pressed on to Queenstown, which was one of the best rides I've ever done—a fabulous road of continuous curves through stunning scenery—not that there was much time to admire the view! The road from Queenstown to Strahan was the worst because of the gravel, particularly bad on the left-handers. We arrived in Strahan just in time to grab the last available accommodation, which was on board a 34-foot ketch moored in the harbour—very pleasant indeed! We partied that night with the WA WIMAn who were also in town, and next day set off for Devonport via Cradle Mountain. The dirt road into Dove Lake was shitful, but the spectacular scenery made it worthwhile. We had a late lunch at Moina, with a lovely friendly motherly type of woman at the roadhouse, and we then rode the last kilometres back to Devonport in time to catch the ferry.

Next time I'd go for longer than 6 days and I would try to remember to take a pair of jeans so I don't have to socialise in my thermal underwear all week! Late February is a good time to go as the weather was fine the whole time with the exception of one day. The wonderful twisty roads and general lack of traffic (watch out for rental cars though) make Tasmania a perfect place for a bike holiday and I would recommend it to everyone.

Moira Stewart