The Phoenix Tour

Woke up to Stanley showing off with beautiful blue skies. Rode to Smithton and felt the disdain from the bike as I filled it with 95. No 98 to be found.

The ride started out similar to yesterday, lush farmland with glimpses of water and mountains in the distance. I followed a route suggested by another rider – through Hellyer Gorge.

I’m glad I did. The conditions were perfect – dry, sunny and clear. This road is full of twists and turns through impossibly beautiful forest. Massive tree ferns fanning out their fronds creating moss and lichen covered fairy wonderlands underneath giant old growth trees. The sunlight dappling on the road made it seem surreal and, again, like there should be a crew filming the next Jurassic Park instalment.

I took a lot of video. You’ll notice it is not here. Yet. I am having storage issues which I am trying to sort out. Watch this space….

I started looking for somewhere to stop and stretch and remembered that I also should probably eat something. Next stop was a little place called Tullah. I am not sure what the actual town proper was like as I pulled into a bizarre little place that seemed to be made up of a bunch of demountable buildings kind of scrunched together. There was a Post Office and a takeaway and some other random bits and pieces, including a couple of places that seemed abandoned. I had the most delicious wrap as I sat at a table outside, next to some dude, wearing a hat that looked like it would need to be surgically removed from his head, who sat eating his sandwich and jingling what sounded like $100 worth of 10c coins in his pocket. I sat until my eye started to twitch and then moved on.

On to Strahan through some more forest and some great swathes of cleared areas, which was jarring after so much lushness.

Passed through some mining areas around Rosebury and Zeehan. The stained roads were a giveaway.

Then into Strahan.

Strahan is a strange little place. The Esplanade is full of lovely buildings but it is similar to a ski resort in a way. Every building around is some kind of accommodation. There are little stone cottages, weatherboard places and some more modern structures. All set up as places to stay. There are only really two places to eat at night – Hamers bar and grill, an upmarket, pub like place and the fancier place up the hill, 42 degrees. For breakfast and lunch there is a place called the Kitchen. All of these places needed to be booked through the reception desk which also seemed to manage ALL of the accommodation along the Esplanade. Weird set up.

Strahan itself seems to be made up of homes spread here and there throughout the hills. The few buildings in the Esplanade that aren’t accommodation options seem a little tired, a little grimy. A few appear to be closed down altogether. You can see hints of their former glory in their architecture. Gone are the picture perfect, beautifully restored buildings and houses of Stanley. Strahan has many older properties, peering out from behind overgrown gardens, seemingly ashamed of their peeling paint and rusted roofs. They look like they were once lovely but are now just reminders of the past.

I am sitting here typing this, looking out the window at the teeming rain and hearing about 15 people arriving on motorcycles (lucky me, I had sunshine the entire way. Warm and dry in my room). Wondering what my walk down to dinner will be like… It seems that Stanley wins in the weather stakes for now. However, I knew rain was likely at some stage while I am on the West Coast.

Tomorrow, I am looking forward to going on the Gordon River cruise. I think this is where Strahan comes into its own.