Vineyards on the river, a family maritime history and... penguins!

This morning was a lovely one as we packed up our gear, and rode around to the Paperbark Café, not far from the park we’d stayed the night in. The café was new, and the breakfast — “mushroom huddle” with bacon for me; smashed avocado with Tasmanian salmon for Danielle — was delightfully delicious. And cheap! $18 without the extras in this economy!

We also stopped at Marion’s Vineyard, which was stunning. We arrived almost an hour early, so I had a fish from a little jetty in the Tamar River in front of the winery. Once opened, we were greeted by Echo, a big German Shepherd and Flash, a border collie, as we pushed our bikes up the steep driveway to the cellar door. We took a glass each of the Pétillant Naturel, which was pink-hued and very refreshing, and some bush pepper cheddar and vegan cheeseVegan cheese is good for not going bad as quickly as dairy — bicycle tourists don’t carry Eskies and some venison and chilli cheese sausage.

From the vineyard we rode around the riverside bends, past the Supply River junction, where some locals were fishing for ocean run troutA great example of stopping on tour to do something: I regretted not stopping here for a fish for the rest of the journey., and up to the Batman Bridge.

From here the journey got a bit shit. We were forced by lack of options into riding on the A3 highway almost all the way to George Town. The hills were relentless as was the traffic, who barely gave us an inch. There was no shoulder most of the way.I intend to write a longer more detailed post on the dismal state of cycling infrastructure in Tasmania: stay tuned!

Once at George Town we stopped at the Bass & Flinders Maritime Museum. Danielle’s uncle Bernal Cuthbertson — who sadly passed ten years ago — was an instrumental part of both the museum and the vessels and history within it, and we walked in the door with 5 minutes until closing time. Bern’s photo was hung next to the door, and when I explained to the volunteer at the desk how keen Danielle was to see the museum due to the family connection, not only did the volunteers keep the museum open a little longer and give us a tour, but they treated Danielle and myself like visiting dignitaries, took photos of Danielle holding Bern’s photo and were just altogether lovely.

A display for Bern read:

Bern was well-known for the project to build the replica whaleboat Elizabeth that he sailed around Tasmania, and he also managed the building of the replica Norfolk among his many achievements. Both vessels are here on display at the Georgetown Bass and Flinders Centre.

We left the museum and had a beer across the road at The Pier then rode out to the East Beach Tourist Park to lodge for the night in a cabin. The owner Craig was a great character and very friendly!

We went to see a penguin tour at Low Head. The little fairy penguins were lots of fun and very cute! They are very acclimated to human presence and walked right past our legs on their way to their rookery nests. We watched the sun go down and had a lovely evening.

We then went home, trimmed down our bags and packed up some items to be posted ahead at the George Town Post Office to reduce weight in the morning. Next stop: Bridport!