Not A Mid Life Crisis, Just An Extended Tour (Part XII)

 DAY 16

I was awake from about 3am today. Maybe I shouldn't have gone to bed so early. 😕 It rained quite a bit during the night but I was nice and dry in my Spartan 2. I'm really impressed with that tent!

The sandy ground didn't show any sign of the rain but I did have to mess around finding some direct sunlight to put the tent and fly in to get it dried out so I could pack it away - because - O.C.D. 

Once packed up I headed for the bridge over Cockle Creek for a couple of photos. A cool change must have accompanied the rain last night as there was a nip in the air this morning. Pretty much the first time it has felt cold at the lower levels since I've been in Tassie. It looked like it was going to be another great day though.

Not A Mid Life Crisis, Just An Extended Tour (Part XI)

 DAY 14

Flying into Launny today there was a high chance of rain. Looking out the window of the jet, toward the west as we were on final for runway 14R, it looked pretty bleak. This could be interesting....

Better in the photo than it looked in person.

Not A Mid Life Crisis, Just An Extended Tour (Part X)

 DAY 13

I did set an alarm today as I had a slightly ambitious schedule which was going to culminate in me flying home tonight for work. So I had the bike packed and was on the road just after 7am - the earliest start since waay back here on Day 3! I knew that Derby would be awake and planned on grabbing a bite to eat there. I wasn't disappointed, with the Two Doors Down cafe' doing a brisk trade. I perched myself out the front and chatted with some mtbers while downing a not-too-shabby coffee and toasty.

Not A Mid Life Crisis, Just An Extended Tour (Part IX)

 DAY 12

A bit of a dusty start this morning thanks to that bottle of red I hauled from Q'town. Think of the money it saved me though....anyway, after a few trips up and down the old Mole Creek Hotel staircase I had the bike loaded and was ready to go. It was warm and I was sweating already! How awesome was this weather? Perfect for motorcycle touring!

First stop was just down the road at the Deloraine Town Cafe' Bakery - again. 

Not A Mid Life Crisis, Just An Extended Tour (Part VIII)

 DAY 11

I had a great nights sleep and was awake early. Not that I had to get going any time soon, but I got up and had my cheap 'n' cheerful breakfast. These little yoghurts are great as they keep well, take up next to no space then roll down into nothing once done. Black coffee mightn't be my preference but is definitely better than nothing.

Next was packing up and drying my tent for a bit in the sun that was finally peeking over the hill behind me. Where to today...?

Not A Mid Life Crisis, Just An Extended Tour (Part VII)

 DAY 10

During the night the wind picked up and was fairly howling. Remember those sheltering trees to the west that I mentioned yesterday? Yeah, well the wind was an easterly so they did absolutely nothing to stop the tent being shaken like I was camping on the ice shelf in Antarctica! Throw in a few showers of rain and the shaking of the trees behind me as each gust tore through their branches and you can probably imagine how many times I woke up that night !😳 Eventually I shoved some ear plugs in and managed to sleep until about 7am but the damage was done.

Not A Mid Life Crisis, Just An Extended Tour (Part VI)

DAY 9

Well, I have had leave booked from mid last year for late February/early March so what better way to use it than to go back and ride my bike?! Especially as we were having biblical amounts of rain here in Brisbane. Try ~ 500mm per day, for the last four days in a row. My flight to Launceston was delayed two and a half hours because of rain induced carnage to the network, plus a tarmac shutdown because of lightning. When we did eventually start to taxi it was via a circuitous route because 01R/19L and it's associated taxiways were flooded! Yep, if the new runway hadn't been there Brisbane Airport (BNE) would have been closed!

That is the Prime Minister's air force VIP jet being towed from the international terminal, through the floodwater to dry(er) ground before it could start it's engines and taxi safely under it's own steam. Yep, it was WET and I was happy to be bidding it good riddance!