On our way again

This was our last day with the club roundup. The 11th November is a significant day to all Australian, particularly servicemen and women. We had what is known as a thunder run from St Helens to St Mary's where we attended a remembrance service. Around 100 bikes made their way up through St Marys pass, on a closed road thanks to Tas Police. It was quite a sight and many locals lined the route to see the club ride past. 

After the service we said our goodbyes to our Tassie mates and started on our journey to Sheffield. The ride was pretty uneventful with the exception of one of the Vic riders running out of fuel along the way. We rolled into Sheffield around 3PM and checked into the motor inn. Sheffield is a very tidy town and at times seems to be locked in the past. Some of the shops and buildings remind us of shops from our childhood and earlier. It is known as the town of murals, with most of the walls in town painted with some type of mural. There is even a park dedicated to murals with an outdoor exhibition displaying past and present winners as well.

We had a wander around town and checked out the hotel  for dinner later that night. We were told we wouldn't need to book. How wrong was that! When we went back later that night the place was packed. Fortunately someone was leaving as we arrived so we managed a table straight away. The meal was pretty good too.

The next morning we packed the bikes ready for the short ride to Cradle Mountain. Before we left, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to call into the local gallery. It is very much the same type of works as our own gallery and some very impressive artworks there. We also picked up a lightweight backpack for our next few days in Cradle Mountain.. 

As we only had a short ride ahead of us we were in no hurry to move on, so around 1100AM we fired the bikes up and headed off. The ride through the countryside was magnificent. Old buildings dating back over a hundred years dotted the roadside and the horses and cattle stopped to look as we rode by. Mount Roland set a perfect backdrop for the ride, and as we started to climb, the views were spectacular.

It wasn't long before the long undulating roads turned into tighter corners and uphill climbs. The corners were getting tighter and eventually turned into switchbacks with advisory speeds of 15kmh. The BMW is a heavy bike, and slow cornering takes some skill and planning your approach and line. Having traffic coming toward you on the corners adds another level of difficulty. The twisties continued for what seemed hours until we eventually came to the main turn off to Cradle Mountain. We pulled over to let traffic pass us and continued the last leg of the ride.

Almost 2 hours after setting off we arrived at the Cradle Mountain Highlanders Cabins. It was only 60 km but we were in no hurry and the roads governed our pace. We settled into our cabin that had a wood fire already burning for us. After unloading, we made our way to the visitor centre to organise shuttle bus tickets for the next 3 days and get some food and milk.

The rest of the day was spent resting up for the next 2 days on the mountain.