Ride around Tasmania (Giro)

Day 9: Launceston – Deloraine (51km)

From Launceston, take Hwy 1 south-west and take the turn-off to Hadspen (14km) along the old Bass Highway, B54. Continue through Carrick (20km) (meals, accommodation) then rejoin Hwy 1 before Hadley (30km) (meals, toilets, shops).

The old Hwy 1 is narrow but not too busy through Westbury (35km) (bakery, toilets, shops, accommodation) and about 5km west of the town you can rejoin the B54 to escape the traffic by taking the turn-off to Exton. The rest of the cycle is very pleasant, passing through attractive farmland along the B54 to Deloraine (bank, supermarket, shops, meals, accommodation). Camp at the Deloraine Apex Club Caravan and Camping Park (follow signs from the bridge) or stay at the Deloraine Backpackers Hostel, 24 Bass Hwy, Ph: (03) 6362 3408.

Day 10: Deloraine – Gowrie Park (61km)

Head out of Deloraine along the B12 to Mole Creek (27km). At the Trowunna Wildlife Park (600m off the B12 about 4 km before Mole Creek) you can see koalas, Tasmanian Devils, wombats and wallabies. Keep an eye out for their giant wooden Tassie Devil by the side of the B12. You may like to camp at Mole Creek Camping Ground, Sassafras Creek, (4 km W of PO on the B12), Ph: (03) 6363 1150, or stay at the Mole Creek Hotel, Main Road, Mole Creek 7304, Ph: (03) 6363 1102. Meals are available at the Mole Creek Hotel and Wandering Trout bistro.

From Mole Creek continue along the B12 for 4km to Sassafras Creek (Mole Creek Camping Ground) and take the C137 turn-off north over the Gog range (a steep little hill) to the whisically named hamlet of Paradise. A remarkably beautiful cycle over the Gog Range and around Mt Roland.

Turn South along the C136 to the old Hydro-electric village of Gowrie Park, set amidst towering mountains and forests. The scenery is so good you may be tempted to stay, as the accommodation is much cheaper (and quieter) than at Cradle Mountain Camp. There is a Caravan Park on the C136, (large picnic shelter, toilets, drinking water, trees, no showers). Or choose “Gowrie Park Wilderness Village” (formerly Wild Gowrie Park), 1447 Claude Road, ph(03) 64 911385. They have an ensuite style amenity block, self-contained cabins, powered or unpowered camp sites, as well as individual backpacker rooms, a laundromat and internet access. There is a large picnic shelter, shade, drinking water.

Day 11: Gowrie Park – Cradle Mountain (42km)

A steep but very scenic and rewarding ride up through rainforest and alpine scrub into the “high country”. Give yourself plenty of time, as you’ll be gaining a lot of height. From Gowrie Park you will have a thrilling hair-pin descent down the C136 to the Cethana Dam, but then a gruelling climb up the other side of the valley to Moina (14km) (where you may find accommodation, cafe, limited groceries, check websites for updates).

From Moina, head south along the C132, through a desolate, alpine plateau, and follow the signs to Cradle Mountain National Park. Groceries may be obtained from the general store at the Pencil Pine township at the gates to the park. Camp at the Parks and Wildlife Campground Ph: (03) 6492 1133 or at Cradle Mountain Campgrounds, Cradle Valley, Ph: (03) 6492 1303. Bookings are essential over the peak summer and Easter periods. Accomodation is available in bunkhouses and cabins at the Cradle Mountain Campgrounds.

Side Trip to Dove Lake: After cycling so far, it would be a shame not to cycle to famous Dove Lake (11km from Cradle Valley camping ground) and spend at least a day exploring this rugged World Heritage Area on foot. Walking: (At least one extra day).There are lots of great day walks to do around the Cradle Mountain/Dove Lake area. These can all be started from the Dove Lake carpark. You’ll need a good raincoat , warm clothes (be prepared for snow/sleet!), sturdy walking boots and a day pack. From the camping ground at Cradle Valley, cycle 11km south along the C132 to the Dove Lake car park, where you’ll have to leave your bike. Along the way, visit the Visitor Centre, short nature walks and the Waldheim museum.

Day walks from Dove Lake: Twisted Lakes (5km, 2 hours return); Marions Lookout (5km, 3 hours return); Lake Dove Circuit (7km, 3 hours return); Lake Rodway (10km, 4.5 hours return); Hansons Peak, Lake Hanson and Twisted Lakes (6 hours return) – difficult. Cradle Mountain summit (12km, 4.5 hours return) – Highly recommended.

Day 12: Cradle Mountain – Rosebery (70km)

A spectacular ride today through alpine moors then alpine forest of celery top pine and myrtle, with only one small hill from which there is a breathtaking view of Cradle Mountain and Mt Pelion. The rest of the cycle is gently undulating or downhill. There are no shops or sources of drinking water for the first 54km so make sure you carry plenty of water and lunch.

From Cradle Mountain head west along the C132 and then south along the A10 to Tullah (54km) (cafe, takeaway, some groceries, toilets, pub, accommodation, wild camping by river). After Tullah, the A10 climbs for 4km through beautiful rainforest to the top of Mt Black, followed by a thrilling descent to Rosebery (pub, supermarket, takeaways, accomodation, post office). Rosebery is an old west coast goldmining town and going there is like stepping back about forty years to the old-style Australian country town. Everyone seems to have time for a chat.

Camp at Rosebery Caravan Park, Park Road, Ph: (03) 6473 1366, (great picnic shelter!). Alternatively, stay at Mt Black Lodge Hostel, Hospital Road, Ph: (03) 6473 1247.

Side Trip to Montezuma Falls rail trail: If you have an MTB and an extra half day then highly recommended is a short detour to Tasmania’s highest waterfall, Montezuma Falls, just south of Rosebery. If you do go to the Falls then you will probably want to camp or stay in Zeehan, rather than pushing on to Strahan.

Montezuma Falls – One extra half day: A highly recommended side trip for MTB’ers is a quick detour to Tasmania’s highest waterfall, Montezuma Falls (at 113m), just south of Rosebery. About 2km south of Roseberry along the A10, turn off to Williamsford (6km)along a sealed road. From there it is bikes and walkers only, along an old train line. The 5km track to Montezuma Falls is lovely, with large cuttings, a nice constant and gentle gradient and greenery all around. The return trip to the Falls from Rosebery takes about 3 hours.

Day 13: Rosebery – Strahan (72km)

The first 20 km are rather hilly but through pretty rainforest, followed by a long, flat or gently downhill run through button grass plains and coastal scrub. From Rosebery continue south-west along the A10 and take the B27 to Zeehan (30km) (post office, takeaways, accomodation, caravan park, toilets, shops) – a good place to stop for lunch and to have a look at their excellent mining museum.

Continue along the B27 for 42km to Strahan (post office, toilets, supermarket, bakery, restaurants, pub, accommodation). Strahan is a cosy little fishing village on Macquarie Harbour, steeped in the convict and pining history of the rugged West Coast. “Piners” used to row wooden boats up through the rapids of the Gordon, Franklin and other rivers of Tasmania’s South West wilderness, in their quest for the endemic Huon Pine. Camp at Strahan Beach Tourist Park, or try Strahan Backpackers, 43 Harvey St, Strahan 7468, ph: (03) 6471 7442.

Side Trip up the Gordon River: Just about every visitor to Strahan takes an all day cruise up the world-famous Gordon River (fed by the Franklin River) in the Tasmanian Wilderness Heritage Area. After travelling all that way to Strahan you really shouldn’t miss it.

Day 14: Strahan – Lake Burbury (65km)

Although you will climb a total of about 700m, the cycling is surprisingly easy due to well-graded roads making the climbs long but comfortable, usually with the prevailing westerly winds at your back. Carry lunch and plenty of water. From Strahan take the B24 up the long hill to Queenstown (42km) (post office, pubs, Trust Bank, supermarket, toilets, takeaways, meals). Queenstown is your last chance to buy groceries for 175km.

Queenstown has the dubious distinction of being the only place in the world which treasures its lack of trees, caused by the noxious fumes of an earlier copper smelter. The starkly bare hills have for many years been a tourist drawcard, but to the locals’ horror, the trees are now growing back! Queenstown has a great attraction- the Abt Wilderness Railway (ph: 6471 1700). Check the website for details and to make bookings.

A wide range of accommodation is available in Queenstown. The cheapest is the Queenstown Cabin and Tourist Park Hostel, 17 Granton St (1 km PO), Ph: (03) 6471 1332, or Mountain View Holiday Lodge Hostel, 1 Penghana Rd, Queenstown, Ph: (03) 6471 1163. Either stay in Queenstown or continue along the A10 the 23 km to Lake Burbury.

About 3km after the Lake Burbury bridge there is a picnic area sign, pointing along a road to your left. This “picnic area” is an enormous grassy expanse, with lots of windbreaks of trees, on the banks of a large man-made lake, and is a beautiful, clean and peaceful place to camp.

The huge picnic shelter with tables and benches provides welcome shelter from rain. Camp at the picnic area on the eastern shore of Lake Burbury (toilets, drinking water, large picnic shelter, gas BBQs, no showers). You will need to have stocked up with a couple of days of food in Queenstown.

Day 15: Lake Burbury – Lake St Clair (73km)

You will climb 900m today, so start early (especially if you are staying in Queenstown). The day involves a ride along the A10 through the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area over spectacular mountains, through magical rainforest and over wild rivers. Traffic is fairly light.

If time permits, the following short walks from the A10 are highly recommended: Donaghey’s Hill (45 minutes return walk from highway), Franklin River crossing (10 mins nature walk), Franklin River flying fox (10 mins walk along Frenchmans Cap Walking Track), Franklin River Nature Trail.

From Lake Burbury the A10 climbs gently for 11km to Victoria Pass (530m) then continues through rainforest. There is easy cycling until the Franklin River picnic area (41km) (picnic table, drinking water from river). After the Franklin River, the A10 climbs steeply through rainforest for 10km with spectacular views of Surprise Valley and Mt King William. At the top are button grass plains and eucalypts – a flat cycle for the 16km to Derwent Bridge (67km) (accommodation, meals).

Take the turn-off to Lake St Clair and climb gently for 5 km to the Lake St Clair National Park (camping area, bunkhouses, restaurant and limited groceries). Lake St Clair is at the southern end of the Cradle Mountain/Lake St Clair National Park, and is surrounded by rainforest and mountains. There is a camping ground at the end of the road, by the lake (hot showers, laundry), or you can stay in a cabin, ph: (03) 6289 1172 (bookings essential).

Alternatively, if you wish to skip Lake St Clair, then you can stay at Derwent Bridge Wilderness Hotel, Lyell Highway, Derwent Bridge 7140, (500 m NW of PO), Ph: (03) 6289 1144, Fax: (03) 6289 1173. Meals are available at Derwent Bridge Wilderness Hotel.

Side trip: Walks around Lake St Clair World Heritage area (at least one extra day). From the camping ground at the southern end of Lake St Clair there are numerous day walks, but you’ll need a good raincoat, warm clothes, a day pack and walking shoes. Enquire at the Ranger Station about day walks. Alternatively, you could catch the shuttle boat from the jetty near the camping area to Narcissus Bay on the northern shore of the lake and walk back to the camping ground along a track through the rainforest (3+ hours, easy).

Day 16: Lake St Clair – Wayatinah (59km)

There are prevailing westerly winds and a significant altitude loss, so this is quite an easier day’s pedal than Day 15. From Derwent Bridge follow the A10 for 20km, then take a short cut to the right along the C601 for 20 km to avoid the steep hills around Tarraleah. CAUTION: This road is unsealed and sometimes rough and narrow but is 11km shorter than the hilly main road. Watch out for the odd truck.

Continue on the A10 another 11km and take the turn-off to the immaculate, nearly deserted Hydro-electric town of Wayatinah (food shop (9:30 am – 11:30 am daily), tavern (4 pm – late)). Follow the signs to the camping ground. Camp at Wayatinah Camping Ground, by Wayatinah Lagoon, ph: (03) 6289 3317 or (03) 6244 4271 (heated outdoor swimming pool, BBQ, tennis court, showers, laundry) – highly recommended. There is also a free camping area just over the C608 bridge approximately 2km from the turn-off with the A10 (93km from Lake St Clair) (toilets, drinking water from lake). Ouse (76km from Derwent Bridge) has accomodation at Sassa-del-Gallo holiday units, Main Road, Ph: (03) 6287 1289 or 6287 1263, and at the Lachlan Hotel, Lyell Highway, ph: (03) 6287 1215.

Day 17: Wayatinah – Mt Field National Park (64km)

Cycle back to the A10 and head to Ouse (25km) for lunch. Ouse has a hospital, post office, takeaways, supermarket, meals at Lachlan Hotel and public toilets. Continue along the A10 for 7km and turn right onto the C608, a lovely quiet country road (but hilly!) which will take you through attractive farming country to the pretty village of Ellendale (45km from Wayatinah).

Ellendale has self-contained accomodation at Hopfield Cottages (bookings essential – ph: (03) 6288 1223), a post office, shop (open 9am to 5pm), public toilets and a very nice picnic shelter by the creek with possible camping sites. Keep an eye out for the interesting, wooden oast houses, used for drying hops. Another 10km along the C608 is the turn-off to Westerway along the B61. Westerway has food shops – there is a limited kiosk at Mt Field.

Continue 7km along the B61 to Mt Field National Park , one of Tasmania’s most popular National Parks. Home to the spectacular Russell Falls, the park boasts scenic rainforest, some of the world’s tallest trees, deep mountain lakes and abundant tree ferns. Meals are available at the pub and there is a cafe at the visitors’ centre in the park. Camp in the camping ground just inside the park gates, ph: (03) 6288 1149 or stay at the Mount Field National Park YHA Hostel, ph: (03) 6288 1369.

Day 18: Mt Field National Park – Hobart (75km)

Note: we have rewritten this section because construction of the Bridgewater Bridge is making it dangerous for riders.

Head back along the B61 and continue through pretty hop farming country to Bushy Park (18km), which has a takeaway shop. From Bushy Park, take the B62 (Glenora Road) through some stunning rural scenery along the Derwent River past the Salmon Ponds (29km) (museum and restaurant) to New Norfolk (38km). Camping sites are available at the New Norfolk Caravan Park, Esplanade, ph: (03) 6261 1268, and cheap accomodation at the historic Bush Inn, 49 Montagu St, ph: (03) 6261 2011.

New Norfolk town has a wide range of shops (including a bike shop in Richmond St, ph: (03) 6261 2201) and cafes. Leaving New Norfolk, many riders usually prefer to cross over the bridge over the Derwent River and turn right onto the relatively quiet B10 to Bridgewater. This avoids the narrow and very busy A10. However major works on the Bridgewater Bridge mean there is no safe access for riders on either side of the river at that point. So it is currently best to stay on the southern side of the river and take the scenic (and hilly) detour through Molewsorth.

Take the Lyell HIghway (A10) towards Hobart. Turn right onto Molesworth Road and do some climbing, and then a great descent, to finally reach the safe and pleasant InterCity Cycleway which will take you to Hobart’s waterfront.

To get to the Newtown YHA turn right from the cycle path into Oldham Avenue, left into Park St and right into Stoke Street. Camp at Treasure Island Caravan Park, Main Road, Berriedale (on Giro route, 14 km from GPO), Ph: (03) 6249 2379, or stay at YHA hostel “Adelphi Court”, 17 Stoke St, New Town, Tas 7008, ph: (03) 6228 4829 (bookings essential) or at Transit Centre Backpackers, 199 Collins St, Hobart (city), Ph: (03) 6231 2400.

The Old Woolstore Hotel has secure bike parking and a washdown station.

Notes and cautions

All telephone numbers are listed without their “STD” (within Australia) area code, which is 03 for all of Tasmania. Callers from overseas should use the international+area code +61 3 in place of 03.

In the on-road sections of this ride, the traffic is usually quiet. However, even in country towns, be careful as you check to see what the traffic behind you is doing, indicate, and “take the lane” as necessary (this means, move into the centre of the lane to discourage a driver from trying to squeeze past you).

On country roads in Tasmania, the speed limit is 100 km/hr, and there is often no shoulder to “hide” on. Experienced riders ride on the painted lane marking and watch for vehicles coming from behind. Cyclists are permitted to travel two abreast, not more than 1.5 metres apart, but be prepared to go single file when vehicles approach from behind, as a courtesy.

Tasmania has a “minimum passing law”. When passing a cyclist, driver must maintain a safe passing distance of:

…At least 1.5 metres in speed zones higher than 60 km/h

…At least 1 metre in 60 km/h or lower speed zones

This law applies to all roads, even where there are bicycle lanes. Vehicles are permitted to cross unbroken centre lines to overtake bicycles, if it is safe to do so.

Bright clothing and flashing lights – white on the front, red on the back – can improve your visibility on country roads.

The weather in Tasmania is notoriously changeable, so take another layer with you. Don’t forget sunscreen, Tasmania has high UV levels all year round.