Day 2. Launceston to Stanley

 The word of the day is WIND.  

We had a comfortable night and we both slept very well after yesterdays travels

Up early and down to a nearby cafe for breakfast. A bit chilly but hopefully it will warm up. The wind was blowing a bit but not too bad.

The bike was ready for us and after the paperwork was filled in and Grantley went over the finer points of the KTM, we loaded up the bike and we’re on our way.


Launceston is a very pretty place and the ride North was just lovely. We stopped briefly to view the site of the Beaconsfield gold mine then our first coffee stop was at Beauty Point.  A pretty little village with a nice view over the estuary to George Town.


The wind was getting stronger as we headed towards Devonport and as we neared the coast it was pretty strong.

Maps.me kept us off the motorway and we followed the road around the coast. Nice towns along here and some beautiful bays. It has surprised us how many people live up here and the roads are quite busy.

Maps.me also ate my phone battery at a rapid rate so we stopped in a small town, Robyn grabbed a cup of tea whilst I searched out a power adaptor for the bike and charging cable.

All sorted.  We were dodging rain showers quite a bit but nothing too serious, although the roads were wet and very shiny so great care and gentle throttle required.

By now the wind was getting serious and the last 50km to Stanley were a true test, probably as strong as anything I’ve ridden in in NZ. The Bass straight sure knows how to blow.

Stanley is a neat little tourist village, a bit like Arrowtown, unfortunately the wind is howling and there are periodic squally showers which come at you sideways.  We did our best but retreated to our cottage, defeated and soaked.

Never mind, we are booked into the hotel restaurant for dinner which specialises in local seafood and the bar looks cosy with an open fire.  

View from our cottage window. 




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