Travels around Tassie—Tullah to home

From Tullah we headed to Cradle Mountain, which despite growing up in Tasmania I'd never before visited. And it didn't disappoint... after not seeing much at all at Freycinet due to the weather, this time the weather put on a perfect show—not too cloudy, not too windy, and not so hot that we couldn't have a pleasant day.

Cradle Mountain

Here we parted ways with our friends Tony and Esther as Al and I had booked in to spend the night at Cradle Mountain Lodge, while they had decided to stay elsewhere and spend some extra time in Tasmania. The next day, after a final short walk around the Lodge, we slowly made our way to Devonport to catch the ferry, taking a slight detour to Mole Creek where we stopped in at King Solomon's Cave to have a look.

Stream behind Cradle Mountain Lodge

King Solomon's Cave

From the cave we continued, picking up some snacks for our evening on the ferry. The Tasmanian component of our trip had come to an end... but we still had a few more nights until we would be home. We arrived into Melbourne at 5:30am and after grabbing some breakfast and coffee (after waiting for the cafe to open!) we spent the day shopping! What else does one do in Melbourne?! In the evening we went for Italian on Lygon Street, unexpectedly catching up with a friend also visiting Melbourne from Canberra, before collapsing in a heap back at our hotel after a long but enjoyable day. From Melbourne we journeyed to Mt Buller for the final two nights of our trip away, and a bit more mountain biking. We always stay at the same lodge, and this time we pretty much had it all to ourselves meaning it was quiet and relaxing way finish off our adventures... although the mountain biking was a bit disappointing.

We decided to start the day with our old Buller favourite, the Delatite River trail.... but oh how we were disappointed. The flow that we remembered had completely disappeared, replaced with recently bull-dozed fire-trails and then in other sections what appeared to be all the collected rubble. Apparently the aim of this work is to improve drainage of the trails and by next year it should be back to the amazing mountain biking we've experienced in the past... but for now, the trails are pretty much ruined. We weren't rushing back to do that trail—so off we went to find the other trails, buying a lift pass to do a few runs down the enduro/downhill trails (without having to keep riding to the top of the mountain!). We soon realised just how much Derby had spoiled us... overall, the trails are Mt Buller weren't nearly as nicely groomed, as smooth, as flowy, or even as picturesque as those we had ridden in Tasmania. But the sun was out, they were still fun to ride, and they presented different technical challenges to those of Blue Derby.

Unfortunately, one of the trails was a bit too technical and I went over the handlebars... I kept riding for the rest of the day, but by the next day a combination of muscle fatigue and the fall meant I was feeling quite sore. With a six-hour drive ahead of us to get to Canberra, Al and I decided it was best to just hit the road and head home.

On our trip I got to spend time with family, get to know some friends a bit better, push myself to try new things, and visit places I've never been to before. We kept active yet came home feeling relaxed and ready to get into the year.

Al and I at Cradle Mountain

Until next time x