2021 Circumnavigate Tasmania

Arrive today in the Apple Isle, one of Australia’s great destinations for both those relocating and those looking for an amazing tourist destination. In recent years, house prices in Hobart have soared reflecting the livability of the capital city. The city’s vibrancy is attributed by its many layers – the Salamanca markets, the arrival of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, the last port before Antarctic expeditions and the unmistakable philanthropic (as well as) cutting edge impressions that local David Walsh has created.

As flights from mainland Australia vary guests are free to arrive in Hobart during the day and make your way to our hotel. You’re conveniently located close to the wonderful harbour precinct with its many restaurants, rich history and great pubs. Your guides will be on hand to help with check-in, prepare your bike ready to roll and go over the trip ahead.

Our trip officially starts today at 9 am from our hotel. We explore the greater Hobart region today, our first challenge comes crossing the River Derwent. Hobart is the second oldest city in Australia. Although it’s centre is on the western side of the River Derwent, the original penal colony and defensive outpost was established on the eastern side. However, prior to Europeans, the Palawa people occupied the isolated island for more than 30,000 years. Within 50 years of European settlement, just 47 Palawa’s had survived the violence and disease, and within the next 50 years all pure descendents had succumbed.

Those Palawa people who had survived often were put to work with convicts to build key infrastructure for development. An example of colonial Australia is on display in Richmond, our main stop today. We can set on the banks of the Coal River under the main attraction, the Richmond Bridge. A short distance away is the Richmond Gaol and the oldest Catholic Church in Australia. The Ice Creamery, cheese shop and lolly shop are also a must-visit.

Our ride finishes at MONA today, where we can explore the museum – curators took the opportunity of COVID to redesign several aspects. This is the most unique gallery I have personally ever visited. David Walsh’s creation is an international hit, and is most noted for its central themes around sex and death.

Tonight, enjoy our welcome dinner, sampling some of Tasmania’s finest food, including beer and wine.

Today we have one of more difficult rides, not for its distance but its vertical ascent. One of the most distinguishing features of Hobart is the looming landscape or silhouette of Mt Wellington. The Palawi people called the mountain kunanyi, and since 2013 it is recognised as kunanyi / Mt Wellington. There is an observatory at the top which provides stunning views across Hobart, the Derwent estuaries and about 100km of World Heritage Area to the West.

Our return journey is abbreviated with a stop at the Cascade brewery. To make good beer, one needs a good clean water source or a mountain spring, and that’s what ensured that Cascade is the oldest operating brewery in Australia.

We’ll travel our way up through the centre of Tasmania today on the national highway. Not only will this avoid riding along some busy roads, it will also give us some gains in elevation so that gravity will be in our favour.

We’ll enjoy a morning snack at the traditional Ross bakery to fuel up for our ride starting from the central hub of Campbell Town, it is often a stopover on the journey between the major centres of Hobart and Launceston.

For us, we’ll depart off the main highway on our bikes and head east. It is very much about our destination today, as we discover one of Tasmania’s great jewels, the Freycinet National Park and Wineglass Bay. We’ll change our cycling shoes for some comfortable walking shoes and make the short hike through the National Park.

Our journey today takes us along much of the East Coast and is one of the great drives to do in Tasmania. We’ll have the pleasure of doing it on our bicycles and immersing ourselves in the natural beauty. Our ride is punctuated by sparkling beaches and a pristine coastline.

Our first stop along the coast is Bicheno. Of an evening penguins take refuge in their burrows. As we reach further north, the long white beaches offer surfers with the best surfing on the island, and further offshore you may be lucky to spot a whale.

Today’s highlight will surely be memorable, as large boulders begin to appear on the northern beaches the colour contrasts are striking. The orange lichen that covers the boulders, set with a backdrop of turquoise waters makes this one of the most beautiful destinations in the world.

We fuel ourselves this morning before we start our journey away from the east coast. From St Helen, we follow the valley created from the George River. For much of today, we travel the route of a once-thriving area of Tasmania. Communities built around the mining and timber industry have now been abandoned and some of the towns have re-established for nature lovers, especially for mountain bikers.

World Trail was commissioned by the locals to build something exceptional, and with the combination of Derby and Blue Tier trail systems, new money was brought to the area. This is now the flagship model for many regional councils looking for future economic growth built on sustainability.

Today is our gravel adventure for some and if you’d rather not challenge yourself on the gravel, we also have a more direct route to Launceston. We both depart from Scottsdale this morning and before long we begin climbing toward the sideling lookout. Again we’ll be mesmerised by the dense forest and abundance of ferns as we make our way over the undulations. Our rides separate near the town of Targa (not to be mistaken for any association with the Targa Tasmania tarmac rally).

Our epic challenge aims for Tasmania’s premier alpine skiing operations at Ben Lomond. Development started on the ski area in the 1930s, and was upgraded to a resort in the 1950s. But it wasn’t until the 1960s that an access road took you all the way to the resort area, aptly named “Jacob’s Ladder”. This is an iconic climb, a twisting gravel road between towering dolerite cliffs.

We stay in Launceston tonight and we’ll enjoy dinner together celebrating our achievements along the west coast.

Today we explore one of the most popular wine-growing areas of Australia. Arguably some of the best Pinot Noir is produced out of the West Tamar, just North of Launceston.

Launceston is at the confluence of the North and South Esk rivers. Both rivers share a similar catchment area, yet take a different journey to Launceston. South Esk is spectacular just before it reaches the Tamar, forming the Cataract Gorge a recreational reserve. These rivers form the Tamar River at Launceston before reaching the Bass Strait. Did you know that most of Tasmania’s electricity needs are sourced from sustainable hydro and wind generation? Not without its teething problems though.

After riding through the Tamar Valley, and stopping for a coffee we’ll reach the historic mining town of Beaconsfield. It is most renowned for the collapse of it’s gold mine where an incredible story of tragedy and survival. We then set our compass for Devonport, where the Spirit of Tasmania launches and connects Tasmania to the mainland.

Today we set our targets on probably Tasmania’s most visited tourist site, Cradle Mountain. There will be time this afternoon to walk around Dove Lake and observe the dramatic sight of Cradle Mountain itself. Wombats are also a common sight near the start of the walking trail. It’s a popular place for day visitors, but it is also the starting point of Australia’s favourite Alpine Walk, the overland track.

Tonight we’ll stay close to the mountain in warm accommodation.

We depart from our cosy lodgings near Cradle Mountain and before setting off on our bikes we’ll enjoy a substantial breakfast and nice coffee. Today’s route takes us through more remote parts of Tasmania, we head west first before heading south passing Mount Murchison and finishing in a picturesque country town Queenstown on the edge of the West Coast Range.

As we leave Cradle Mountain we ride along the edge of the Belvoir Conservation Reserve, a unique habitat that homes the densest population of vulnerable and endangered marsupials. From the highest point of the reserve, we turn south and follow the Murchison highway, enjoying a long downhill run before we cross the Murchison River. Our climb soon begins on a quiet road off the main highway where we enjoy great views to each of the peaks between Cradle Mountain and Lake St Clair, the course of the Overland Track.

Today is about the wilderness of Tasmania and an engineering masterpiece to take us through it. The feature this morning is as we leave Queenstown and enjoy the ‘99 bends’ to Gormanston. The shapely road takes us gradually uphill and to Gormanston, a historical gold mining town. Our journey now crosses the northern edge of the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park which is part of the World Heritage Wilderness Area. We’ll utilise the lookouts along the route to observe the outstanding features, including the distinctive Frenchmans Cap.

One of the opportunities today is to see the ambitious art project known as The Wall, a 100m long by 3m high wood carving recording the 100 year history of the central highlands.

Today we follow the River Derwent from near its source in the central highlands to the capital city, Hobart. This means we’ll be heading downhill more often than uphill! As we nearer Hobart, the wilderness will make way for progressively more rural properties.

We will stop at the historical town of Hamilton along the way. Once a frontier town for the early settlement serving as a hub for travellers and possibly more importantly for its illegal liquor trade.

Tonight we’ll enjoy a final dinner together in Hobart, celebrating our journey through Tasmania’s west coast.

Sadly today we farewell our guests on our cycling adventure around Tasmania. We’ve experienced cycle through World Heritage Wilderness, Magnificent Coastlines and fascinating historic villages and much, much more.

We have various shuttles to the airport throughout the day, enabling you to connect with your preferred flight back home.