Day 1 Devonport to Launceston-72 kms

We were woken at about 6.30 am after a good night of sleep courtesy of a calm crossing after a shower and getting in to our riding gear it was off to the reception area on the ferry to meet the rest of our team making the ride to Launceston

After a discussion regarding meeting arrangements Phil

Rob Abdy and myself made our way to the Ute to drive off the boat

The trip off was delayed with a large group of motorcyclists who were on the ferry traveling to Tasmania... many of the riders were seniors doing the ride like the movie a few years ago....forgotten the name but many of you will remember it!!!

The funny thing about getting off the boat was a female rider

lost balance and fell off the bike... quite frankly the bike was huge and she was struggling to hold it up when it was stationary

After traveling off the ferry it was on to a cafe selected by Phil for breakfast...great to have a coffee and bacon and egg sandwich to start the day

It was my turn to drive the first 15 kms out of Devonport which was quite a climb...

The country was mainly vegetable farming with what seemed to be a lot of potatoe farms

After swapping the Ute for the bike it was on to Frankford for morning tea at the Blue Barn Cafe... this was the halfway point of today’s ride and we had good coffee and cakes for morning tea . The ladies at the cafe were delightful and we were treated to a lovely bowl of blueberries grown locally on their farm

After morning tea it was on to complete the climb to begin a lovely descent to the Tamar River valley ... the country here was very much pine plantations with a lot of forestry

We passed the turn off to Beaconsfield which was the scene of a mine disaster a few years ago

The ride to Exeter for lunch was about 25 kms and lunch at the Exeter Bakery was good although a big breakfast and morning tea meant that the lunch was a light one!!

After lunch we were treated to a very picturesque ride along the Tamar River aided by a tail wind so the 25 kms to Launceston was quite fast... often hitting speeds of over 45 kms per hour

We arrived at the backpackers hotel in Launceston at about 2.30 pm and were met by the guys traveling by plane from Melbourne for the ride... good to see them all

We now have our full compliment of 12 for the rest of the ride

The weather today has been very good for riding although for some parts we have had to have an extra layer to stay warm

Looking forward to dinner in Launceston and an early night ahead of tomorrow’s ride

Now for the photos

The ride out of Devonport... Frank and Des leading the way!!