Caves Track

I had Sally's Ride in my diary for Sunday, so headed up North today, planning to do the last section of the trail I hand't previously completed up this way:  Caves Track from near Bracknell up to the top of the Tiers near Poatina. 

I bypassed this section when I cycled the Tasmanian Trail all those years ago, as the guide recommended against it for cyclists, and after having just walked it I would have to say that the top half, from the Caves upwards, would be a long slow nightmare of pushing if you had a fully laden bike, but I will also say that it was a beautiful walk and if I were at Bracknell deciding which way to go ... well if I was feeling fresh, or had an unladen bike, I'd go this way every time.

The trail was pretty easy to follow, though there were one or two junctions where I had a moments hesitation about which way to go.

Here's a bit of a photographic essay of my little walk.  It took about 4 hours return from the end of the road.

Starting out ... the ford would be a better option, but I couldn't resist the bridge.

The hills to come ...

Heading up alongside paddocks.

Pretty flowers.

Spring's such a great time to go walking.

Entering the lower slopes, open bushland, great walking (and riding)



Track passes through some lovely wet forest areas as well.



Getting near the caves.

The caves, really just a sheltering overhang.

Gulp. 

This is typical upper track, rough, rocky and steep.

Return journey, sheltering from rain in cave.

Everything's soaked now.

The end.

The Gog Part II

It rained all night, and I mean it rained.

I struggled out of bed as the alarm went off at 6.30am, feeling less than motivated for today’s planned walk over Mt Roland, and glanced out the window to see how wet it really was. I could still hear the rain falling on the roof above me as I glanced out the window.

It wasn’t good, a thick low lying fog covered all of the paddocks behind my motel room, and as I shuffled down to the kitchen for breakfast, my inner voice was pointing out how sore my legs were from yesterdays ride, how cold it would be up on Mt Roland, and how I wouldn’t see anything anyway due to the thick fog.

I hadn’t exactly talked myself out of the walk as I left the hotel and threw my stuff in the back of the car, but as I settled into the driver’s seat, I glanced at my watch and saw it was already 7:30am ... I’d basically have to drive, and drive hard, to get to the start line in time for the start of the walk at 8:00am.

Instead, I just sat there with the engine running, wondering what to do.

In the end I didn’t go, and yea I’m a little disappointed about that, but instead I drove back towards Deloraine, stopping about 10km’s short and pulled out the bike to cycle the last little off road section of the Tasmanian Trail that I didn’t manage to cover yesterday.

From what I could tell from the maps, and the very steep hill in front of me this still promised to be a pretty good physical challenge, and as the day panned out it didn’t disappoint.

Today I essentially did an out and back from near the end of Gardiners Ridge to the Mersey River Camp Site.  I expected to be spending a lot of time cycling through heavily logged forests again, with a 1.3km section at the end which I suspected I would need to walk.  So with this expectation I was very pleasantly surprised by the route.

You take the high road, I'll take the low road.

After a steep initial climb (for a couple of hundred meters), the trail then sidled around the side of the hill passing through a couple of quarries and a newly establish eucalypt plantation before diving down into the bush and across a very small creek and turning up again for a bit of a push to the top of a hill.  Wildflowers abounded through here, and the rain, although constant wasn’t cold, so I was really enjoying myself.  I even had to stop and take some pictures of some never before signs actually telling me that the Tasmanian Trail had been re-routed through this section.  Luxury plus.

As you’d expect from the top of the hill, the trail headed down, firstly through some nice rocky trails through the bush , before emerging into another new plantation and then after a bit of a steep descent that I really wasn’t looking forward to that on the way back, I dropped out onto a gravel road and continued downhill for a couple of more kilometres.

Wow!!!!

Just before Lobster Rivulet the trail dives back off the road and circles around yet another plantation, but nice enough trails before switch backing down to the rivulet.  To be honest when I first pulled up I thought maybe I’d reached the Arm River there was so much water flowing down it.  All the rain from the previous 24 hours had the river at near flood levels and I was either in for a very wet, very hairy crossing or this was the end of my days ride.  

 I was taking some photos whilst pondering what to do, when I noticed what looked like a large log just 20 metres or so upstream, and after a bit of bush bashing I found myself crawling across the hungry waters on a very slippery log, but convinced enough that it was possible I wandered back and manhandled my bike to the end of the log ready for the crossing.

Bit worried about getting my feet wet.

Notice my bike at the far end of the log.

In a surprisingly conservative move for me, I actually crossed the river in two crossings, firstly just me and the bike, and then in the second crossing all my electronic gear and valuables.  I was grimly happy to find that this conservative approach caused more problems than it saved as it ended up being much easier crossing the log with the bike than without it as I could use it as a third pivot point by shuffling across with the bike pointing up river and acting as a third anchor point on the log.  I found myself feeling very unstable as I recrossed the river on a downward sloping, slippery log without the bike, and am not ashamed to admit that I did one section on my hands and knees.

After that little adventure, the trail runs along some lovely double track parallel to the rivulet through flat bushland and around yet another coupe before emerging onto another gravel road.  A couple of more junctions, and I found myself heading off road again into some very inviting open bushland.  My fears of having to walk and bash the last 1.3kms to the river turned out to be for nought, instead I found myself on a lovely bit of lightly used grassy track that ran virtually all the way down to the river with just one small little descent for the last 50 meters.

Definitely get my feet wet crossing this one.  Basically Impassable.

The river level was significantly higher than when I’d been on the other side a few weeks ago, and I wasn’t in the slightest bit tempted to try and cross.

Although having the option of following an ‘emergency exit’ route noted in the trail guide and avoiding the re-crossing of lobster rivulet, the ride had been such fun it was really a no-brainer to turn around and retrace my outward route.  Although there was quite a bit more uphill in this direction, I knew what was coming and so was able to just settle back into it and enjoy the climb.  I do admit that I was a tad surprised at just how steep a few of the sections were, but that’s why I’ve got feet, and it only seems fair that I push my poor little bike every now and then given everything I put it through.

I got back to my car about 11.30am, so probably 3 to 3.5 hours return ride, and really recommended if you’re in the area and looking for somewhere to ride.

Incidentally I headed down towards the section off Leonard’s road around the Montana Falls Track, only to find that this section has now also been rerouted and you just continue straight along Leonards Road.  That said it was still a nice section (though of course I was in a car).

Tasmanian Trail - The Wine Route

I started todays ride in Glenora, yea I know - Where?  It's a small town about half way between New Norfolk and Westerway, and don't say where again, just take my word for it that it exists, it has a school and a pool, and even if you were there you'd still say "Where?"

Parking next to the school, I had to backtrack slightly towards Hobart and then turn up Kenmore Road which you basically follow until you cross the train line, as per the trail guide, and then if you're anything like me you will spend quite a bit of time  trying to reassure yourself that you are actually on the trail before hopping the gate in front of you onto some farmers property.

It was a lovely push up through and along a farm track with great views in all directions, which again if you're like me you'll have plenty of time to enjoy as you try to figure out whether you should go through gates, or along fencelines or basically which darn way to go.  I can give you this advice: It doesn't matter: all roads lead to Rome, or in this case, to the trail.

After the small ascent, you jump a couple of gates, turn hard left and cycle along the fence towards a big pine tree, and then on around the ridge above Glenora.  This is some nice riding, and before I knew it I was hurtling back downhill again towards some farm houses.  Trail got a little bit confusing here as I felt like I was cycling through someone's backyard, and then just as I came up towards what looked like an old grinding mill, there was an unsigned junction (take the left fork) which eventually lead me back out towards the main road.

Just before you come back out onto the road, you instead take a right and follow the signs out towards Meadowbank.  This is another lovely section of gravel road meandering alongside the Derwent River and through farmland.  The road leaves the river after a couple of kilometers and you start up a little bit of a climb, before hurtling back down the other side of the hill.  This is where I made my first real mistake of the day.  As I was coming up to a farmhouse where I thought maybe I should pull out the map and see where I'm at, I instead decided to just go a little bit further, at which point I saw a Tasmanian Trail sign pointing straight ahead along the road.  Rather pleased with myself for not stopping, I continued on for another kilometer or so until I approached another junction to my left.

I saw the trail sign pointing up the sharpish hill to my left well before I got to the junction, and so turned and raced across a cattle grid as fast as I felt was safe in an effort to get a good run at the hill. However, 110kg guy on bike vs gravity and friction means I soon lost what little momentum I had as the climb became sharper and I quickly found myself settling into a climbing rhythm.

It was at this point that a farmer on a quad bike who had been coming at the junction from the other direction pulled up beside me with his three farm dogs,

"You heading along the Tasmanian Trail?"

"Yea."

"It doesn't go this way anymore."

Brakes slam on, and what little speed I have disappears.

"Say again?"

"You must have an old guide book, the trail now goes ... well, I'm sorry to say it, you should have turned off about a kilometre back ... it goes up there ..."

This last was said as he pointed to the top of the highest ridge in view.

"Up that ridgeline, where those tyre tracks go?"

"Yea."

"But, there's a sign right there pointing up this road?"

"Hmmm ... yea they should probably take that down, the road hasn't gone this way for years.  It's a shame because it's a great section, but the farmer who owns the property at the other end doesn't like people going through, so it now diverts up that way."

"Oh"

"Yea, I own this land and saw you heading up here and thought you might be going to visit the winery, which is closed by the way.  If you had the new guide it would tell you to turn off back at that house up the road."

"Oh ... but, I do have the new guide, and there's a sign at that house pointing up this road, are you sure it doesn't go this way?"

"Yea, there's a gate just up ahead which is locked which will stop you."

"I've already jumped three locked gates this morning.  The trail is a litany of locked gates.  I've followed the trail through shooting ranges and past trespassers prosecuted signs ... locked gates don't even raise a pause anymore."

"Oh."  This time it was his turn to take a pause.

"You sure this isn't the way?"

My denial, my wish that this was indeed the way, came from my attachment to the trail signs.  On a trail where so much time is spent searching for those little triangular becons of red and yellow which provide the comfort and assurance that you are indeed going the right way, it was very difficult to comprehend that they were leading me the wrong way and on the word of a local I was about to start pushing my bike up through a series of paddocks along a shortcut he assured me would "drop me out onto the trail, no problems, just go straight up that ridgeline, you can't miss it."

Yea right.  There were probably a hundred ways I could miss it, and I only needed one.  The chances of me ever seeing the trail again today had just disappeared in my mind, but the guy owned the land, and obviously knew what he was talking about, so I turned tail, said thanks and goodbye and set off back to the shortcut and from there up, up, up the ridgeline.

Yep, it was just another day on the Tasmanian Trail.  However, despite my misgivings, he was right, and although it was further than I expected,  I did eventually find myself rejoining the trail after a rather nice diversion up the rideline.

I, of course, lost it again soon after.  Well it's not that I lost it so much as I wasn't sure whether or not I was on it.  The trail carries on up past a cattle yard, and then unsigned, I followed a vehicle track up through some more paddocks and eventually over the top and down the other side.  At one point, just after passing through a fence I came to a Tasmanian Trail sign pointing to the right, but somewhat dubious, I continued straight ahead and was rewarded a few hundred meters further on with another trail sign.  Yes.

Following a very faint trail

After this the trail is a lot of fun, it cuts through a paddock, down through some bush, through a second bracken filled paddock, another steep descent through the bush and then a rolling descent, down, down, down.  It would have been perfect, except that after crossing a small creek I was greet with two tracks in front of me and no sign of which one to choose.  One option looked very attractive, the other went straight up.  I decided to go up, and after a pretty steep push, especially given I was pretty stuffed at this time having brought no food with me, I was delighted to be greeted at the top by another TT sign.

One last quick, steep, descent and I found myself at a gate with "Private Property - Trespassers Prosecuted" plastered all over it, and after walking through a flock of sheep, emerged back out onto the main road.

I had had ideas at this point of continuing on over Mt Bethune, but I was hours behind my original schedule and pretty low on energy, so instead headed straight back along the road to  Glenora and home.

Tasmanian Trail - Great Lake to Bronte Park

I'm a bit obsessed with finding new trails.  I rationalise it as a combination between the fact that I get bored doing the same thing over and over, my love of all things that require a processor to make them function, and an essentialy curiosity that there must be another way, a better way, a more interesting track.

I will happily sit in front of my computer for hours comparing potential routes on google earth with those I have on 1:25000 topographic maps just to see if I can discover a combination of squiggly lines somewhere that might come together into a brilliant new route.

This is in part why Stage 8 of the Tasmanian Trail has vexed me for so many years.  This is the stage south from Miena, on the bottom edge of the Great Lake down to Bronte Park.  It mainly follows the Marlborough Highway (don't be fooled by the name, it is a fairly narrow, poorly maintained, infrequently used gravel road) but according to the Tasmanian Trail map there were three sections that headed off the highway, and what vexed me was that (1) when I cycled the route many years ago, I completey missed the first two sections, and (b) no amount of searchign for indistinct trails or lines on any of my maps showed me where the route may actually be.  

Now, with hindsight, I migth have read something deeper into the fact that I couldn't find these routes and that the route guide recommended that cyclists by pass them, but I was pumped up from my walk on Thursday and wanted more outdoor challenges, and this was the one I wanted most.

So Saturday started early with a three hour drive up to Great Lake, via a rather circituous detour through Waddamana.  I parked where  Waddamana Road comes out onto the Great Lakes Highway, and I set off on a warm up ride which was a planned figure eight up towards Poatina, but cutting across onto the Tasmanian Trail and following it back along Arthurs Lake, and then along the water race to Toby's Corner and from there back to the car.  It was a nice ride, with the highlight being when I came to a pretty deep river crossing with three young motorcyclists sitting there scratching their heads deciding how to get their motorbikes across.  I just said g'day and plunged straight into the river on the bike. It came up to the bottom of my knicks, but was worth the look on their faces. 

Well, it was worth it until about 15kms later when I was pushing into a antarctic headwind and my soaked feet were feeling like Icicles.

The whole circuit was just over 30km, and ended up on a splendid downhill.  It was nice, but nothing to rave about, just nice.  I did come across another Tas Trail Registration both where I eagerly devoured visitor numbers and comments.  Comments were much more positive than the box I found south of Geeveston, but numbers were still very low at aroud 30 entries with the earliest in 2008.

It was about noon when I got back to the car, so I headed to Miena for a nice hearty lunch.  The hot food choices consisted of three varieties of meat pie.  I took mine with a side of tomato sauce.  It was half warm and disgusting, so without any further delay I headed south to Little Pine Lagoon in search of the first section of trail I had missed all those years ago.

Unfortunately it is now no longer part of the trail.  To the trail signs credits there are now some good signs clearly indicating you should continue straight down the highway rather than detour into this section, so somewhat disappointed I did just this until I came to the very well signed turnoff to the section.  However, I had hatched a brilliant plan and continued on down to the southern end of thsis ection of trail with my idea being to cycle it South to North from Pine Tier Lagoon and thus having a nice downhill on the way back rather than an uphill haul.

With this plan in mind I drove as far as the first gate over Howards's Way (not signed) just above Pine Tier Lagoon, I got the bike together, threw it over the gate, and set off into the rain.

20 minutes later I was still cycling up the steepest hill I had encountered on the trail.  I mean this hill was so steep they've actually cemented some sections to give vehicles more traction, and remember this is an area where the highway is still a gravel road.   However, it can't have been more than 2kms to the top, and from there it was a lovely downhill past a huge quarry, a bit more of a climb and another long downhill to where I hit another gate I had to throw the bike over. 

It was a left from here, then up a steadily climbing gravel road, which veered off to the right into the bush, but continued along well graded roads and as I crossed what I assumed was Bung Bung creek and filled up my water bottle I started to wonder what the heck all the fuss about this section was.

Sure enough, another 300metres up the road I found out as the trail left this road and headed off a rutted, rocky, tree strewn trail. 

I valiantly set off to pedal up the hill in front of me, only to be ignominously dumped of my bike before the back wheel had even gotten onto this new trail.  I decided to push.

The trail continued to deteriorate as I climb up to the crest of the hill, and then, well it just pretty much vanished, and it was just, my bike and regular TT signs, speced out every 50-100m leading me ahead into the unknown.  At last I knew why I could never find this section of the trail on any maps I've looked at.  It isn't a track, it's a trail in the truest sense of the word.  The only sign of it is those regular signs.

I loved the next hour as I pushed, carried and even managed to squeeze in a ride my bike through scratchy, but beautiful open bushland, carefully scanning out in front to catch sight of the next sign showing me where to go.  Thankfully every sign was there, because it would only take one missing sign and there would be no way you could follow this trail due to its twist and turns.  As it was I found myself getting momentarily mislocated on several occasions.

After the first hour however the novelty of carting my bike had started to wear off somwhat, so it was good to break out onto some open ground where I could actually cycle some short sections, as I watched the numerous wallabies around me getting startled out into the open and leaping away, and as I crossed a few open grassland sections I started to think I was getting near the road.

It was just past one of these, that I came across the Little Pine River crossing mentioned in the guide, which means it was only 800 metres to the road.  Woo Hoo.  After a very slippery crossing (I walked across barefoot as I was on my second, and last, pair of shoes and they were nice and dry) I had a bit of a search to find the trail (it's straight ahead) and set off expecting to hit the highway pretty quickly.

The reality:  It took me nearly another hour, most of it carrying my bike, to travel that last little bit, and what had started out as a bit or a lark, now was feeling like a really stupid idea.  

The path became incredibly overgrown and scratchy, tearing at my unprotected legs every step I took.  What really frustrated me was just to my right there appeared to be a nice open meadow that the path could follow and 100metres to my left there looked to be a forest snigging track, but I was too nervous about leaving the trail markers as I just didn't know where these alternates went, so I slogged on the signed route, stradling my way around the meadow, then started my descent to the road. 

The last 300 metres were perhaps the most frustrating.  It was all fairly well uphill, and there seemed to be tracks criss-crossing everywhere.  The trail even crossed a major road, but it was like whoever set up the trail deliberately tried to avoid the easy route and instead aimed for the most difficult and torutrous options they could find.  Actually I did consider at one point that maybe they got lost and so just wandered along knocking in trail signs and then when they reached the road thought to themelves "That'll do, I'm not going back in there".

I was so happy to emerge back out onto the Marlborough Highway that I could have kissed it.  I compromsied and had a chocolate covered muesli bar instead.  It had taken me nearly 3 hours to travel probably 10kms.  Just for the record, from the time I turned off the forestry road I had probably ridden 10% of the section, pushed my bike 40% and carried it 60%.

It took me less than 45mins to follow the alternate route down the Marlborough Highway back to my car, and most of that was rectracing the climb back over the hill I had first come over. The climb was much easier and ridable going North to South.

So that was pretty much my day.  I can now happily sit and stare at the little line on Google Earth that my GPS recorded for the days meanderings and think ... so that's where the trail is.

For me that actually makes it all worthwhile.