Day 6 Ouse to Bushy Park 2 January 2022
12.6°C minimum and 26.5°C maximum. 44.7km. 3.15 min cycle time. 13.77km/h average and max 57.37km/h. Elevation 595m and descent 868m.
6.05am wake up, no alarm set as the Trail notes tell you to arrive at Bushy Park between 4-5pm and ring beforehand before noon.
7.20am departure through town then off the bitumen up a dirt road and uphill which gives you great views of the valley and Derwent River. There are two dams close by and the trail goes right next to one. I saw my first wild deer (not native) and then the trail goes out of the Derwent Valley uphill where the roads turn into forest tracks and get less used. I looked at the GPS and it read turn left so I went around this new gate and uphill before realising it was not the right road to turn left on so back down again. 50m later was a tiny 4wd track on the left you could easily go past. Along the bumpy, muddy and dry mud trail I was looking for previous cyclist’s tracks when I came across the Broad River just as the Trail notes say so knew I was on the right trail, plus the GPS is also agreeing. Then the first Tasmanian Trail sign appears reassuringly. You continue up and down the 4wd track through the forest where the logging road becomes a path up uphill and then there is an alternative section for cyclists along the same logging road to the right. What the tail notes forget to say is at the fork junction take the left road and follow that road until you see the Tasmanian Trail coming across from the left to the right then take the right track. I’m bum up riding up the hill without having to get off now as I develop some strength but the back tyre slips on the gravel without weight on it so I have to sit down again and pedal in 1st. On the great downhill run Ive got my brakes on sometimes the back wheel locks up as I control my downhill speed.
Once on Pilliers Road I come across 10-15 horse riders from New Norfolk region preparing to ride to Broad Creek and back. I startle one horse but the owner on the ground has the horse’s reigns held tight. Once across the bridge on Pilliers Road another hill walk then on Ellendale Road. There is an alternative section to Mt Bethune but it advises cyclists its rocky so I head down on Ellendale Road towards Ellendale town. I look over to the right and see some logging roads come out of the forest I was in and thought that the Trail could come out of them to avoid the main road for awhile and the large hill I walked, just a thought that needed google maps and satellite to see if it was possible. It’s a Sunday at 10.00am so everything is shut including the Post Office and café. I am overtaken by a cyclist wearing a Sutherland football jersey, bum up riding uphill past me without saying a word, so I say morning he then replies. He had a full load and a small backpack and I wonder where he has come from? The Tasmanian Trail or elsewhere, and why this road? In Ellendale I ring John but not getting through. I try without an 03 but no answer. I find out at Bushy Park I’m pressing a 5 not an 8. Wear your glasses when ringing next time as he was a little upset I hadn’t rang him beforehand.
I follow the Ellendale Road until a gate appears of course when your going downhill fast and miss it, so back up the hill I go to find 3 locks. I try the firs tone, no the key does not fit, the second without luck , then the third and it opens. Except it does not open the chain. Whoever it was didn’t put the lock on properly so that multiple key holders can open the gate. The gate was too high too lift my bike over and there was no other way to get in so along the main road to Bushy Park it was to be.
Coming into Westerway a large sign for a raspberry farm appeared too good to miss. They only had 1kg tubs of fresh fruit and I thought that was too much to eat so I went for a cup of ice cream and a hot chocolate. Well the ice cream & sorbet didn’t melt and the hot chocolate stayed hot, unlike in Darwin where any ice cream would be melting before you got out of the store. It was so good I went back for seconds. Lunch sorted. Fruit picking costs $5 per person and $16 for a kg of fruit taken. It had raspberries, strawberries and blueberries at the time. Lots of people were picking fruit and the car park was full.
Across the road I check to see if the Post Office was open and realised again that it was a Sunday so no. On towards Bushy Park there are more cars coming both ways but I see a disused train line cross the road and consider what a perfect bike trail that might be. The line goes all the way to New Norfolk.
Just before Bushy Park the GPS is telling me to go places but I ignore it and head into the roadhouse for a drink. Then onto the campground. There is a chain across the grid/entrance I just go under and consider whether I just have lunch here or stay for the night. A man arrives 5 minutes later who was going to do some wiper snipping some long grass near the toilets that I ask for help. He rings John, gets his son David and comes around in about 5 minutes. A few grumblings but he turns on the hot showers, provides me with a container of water, key for the toilet and signs me in. It costs $5 for the use. I fill up both my bottles of water as they were both near empty. He has Prostate Cancer So I help out as much as possible and don’t ask too much of him, I hope he recovers soon. I hang around in the alcove in the shade, power up my devices, relax and sleep for a short time. After 6pm I get enough energy to walk to the roadhouse and check out the town but the roadhouse was closed. I walk up the road to the old Wheelhouse and check it out from the outside and the water channel created to power the wheel. Once again back at the campground I’m the only one there.