Feb 10: Regatta Day

aliceesor

Hobart -> Hamilton

Distance cycled: 80.9km
Ave: 20.1 km/h
Max speed: 66.8 km/h

After our 3rd attempt to get breakfast was thwarted by unexpectedly closed cafes, we finally got the memo that today was a kind of unofficial holiday: regatta day of the boat festival.

This explained the rowdiness downtown last night, and the businesses closed on an otherwise ordinary Monday. The art collective I tried to patronize was closed along with most of the other shops we passed. Google’d had no idea.

Our 4th attempted (and successful!) breakfast led us back out through the rose garden and out of town on the Intercity cycleway.
It was lovely, flat railgrade until it ended abruptly in Clare’s other town.

The highway wasn’t bad though once we got on it; given that Hobart is at sea level, we were expecting some climbing, but we made good time (just look at that average!)

We sped past swans with their cygnets, and paddlers on a slallom whitewater course.

Lots of the fruits were netted to keep the fliers (and Felicitys) out
Picking up 2kg of gravensteins at the market was a great choice – they’re gone already, and we’ve started on the fruit leathers!

We also stopped for fruit, and were frustrated by target pricing on shoddy cherries. Only picking up some homegrown pears from an old fella with a cataract and a missing finger really redeemed roadside fruit today.

Rolling hills, and lots of hay.

Hamilton has gorgeous camping facilities (bbq, covered picnic area, flush toilets, even showers!) with few other campers. Fortunately a local came by to suggest we move our tent because we’d parked it right beside a bunch of sneaky pop up sprinklers. Would’ve been even more fortunate if I’d had pants on.

We eased ourselves out of our luxury lifestyle at the 1826 pub, which despite regatta day was amazingly open and delicious!

A

Leave a comment