Day 20: Lake St Clair to Meadowbank Lake
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Useful Resources
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Last night it rained and was still raining a little when we left camp this morning. Most of the ride for today is going to be downhill. So hopefully should be a nice ride.
About 20kms from camp we decided to take a turnoff towards Laughing Jack Lagoon (C601). The reason for doing this is that firstly it saved us about 11km of riding. Secondly it also removed a few hills along the way.
Taking the shortcut meant riding on dirt and sharing the road with logging trucks. Well we didn't see any logging trucks on the road. The only trucks were for the first couple of kms. These were going to the local quarry to get sand, so after the quarry we didn't see anymore traffic. As for the dirt, the road was rough in places but generally okay.
After about 20km riding on dirt the road met up with the main road again. It took is about a 1 hour 20 minutes to go via the dirt. So it wasn't too bad. After a few kms of joining the main road we had this really, really long descent. It just went on and on so we it was fun to go pretty fast.
The descent stopped at Wayatinah. This was going to be our original stop at the old hydro electric village. But it was only 12pm and there wasn't much to see here. So we pushed on to our next destination, Ouse.
After about another 10kms the road opened on to open farmland. This also gave us a bit of a headwind.
Thankfully most of the ride to Ouse was downhill. Ouse is a small village. We couldn't find anywhere to camp, so had lunch and replenished our food supplies. We then headed to our final stop, Meadowbank Lake.
Meadowbank Lake is about 8kms from Ouse. But it was a bit of a slog, as the wind picked up and of course it wasn't a tailwind. We arrived at the campsite at about 4.30pm. It is a free site next to the bridge and lake. It has picnic tables and toilets. Once we'd put our tents up we went for a swim in the lake. Temperature was nice until you came out and was exposed to that bloody wind.
Today we cycled further than planned. But it means a short ride tomorrow to Mount Field National Park. My final camping spot for the trip. As when I get to the big city of Hobart on Saturday I'll be staying at a youth hostel.
About 20kms from camp we decided to take a turnoff towards Laughing Jack Lagoon (C601). The reason for doing this is that firstly it saved us about 11km of riding. Secondly it also removed a few hills along the way.
Taking the shortcut meant riding on dirt and sharing the road with logging trucks. Well we didn't see any logging trucks on the road. The only trucks were for the first couple of kms. These were going to the local quarry to get sand, so after the quarry we didn't see anymore traffic. As for the dirt, the road was rough in places but generally okay.
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| 20km of dirt |
After about 20km riding on dirt the road met up with the main road again. It took is about a 1 hour 20 minutes to go via the dirt. So it wasn't too bad. After a few kms of joining the main road we had this really, really long descent. It just went on and on so we it was fun to go pretty fast.
The descent stopped at Wayatinah. This was going to be our original stop at the old hydro electric village. But it was only 12pm and there wasn't much to see here. So we pushed on to our next destination, Ouse.
After about another 10kms the road opened on to open farmland. This also gave us a bit of a headwind.
Thankfully most of the ride to Ouse was downhill. Ouse is a small village. We couldn't find anywhere to camp, so had lunch and replenished our food supplies. We then headed to our final stop, Meadowbank Lake.
Meadowbank Lake is about 8kms from Ouse. But it was a bit of a slog, as the wind picked up and of course it wasn't a tailwind. We arrived at the campsite at about 4.30pm. It is a free site next to the bridge and lake. It has picnic tables and toilets. Once we'd put our tents up we went for a swim in the lake. Temperature was nice until you came out and was exposed to that bloody wind.
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| Meadowbank Lake |
Today we cycled further than planned. But it means a short ride tomorrow to Mount Field National Park. My final camping spot for the trip. As when I get to the big city of Hobart on Saturday I'll be staying at a youth hostel.
