My watch actually ran out of battery at the ‘DB 5KM’ mark so my total was actually 89 km today 🙂
409 Miles / 658 KM
Well… I was definitely dreading today, but I was pleasantly surprised. I actually had a great day on the bike! My mentally had totally flipped this morning. I guess, partly, It’s amazing what a good rest can do. And I needed to dig myself out of the hole I was creating. I knew I’d hit a wall on the bike ride, and yesterday was it. I also knew I’d come out the other side and that my body and mind is stronger than I think it is on days like yesterday.
“Your mind will quit a thousand times before your body will. Feel the fear and do it anyway”
I had to have my bad days. Yep, I had them! Makes me appreciate the good days even more… Today was wonderful.
I had breakfast at the hotel at 7am, and was out the door at 8am! I needed an earlier start today because I didn’t know how long was gonna take, and if it was going to be anything like yesterday the hills were going to kill me and I’d be walking a lot. BUT… the ride was great. The hills were long and gradual – meaning I could walk up most of them! The first hill out of Queenstown was windy, long and quite steep! But the reward at the top was a fantastic view over the town and the winding roads down that I had just climbed up! At the top of this climb there were two side trips I could do. Either Horsetail Falls, or Iron Blow lookout. I chose the latter, as I knew there was Nelsons Falls later which I wanted to do, and that would break the ride up a bit today! The 1km ride up to the iron blow lookout was totally worth it. It was cloudy as anything, but the view down was pretty cool!
After the lookout I had 25km till Nelson Falls. The initial down hill into the valley and past beautiful Lake Burbury was steep and fun, and I was grateful for some head wind giving me some resistance so I didn’t have to be on my brakes! The rest of the ride was either flat or a very gradual uphill so it was pretty nice. The weather was good today, cloudy but still pretty hot. I was constantly sweating today… gross.
Nelson’s Falls was pretty – It was a quick 2km loop walk in the rainforest to the falls. It was one of Tasmania’s ‘Top 60 short walks’. I f they have 60 ‘top’ walks I cant imagine how many walks they have in total!
I had 60 km from the Falls to get to Derwent Bridge – my destination for the night. I was cycling through Franklin-Gordon National Park for the whole ride! I was beautiful…. again! I had no phone service which was a welcome break – especially so I couldn’t keep checking my maps and seeing the inclines I was about to tackle. I knew I had a couple of long hills coming, and I guess not knowing exactly when they were was actually okay.
I knew I had a 8-9km uphill towards the end. I was nervous about this, but it turned out to be okay and the 400 metres of elevation was equally spread out, so I actually managed to cycle 80% of it! I had originally thought Id be hiking up the whole 8km! I’m sure the bag of lollies I ate at the bottom of the hill was a great sugar kick to get me up that hill haha! After conquering the long 9km hill, I have just 10km left to DB. It’s an easy downhill and flat for the rest of the way so I can coast into town! I check in at 3.15pm – making it here in great timing – way better than what I thought I would. I was ready for some food and a shower. But the restaurant was serving dinner till 6pm, so I had time to go check out the WALL!!!
From hitting my wall yesterday… to seeing the wonderful ‘The Wall’ today!
What a fantastic piece of art work!! I got here at 4pm and had an hour, which ended up just being enough time to enjoy and see the entire artwork. I can’t even put into words how awesome it was. To see art like that on such a large scale and to see the craftsmanship that went into the sculpture was absolutely fantastic. This totally made my day – I was a little dubious to spend $15 on seeing one bit of art… but totally worth it!!
You weren’t allowed to take photos inside, they even took my camera from me before I got through the door haha. But I have to give it to them and the people in there… they were actually respecting the wishes of the artist by not photographing the work! Here are some photos from his website of the wood work! And I’ll explain what ‘The Wall’ is!
The Wall (in the wilderness)
Artist Greg Duncan is creating a stunning sculpture at Derwent Bridge in the heart of Tasmania. The Wall in the Wilderness is Greg Duncan’s commemoration of those who helped shape the past and present of Tasmania’s central highlands.
A work in progress, The Wall is being carved from three-metre high and 1 metre wide wooden panels. The carved panels will tell the history of the harsh Central Highlands region – beginning with the indigenous people, then to the pioneering timber harvesters, pastoralists, miners and Hydro workers. The wall has taken over a decade to get to the stage is it at today, and 75 of the 100 panels are complete! The wood is rare Huon Pine (native to Tasmania).
The best part is…. you see the wall in progress. Some panels are complete, some aren’t started, some are half way through, some you can see the drawings nailed up next to them. The carvings are phenomenal. Being able to see the process I think is amazing, and there was a side note in the gallery that some of that is intentional and will be left like that so people can see the process! But it is still a work in progress and Greg Duncan does still do regular work on the piece.
My day finished off with an amazing dinner from the hotel restaurant. I needed some proper food, so may have spent a little more than I planned, but man, it was tasty!
Tomorrow is a big last day of riding. I hope to hit Hobart tomorrow… which is 103 Miles/ 167 KM away. I have never biked this far in one day on an empty bike… let alone a loaded one. The elevation gain isn’t huge… not for the distance anyway, and I need to do a little research as to where and when the hills are! The elevation gain is about 800 metres and loss is about 1500 metres. So in theory it should be quite a flat ride! I think the longest ride I’ve done with a loaded bike is 135km, and without stuff about 150km. Tomorrow is going to be a long and testing day! Send good lucks, and favourable weather this way please! And I hope to check in from Hobart tomorrow night!
Good Night!!!
“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.”
