Tasmania: Slalom, Walking and MTBing
What a full 2 weeks of fun and adventure in Tassie.We travelled to Tasmania on 2nd January on the Spirit of Tasmania from Melbourne and picked Kevin up in Launceston before heading to the Mersey for the next 5 days for the Australian Slalom. We camped at the Arm River Camp
Our new "Wanted C2" from Galasports went very well. Kevin bought it the previous February but we only got it fitted out for 2 days practice in late December at Penrith before Tassie. It is designed to the new rules which has C2s now 75cm wide (down from 80) and 4.1m long down from 4.58. The seats are also lower and the cockpits are closer together.
We had a lot of fun and considering our practice we did pretty well.
Friday we went to Bradys Lake to do some practice on the slalom course there. We were a bit to complacent and had a capsize on our first run down the "Cruncher" which ended badly:
fortunately there was medical assistance on hand and I got 3 stitches in my forehead and plenty of closures on the scalp.
Saturday was a quiet day resting in Hobart at the Eckhardt's with Kevin & Annette dressing my wounds.
Sunday we were ready to head out for a paddle and hike in the South West on Lake Pedder and the Frankland Range.
Our destination was The Citadel, a peak in the Frankland Range.
Kevin, Annette and I were joined by 3 locals, Mel who we had met at the slalom and her friends, Lucas and Elanor.
We paddled about 16km across Lake Pedder and hiked a short distance (1.6km) to camp.
First landing on the muddy beach. The middle shot shows from far right to centre "The Citadel", "Murphys Bluff", and "Cleft Peak" in the centre which was the way we hiked up the next day.
Early the next morning we decided to head up a peak "Cleft Peak" to the South which looked like the easiest route.
There was some dense wattles around the creek. The view from the top was spectacular, Mt Anne is in the distance to the right of the middle shot. The view to the North shows Murphy's Tarn and The Citadel.
Tuesday we decided to paddle across Lake Pedder and Kevin Annette and I paddled back to the car while the others camped out an extra night.
Mel, Elanor, Annette, Gary, Lucas and Kevin. Us in our double kayak. Kevin with Crumbledown Island & The Citadel behind.
Wednesday we spent in Hobart with Kevin and I paddling with Kate and Peter at "Broken Bridge" before leaving Thursday and driving up the East Coast camping along the way to Derby.
Friday morning we paid for a shuttle (with Vertigo Shuttles) ($30 each) to do a ride down "Atlas" a 16km ride descending about 400m back to Derby. It was sensational and was the best track we'd risen considering the continuous fun features all the way.
Kevin had a fly over the handlebars and was a bit battered. We all however did another run down on Saturday.
Annette and I headed out for a ride up Krushka's another track which was also great until our swing-arm broke 14.3km in to our ride and with 3km to walk back to Derby. See here for more about break.
Our new "Wanted C2" from Galasports went very well. Kevin bought it the previous February but we only got it fitted out for 2 days practice in late December at Penrith before Tassie. It is designed to the new rules which has C2s now 75cm wide (down from 80) and 4.1m long down from 4.58. The seats are also lower and the cockpits are closer together.
We had a lot of fun and considering our practice we did pretty well.
Friday we went to Bradys Lake to do some practice on the slalom course there. We were a bit to complacent and had a capsize on our first run down the "Cruncher" which ended badly:
fortunately there was medical assistance on hand and I got 3 stitches in my forehead and plenty of closures on the scalp.
Saturday was a quiet day resting in Hobart at the Eckhardt's with Kevin & Annette dressing my wounds.
Sunday we were ready to head out for a paddle and hike in the South West on Lake Pedder and the Frankland Range.
Our destination was The Citadel, a peak in the Frankland Range.
Kevin, Annette and I were joined by 3 locals, Mel who we had met at the slalom and her friends, Lucas and Elanor.
We paddled about 16km across Lake Pedder and hiked a short distance (1.6km) to camp.
First landing on the muddy beach. The middle shot shows from far right to centre "The Citadel", "Murphys Bluff", and "Cleft Peak" in the centre which was the way we hiked up the next day.
Early the next morning we decided to head up a peak "Cleft Peak" to the South which looked like the easiest route.
There was some dense wattles around the creek. The view from the top was spectacular, Mt Anne is in the distance to the right of the middle shot. The view to the North shows Murphy's Tarn and The Citadel.
Tuesday we decided to paddle across Lake Pedder and Kevin Annette and I paddled back to the car while the others camped out an extra night.
Mel, Elanor, Annette, Gary, Lucas and Kevin. Us in our double kayak. Kevin with Crumbledown Island & The Citadel behind.
Wednesday we spent in Hobart with Kevin and I paddling with Kate and Peter at "Broken Bridge" before leaving Thursday and driving up the East Coast camping along the way to Derby.
Friday morning we paid for a shuttle (with Vertigo Shuttles) ($30 each) to do a ride down "Atlas" a 16km ride descending about 400m back to Derby. It was sensational and was the best track we'd risen considering the continuous fun features all the way.
Kevin had a fly over the handlebars and was a bit battered. We all however did another run down on Saturday.
Annette and I headed out for a ride up Krushka's another track which was also great until our swing-arm broke 14.3km in to our ride and with 3km to walk back to Derby. See here for more about break.