Wednesday, February 13, 2019 | Anthony Fairweather / Michaela Achatzi | Pacific
A relaxed day through Australian farming country takes us back into Melbourne. Our highlight of the day is Ballarat, yet another mining community turned into a centre for the arts, with some of the best collections of Australian art to be found anywhere.We take the opportunity and visit the Art Gallery of Ballarat, then head out on to the highway towards Melbourne.
Today's highlight is the Great Ocean Road. 250km full of stunng views of the dramatic cliffs and rock formations that appear on every single tourist brochure of Australia. After leaving Melabourne we hit the highway to Torquay, home to some of the best surf spots in the world. From here we join the Great Ocean Road, full of fantastic sights such as Cape Otway, the Twelve Apostles and London Bridge. We arrive in Warrnambool with our memory cards loaded to the brim with memories for home.
Our last day on the island and we are going to make it count! We explore the north-east tip of Tasmania, full of beautiful vistas and exciting gravel roads. But all good things must come to an end as we arrive back in Devonport and board the overnight ferry back to Melbourne and the mainland.
It's time to say goodbye to the bustle of Hobart as we turn north towards the coast. Suburbia soon gives way to open farmlands and sleepy seaside communities. After a quick stop at the Spicky Bridge we visit an excellent motorcycle museum , then tackle Elephant Pass, one of the most famous motorcycle roads on the island. From here it's a relaxed ride into the heart of Tasmany and towards our stop for the night.
What to do on a free day in Hobart? We choose to split up for the day with one group visiting the MONA, one of the best museums for modern art in the world and the other heading to Port Arthur, an infamous penal colony and now UNESCO Wolrd Heritage Site. Regardless of our acticity of choice, we all enjoy the fantastic weather southern Tasmania has to offer.
Today is dedicated to the ride! The roads are once again almost devoid of traffic and we take full advantage. Leaving Queenstown we pass through the mountains and mines that once made this sleepy village one of the most important towns in Tasmania. Soon after we are back in the rainforest and once again we head into the Cradle Mountain National Park, this time from the south. With our tires scrubbed clean of chicken strips we make our way into Hobart, the capital of Tasmania, and our stop for the next two nights.
We're off the ferry and in the land wilderness, twisties and devils. Welcome to Tasmania! Our route takes us south into the Cradle Mountain National Park, where we visit the excellent Devils @ Cradle, a wildlife centre dedicated to the preservation of the famous Tasmanian Devil. Then it's back on the bikes as we carry on through the Tasmanian rainforest on some of the best roads we have seen so far. Smooth tarmay, full of challenging twisties and no traffic in sight. Tasmania is truly Australias best place to ride! Our day ends in the old mining settlement of Queenstown, where we celebrate Michaels birthday with more than a few rounds of excellent Tasmanian beer and wine.
A long haul awaits today as we head towards Melbourne. Riding through the Tarra-Bolga National Park we make our way towards the Gippsland coast for some award-winning fish and chips. Then it's a relaxed ride towards the Port of Melbourne and our overnight ferry towads some of the best riding in Australia, Tasmania!
Today we say turn our bikes inland and head into the Great Dividing Range for some excellent riding. The mountains offer an exciting mix of open sweepers and tight, almost single lane roads to truly give our tires a good workout. The day ends in Eden, where we celebrate Lex's birthday with cake and beer on the beach!
It's another beautiful sunny day as we make our way back out to Princes Highway. Riding south we take as many small side roads as we can find with the scenery constantly changing between sandy beaches and thick rainforest.
Our first day on the road takes us out of the bustling city centre and towards the quiet beaches of Royal National Park. We watch the local surfers do their thing, then hug the coast as we head south past Wollongong towards the beautiful blowholes in Kiama. After an excellent lunch we carry on down Princes Highway as it snakes its way through the forests and finally arrive at Batemans Bay and a well deserved boot beer, Edelweiss Style!
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