My plan for the afternoon was to use the ferry from Queenscliff to Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula. So I spend the whole forenoon with Pete and Helen. And Helen cared really well for me additional to a rich breakfast and lunch she even gave me a box of cookies for my travels



The short ferry trip wasn't spectacular at all because there was no possibility to secure the bike I had to stay under deck. But there was another bike ride so I had a nice chat.





On the Mornington Peninsula David from Frankston had offered to be my guide.
When I arrived at around 4 pm I was quickly introduced to his family and then we went on a tour around the peninsula. Although the peninsula isn't that big it took use until after 8 pm.

















For Saturday David had planed a round trip including the Grand Ridge Road. We went through farmland, forestry areas and rainforest – awesome landscape.



















For lunch we had self-made pizza by David's wife Linda and their kids Katherine, Adelaide and Harrison.

__________________
Nordkapp 2011
The Alps 2012

On Sunday I went into the actual City of Melbourne, first to see where I had to go on Monday morning and second to by some equipment. I bought some new motorcycle gloves and I went to the Queen Victoria Market to buy a proper Australian hat.

























The way back to Frankston got a little bit difficult with a heavy storm coming up and resulting of it strong cross winds.
After lunch I play UNO with Linda and the kids, hadn't played that for a long time was fun again. But even after three days the dog Rose was still a little bit afraid of me.

__________________
Nordkapp 2011
The Alps 2012

On Monday morning I had to stand up early for the fist time since long ago.
The ferry over to Tassie was leaving at 9 am but you had to be there an hour earlier.
So my plan was to be at the terminal at 7:30 but I had to ride 60 km in Melbourne rush-hour traffic from Frankston to the ferry terminal so I leaved at 6:30.
Just as I wanted to leave the house I found a letter on my door wishing me all the best. I had to mention this because I really liked this lovely gesture!
On my way to the ferry it already looked like the crossing could get rough because it didn't look like nice weather.



And that's what happened.







Even the crew said it was an unusual rough passage.
It was quite often I saw people lying around seasick on the ground or with complete withe faces.
But I was fine.
When the ferry arrived in Devonport the sea was nearly nice. Although I got late on to the ferry in the morning I was one of the first to get off – the benefits of a motorcycle
For the first night in Tasmania I decided to camp just a few kilometres away from Devonport in the small town Forth. There was a really well equipped free campground right in the middle of town.
The next day I went on to a round trip because one of me campground neighbours offered me to look after my tent. So I went from Forth to the Cradle Mountain National Park to do one of the hiking trails around the lake. From there I went back to the coast and followed it from Burnie back to Forth.

__________________
Nordkapp 2011
The Alps 2012

After the second in Forth I enjoyed the Tasmanian scenery und drove zigzagging around to the west coast.






Doing that I found that Tassie has ugly places as well.





But you just have to turn around and you see a nice table mountain.



I setup my camp I the little village Marrawah. There I tested a kit I got from Tony in Mt. Gam to easier fill up my stove with fuel – it work perfectly.







The next day I only did a little round tour to have a look around Marrawah. I even went up to the Western Explorer to see if the road is really closed like I was told. It was.





I spend the rest of the day with my German camp neighbours Sorja and Jan-Peter, both from Hamburg. In the early evening their friends Sonja and Stefan, a German surfer living in Tassie came as well. They where invited to play table tennis with a mate of Stefan and told us to come with them – great idea we had some good fun.

















The next morning took my to the north east of Tasmania.







On my way I saw poppy flowers everywhere but Tassie is not Afghanistan, it is for the production of morphine.

__________________
Nordkapp 2011
The Alps 2012

Before I met Chris, who had invited me, and his family I had a look at he Lilydale waterfalls.











On Saturday Chris took me on a trip to the close mountains. We did Mount Arthur, Mount Barrow











and from there to Ben Lomond using the Jacobs Ladder















– interesting to see a Skiing area in summertimes.







From there we went a little bit inland and through Launceston.









After this trip it was time for a new back tire, but it lasted for nearly 13500 km not too bad.

__________________
Nordkapp 2011
The Alps 2012

Because the tire shops weren't open on Sunday, Chris his son Isaac and I went to the Cattaract Gorge in Launceston.















Stunning scenery right next to the city.









On Monday morning Chris in I went into town to get a new back tire for me. They didn't have too many tires in stock so I decided to go with a Heidenau K60 Scout again. The only downside was the price of 300A$, but Chris bought a helmet as well and so I got a 30A$ discount. I quickly reassembled the rear wheel at Chris's and than we took off to another tour.



This time one of Chris daughters came with us. The first half of the trip we mainly spend on the bitumen.



















The second half was more off-road orientated.

__________________
Nordkapp 2011
The Alps 2012

My absolute highlight was driving through an old railway tunnel.







On Tuesday Chris, Isaac and I had some good fun on the kid's motorbikes.













Then I said goodbye to them for the next days and went north to camp at Waterhouse Point.





I still had some wine left that had to be drunken otherwise it would have gone off so it was good I had French neighbours







One night at this camp was enough and so I left the next day to go inland a little bit.
The fares I went was the little town Derby.













From there I used some detours to get back to the coast. I decided to camp at Policeman's Point at the beginning of the Bay Of Fire, and I hade the same French neighbours as the night before.



This place was a good one to see the difference between high and low tide.

__________________
Nordkapp 2011
The Alps 2012

The next day I only road down to Dora Point near St Helens, to spend the night there.







From St Helens I went inland again to the St Columba Falls.











I used some interesting tracks to get back to the coast and stoped close to the Freycinet National Park. I camped there for two nights.







After the first night I went in to the National Park for some hiking.















In the evening I had company by some German backpackers.



The next day took me to the Tasman National Park on the Tasman Peninsula.

















I camped at the Fortescue Bay at recommendation by Nazza.
I tried fishing again but just after a few minutes I lost my tackle and the old lady next to me caught a little shark.

__________________
Nordkapp 2011
The Alps 2012

That's when I decided to stop and go hiking instead. The hiking track went to Cape Hauy and was already 5 pm so I nearly had the howl track for myself.



















When a came back at 8pm my tent was surrounded by Wallabies.





The next morning I went to the historic sites in Port Arthur, a former convict colony. A stunning place but a little bit depressing as well.































In the afternoon I went back north nearly until St Helens. Chris and his family spend their holiday there in a holiday village and they had a free bed for a couple of nights so they invited me to come over.

__________________
Nordkapp 2011
The Alps 2012

Great blog and photos, I have enjoyed reading about your time here in Australia. I live in the hills outside of Adelaide and when you get near send me a PM and perhaps we can catch up and share some of the local drink.

Great pics Dom. It was lovely to meet you in Bright.
I'm off to Adelaide soon but if you are in Sydney in June, drop me a line.

__________________
Postie Notes - "you're not seriously going around Australia on a postie bike??"

Ha... I've just come back from Tassie..... great place to ride.

Seems you did a bit more dirt roads than I did.

On Tuesday morning Chris and I went out on to the ocean with the Zodiac to go fishing. We only caught one useable fish but it was my first Flathead ever.



Later that day they convinced me to go swimming in the ocean. I only said yes because I could wear a wetsuit. But I still started to freeze pretty quick



The next day we went sea biscuit riding. I had never done it before so I led Chris's kids go first.









But then it was my turn ... and I fell off really quick It is good fun.













On Thursday I left Ironhouse Point in to the direction of Hobart.



But I used some detours. And at some stage I had to stop at a washed away bridge on a forestry road. I did not want to go back so I decided I had to go through the water. I found an easy way through shallow water but I still took the entire luggage with electronics inside off the bike – just in case.
My detour work fine and I was quickly going again.





However, just a few kilometres further on there was another bridge washed away. This time there was already a 4WD track going through the water and it look shallow. So I just went through – work fine but I still got wet feet.







For the night I stopped at the historic town of Oatlands (although historic does not mean old compared to Europe).



At the next morning I had a look around to see the historic buildings in Oatlands.

__________________
Nordkapp 2011
The Alps 2012

From there I went on to Hobart but still using detours (Tassie is small )
In Hobart I stayed at Bob's places ,Bob is Chris's dad who I met before in who invited my to stay. Perfect place to explore the city and even fast Internet was available – awesome. In the evening Bob took me on a sightseeing tour through the city and to his favorite Indian restaurant.
Saturday morning I went to the Salamanca Market. Chris and Toni had highly recommended going there and Bob said the same.
I was not disappointed. Although the market is a tourist attraction they are not selling junk. You can get local fruits and veggies, made by microbreweries, all kind of food and handcraft, even handcrafted rowing boats. An entertaining place even if you don't buy anything.

















Around lunchtime I met Nathan a British motorcycle traveller I got in contact with over ADVrider and the HUBB. We had a quick lunch and I decided to ride with him to the campground in Huonville where he and his mate Hannes were staying. I had been in contact with Hannes, another German motorcycle traveller, for some time before. Now I met them both in one day.
In the afternoon Nathan started to change tires on his bike. Hannes and I supported him with helpful (or were it stupid) commands. When Nathan had finished the job we went on a short ride to test his tires





Later we had had a big BBQ and I stayed longer then I had planed. By the time I left it was completely dark and I had to ride all the way back to Bob's house in Hobart. Because I did not want to hit any wildlife I did the howl way in 60 km per hour top speed.









Sunday I first went up to Mount Wellington, the mountain above Hobart.

__________________
Nordkapp 2011
The Alps 2012

From there I start a cultural program with two museums: first the MONA - Museum of Old and New Art.



Normally I do not like museums exhibiting art but this one was different. A gambler that makes shitloads of money build this museum to exhibit his own arts collection. Even the building itself is stunning.



Most of the exhibits are really freaky, for example there is a artificial digestive system that gets real food and produces something not to good smelling ...























In the late afternoon I went into the Tasmanian Museum in Hobart, less art more history, biology and technic – interesting for me.



When they close the museum I went to a little get together with Claudia and Ingo Reisemotten. They are motorcycle travelers as well and Claudia had spotted my bike at the Salamanca Market the day before. Good I had parked my bike right in front of the main entrance Thanks to my website and Facebook they were able to contact me and we had a lovely dinner – thanks for the invitation!



On Monday I left Hobart for a while. I went to the campground in Huonville for a night.





In the afternoon I went with Hannes and Nathan to explore the Jeffery's Track close to the campground.

__________________
Nordkapp 2011
The Alps 2012