Heading to the east coast of Tasmania, motorcycle adventure on my Royal Enfield - S1-E11

After spending a couple of days in the south of Tasmania, it was time to head off. The plan was to head east and make it to the coastline somewhere. The reflection off the Huon River was insane, it was like a mirror. I followed the river up to the town of Huonville, then past the apple store and the berry farm. I was told about a spot I should check out on the way out of the valley, so I turned off the main road. This side road was a fun surprise, winding its way down into another small valley. I bumped into a lady at the apple store that mentioned that I should check out this rock pool stream just up the road behind the pub. Here it is, and she's mentioned that the water was crystal clear. Definitely is that. It'd be a great spot, I think there's a campground just opposite the pub. Right now there's nobody, I think it's a weekday though, and it is stunning. It's not too cold, it's not like the beach at the bottom of Tassie, it's actually a quite nice temperature. I could probably get in without squirming on this one. It is called the Longlea Waterhole, and there are bigger rock pools the further you walk up. You can stay in the Longlea Hotel, but I was wrong. There is no camping here, it's only for day use. It still has a lot of colonial buildings which are scattered through the city, like at Salamanca Place with its old sandstone warehouses, but now they're galleries and cafes. Hobart has a massive food and wine festival called the Taste of Tasmania, hosted here on the right next to the harbour. It coincides with the event Hobart is most known for, the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, where the boats dock literally in the city. To get to the east side of Hobart, you cross the Tasman Bridge over the Derwent River. The bridge was opened in 1965, but a decade later in 1975, the bulk of all carry-out Lake Illawarra struck the bridge, taking out three road sections which fell onto the ship, sinking it. Seven of the ship's crew and five motorists died when four cars drove over the edge of the collapsed sections. The Lake Illawarra still sits on the bottom of the harbour, near the third pylon. As I'm not sure where I might get the next opportunity. This is Tasman Bay National Park Lookout. As the name suggests, it looks out over Tasman National Park. But strangely, the bay below isn't Tasman, but Pirate Bay. I'm sure there's an interesting story to that name. This is Eagle Hawk Neck. A very narrow strip of land forms a natural thin gateway to the peninsula. It was used by the British as a place to stop convicts attempting to escape the jail from Port Arthur. A system was developed where a line of dogs were chained to posts across the neck to warn of any convicts attempting to escape. So I'm at the Eagle Neck end of Tasman National Park. And just there is the Tasman Arch. It's a pretty impressive arch, you can walk over it. A few years ago I actually walked all along these high cliffs here. The first part of the trail is really easy to follow because it's used a little bit. That's about 10km. After that, it's hard to follow. But you just stay on the cliffs. And I saw the biggest ever black snake, or tiger snake, I've ever seen. It was like this. It may have just eaten, but the whole thing was like that. So big black snakes over there. I'm going to try and get out to the three peak things. Well, I'm not sure. I've got to find out if I can actually get a campsite in the National Park. It's summer, so it could be full. Then I'll have to go to Plan B, which I don't have yet. We'll work something out. We'll find somewhere. Again, Tasmania is stunning. I'll just keep repeating that the whole trip. How blue is the water? Tasmania requires a lot of walking. You can't just ride up to some of the places. This is Devil's Kitchen. It started off as a cave, which has gradually been eroded away into this narrow gap. I turned into Tasman National Park. It's the location of the Three Capes Track and Cape Hoy, which is the dolomite columns that stick out of the ocean. So I got to where the campsites are, and it's absolutely chockers. Went to the rangers and they've just like, they try to find somewhere, but nope, no go. And it's probably a bit busy for me. So I guess I'm just going to have to head north and look on Wikicamps and try and just find somewhere. There's normally free camps along the beach somewhere. Hopefully they're not as busy as this. Summer, obviously, is the most popular time. So just one of those things. Oh, I have been here before, so I'm not missing out. But it would have been good to show you. Oh well, next time. North it is. North it is. Contemplating life at a roadside store. An old school sarsaparilla. Not really, just needing a break. My butt was sore. So just heading north still, and I have found one place on Wikamp. It's only got 12 spots. We'll see if there's anybody there. I turned off the main road as it was heading inland, and I wanted to stick to the coast and see if there was anything interesting along the small farm roads. Ah, another Tasmanian dirt road to explore. That does sound inviting. Without direct sunlight on me, it was getting cold, so I pulled over and added some more layers. I spotted a clearing that had a river behind it, so I turned around. It'd be a great spot to camp, but a sign said it was private property, so I carried on. You continually cross little streams like this in Tasmania, probably full of fish, eels, yabbies and platypus. The dirt road had connected me up with the main road again, at Orford. I had made it to Mayfield Bay, which looks up towards Coles Bay. This is where I'd be camping for the night. I got straight into setting up a tent. So luckily the campsite I found on Wikamp had a spot. A bit of grass, a little bit of slope. It'll be okay. Have a look across the water here. We're actually looking at Wineglass Bay, so I think Swansea's just up the road and wrapped around, so this would be Coles Bay. Not a bad spot for the night. There is that storm cloud that might hit. It said maybe showers. Gonna go check the beach out. So I think I know why it's called Three Arches. There was a single tree on the headland just south of me, and with just sky and a few clouds behind it, if the sunset was just right, it might make a decent photo. So I sat on the beach and waited for sunset.