I have to admit, I'm getting a little tired of caravan parks. I didn't get a huge amount of sleep last night. Firstly, being school holidays in Tasmania, there were little grommets running around like headless chooks until 10pm, then drunks stumbling back from Coles Bay Tavern at midnight, then fishermen getting up to leave at 3am. I think I'll find somewhere quieter to camp tonight.
After leaving Coles bay, I backtracked slightly to Cape Tourville. The gradient of one section of that detour is monstrous, but the views at the cape make it worthwhile. I really need to review the photos from this section of the tour on my digi-cam, but I have no idea which one's I'll eliminate. I headed north along the coast into a growing headwind, detouring only to the Friendly Beaches on the eastern side of the peninsula. Sections of the ride were quite pleasant near Moulting Lagoon, but other parts were less inspiring, given the type of coastal vegetation in the area.
About 7km south of the coastal town of Bicheno, the headwind became a monster. At one point my speed dropped to 14km/h, and that was hard work. Slowed me down a little, but I did draw some satisfaction from turning it aside. Bicheno is noted for having a blowhole in the rocks on the coast, through which water spurts into the air everytime a big wave hits it. I stood near the blowhole, waiting for the big wave to snap a photo of the blowhole. Eventually settling on a medium-sized wave. As I put the camera away I was totally covered in water. It's always the one you ignore, isn't it?
On the way into the main street to find something for lunch, I bumped into Gavin again. It's amazing how sometimes you keep running into people as you head up the coast. We had a meal together with another traveller (who's name I probably picked up but don't seem to remember right now) before bidding our farewells. They were headed for Launceston that afternoon.
Being fed up with Caravan parks, I decided to head for Douglas Aspley National Park to complete the day. I found a beatiful, and above all, quiet, place to camp that night, surrounded by the forest. I also took a walk through Aspley Gorge, which became something of a three-hour odyssey once I started rock-scrambing in the gorge itself. I never seem to learn! The gorge passed a chain of small waterfalls and rockpools so it was quite pleasant and well worth the three hours.
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