Day 7. Hobart to Bicheno (via Port Arthur)

 A quick check on the weather forecast sites meant nice weather and no rain, so all the wet weather layers can be stripped out and stored hopefully for good.

So after a quick breakfast at a local cafe we set off in a balmy 18 degrees and sunny. Yay.

After a short motorway ride to clear the suburbs Maps.me soon had us on the B roads and what a treat, we rode through a beautiful fertile valley with crops all nearing harvest, then acres and acres of grapes.

Pretty towns and houses dotted the landscape and one place in particular stood out, Richmond, like riding through the past, beautifully maintained buildings all original and as neat as a pin.

The landscape was browned off, this is what we’ve been waiting for.

About 20km from Port Arthur the temperature had plummeted to 12 and it was raining. 

We considered abandoning Port Arthur but after a stop for more clothes we ploughed on.

I’m glad we did because the former prison colony was well worth the visit. We had no idea how big it was, like a small town really. 






But it really is at the end of the earth and the bleakness of the day just added to the atmosphere as we tried to comprehend what it must have been like for the poor bastards incarcerated here. Many of them 

sentenced to lengthy jail terms for stealing a loaf of bread to feed their families back in blighty.

After we had wandered through the site we arrived at the site of the former cafe where many of the 35 people who lost their lives in the 1996 massacre were killed. It is now quite a poignant memorial.

Then back on the bike, north to our destination for the night Bicheno. Nice countryside and great motorcycling roads but even though the mercury rose to 16 degrees it still felt cold due to a brisk southerly wind.

The lady at our hotel apologised because the pool is closed for maintenance, oh dear never mind.

So far on this trip I haven’t needed a t shirt, shorts, togs, jandals. Must improve my research in future😂


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