name) is Australia’s most southern
railway and still operating, albeit
for tourism. The station marks the
end of the bitumen road, twenty or
so kilometres further south, along a
dirt track is South East Cape marking
the most southerly part of Austral-
ia. I desperately wanted to get there
but had to respect the wishes of the
Southern Riders team this time. We
swapped bikes and turned around to
head north.
The ride north was along the same
road we’d ridden to get to Ida Bay,
in this different direction it felt like
a very different road, amazing what
you see from a different angle. The
scenery was just as stunning from the
reverse angle. It’s one of the things
that impresses with Tasmania.
The Harley’s purred effortless-
ly, with the occasional roar when
opened up, both bikes suited to the
ride along the Huon Highway, both
very different, both a joy to ride.
Town’s appeared more numerous
as we made our way back to Hobart,
or Kingston to be precise. All quaint
and welcoming, some more suited to
tourism than others, yet all had some-
thing to offer. Cideries, breweries,
distilleries were plentiful … ideally,
you’d ride 50km, stop in a town and
taste the local produce … the next day
repeat the process.
You could spend a lifetime explor-
ing this tiny corner of Tasmania and
not see it all. Tasmania is a land of
wonderment. Only once have I heard
it described as unimpressive, “Eng-
land with gumtrees”, the exact quote.
I shook my head in astonishment as
we rode into the Southern Riders HQ,
I wanted more, I needed more … we’d
be back to take on more of the aston-
ishing land … LW
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