21 Jan 2023
I had a great sleep in last night and woke up at 7am. Although I did remember being semi-conscious for a few minutes while listening to a wombat ripping up and chewing grass next to my tent. After breakfast, I left my gear still at the site so I could ride to Haunted Bay in the cooler morning weather. This ride was even harder than I thought it would be, I see why they say the 20kms could take at least 4 hours! The first half is soft sand, which put my fat bike to good use, and I personally ended up not having any problems with it. The others with mountain bikes said they couldn't ride that section. You are also prohibited from riding on the beach. A lot of people would probably come up with that idea to ride on the hard and smooth wet sand. So really, I think a fatty is the go here.
The second half is a dirt road of varying roughness, which some parts a bit overgrown, and is all uphill except for the last km, which is very steep downhill. Actually, the last 200m is only a walking track, and it is a bit treacherous. I was a bit shaky from a sore knee earned by yesterday's hike, and I was also feeling my body beginning to really struggle with the physical exertion I was putting it through. So I got to a point where I felt I could see a good amount of the view and stopped there, not wanting to risk injury from landing awkwardly from a tall rock on the way down. The view was amazing though, really steep and smooth orange rocky cliffs.
I did struggle a lot with this ride currently, but it was a very fun ride. Even without the view it is totally worth it. Due to the way my body was feeling afterwards though, I decided that after the next two days I had already booked, I would definitely be going home so as not to push it too hard. But hey, I lasted a fair amount of time given my state of fitness when I arrived in Tasmania!
The ride back to French's farm was great fun and much easier and quicker. I finished packing my gear and had lunch, then started riding back to Darlington. On the way I stopped at Four Mile Beach to walk on the very enticing sand for a few minutes, and later stopped at Mrs. Hunt's house. It had some information boards that detailed her role on the island, including running the only emergency communication radio and using her home as a defacto post office for the last few residents on the island.
Finally I made my way back to the jetty. I asked someone to help me figure out how to use this bloody hose, and they just found where the tap was and turned it on. Haha that's awkward. Hey, I didn't even know where to start, ok?! I just saw the hose and registered it as a foreign and bamboozling object. So... I hosed down the bike a bit and today I learned how to operate a garden hose.
On the 4:15pm ferry back I got a muffin and some chips to tide me over until we got to the mainland. As soon as we docked, I rushed off to the Triabunna fish and chip shop for a burger and milkshake just before half the ferry load came over to order too, so that I would have my food ready before the bus to Bicheno came. I managed to wolf it down and get my bike ready before the bus came. Very nice feed. The bus ride was very picturesque and as we got into Bicheno I saw a sign that said there were penguin tours! So naturally I booked one for tomorrow night as I got my camp ready at the caravan park.
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