Epic Aussie drive - Tasmania, the island of uninhabited twisties

[walkie86]

G'day fellas. A Tassie road trip has been on the cards for a while, but we finally put our ass into gear a few months back and booked some ferry tickets. Our group consists of all OZRS members with an Arctic Blue 182 Cup (me), Glacier White R27 (buddy), Megane 225 F1 Team (CHRIS-172), Lunar Grey 250 Trophee (Teki04) and a silver MX-5 (Huw). We're planning to cover as many Targa Tasmania stages as possible (if you don't know what it is, google it) and see as much of the island as we can in 6 days

Day 1:

- Leave Sydney at 5:15am:

- Collect Buddy on the M5
- Breakfast at Berrima McDonalds:

Cruisin' down the Hume:

Random photo stop:

- Lunch at Benalla

- Beer with mates in Collingwood before boarding the Spirit of Tasmania at 6pm:

- Dinner and sleep in the ship 8)

 

[walkie86]

Day 2:

Drive from Devonport, following the Targa Day 1 loop to St Helens and then back to Devonport.

- Off the boat and waiting for quarantine:

- Filling up with 98 before a big days drive:

- Breakfast in Devonport:

- On route to Launceston:

- The MX-5 is a bad influence...

- Bit of rally practice:

- The Big Thumb:

- Coffee stop in Scottsdale (really good coffee and scones!):

- Old barn photo opp:

- Bay of Fires:

- Don't mess with the wildlife:

- End of the first day:

 

[walkie86]

Day 3

Another day, another few hours of uninhabited twisties :twisted: Covered day 2 of the Targa Tas stages from Devonport down towards Deloraine, across through Mole Creek and then up to Cradle Mountain. On the way back we went through Cethana (epic) and then got a bit lost but eventually found our way through Gunns Plains and Riana on the way back to Devonport. Off to Tarraleah (halfway between Strahan and Hobart) tomorrow via Queenstown and the West Coast. Should be good :mrgreen:

- Liquid breakfast for the Renaults

- Stop for a scenic walk

- Mine's quicker! Yeh, on the straights...

- Top of Mt Claude, "Cethana" Stage

- He felt left out so we put Gordini stripes on

- They're definitely not AWDs...

- Action shots

- Where are we?

- Valley view

- Teki's beast getting a wash

 

[Christopher]

They're so far from home.

Looks kinda cool though. The 250 looks great. As does the 5 sliding!

 

[RSteve]

Awesome!

 

[Hixle]

f**king awesome mate. Great photography and scenery!

 

[Gally]

I always loved that too Turner seeing them in a nice warm climate, like we always see those lucky barstewards in USA with their jap mobiles sun blazing down!

Looks immense mate and that GW 27 is the dogs balls.

 

[Šįk]

brilliant! the photos have really captured the RS250 well!

 

[walkie86]

Thanks fellas. We've clocked up almost 2000km in 3 days. Got another 6 to go so we should be hitting some pretty epic numbers

This is the official Targe Tasmania map: http://www.ausmotive.com/images2/T10-map-01.jpg

So far we have done the blue, yellow and purple routes. Tomorrow is the green and half the red. The roads down near Strahan and Queenstown are supposed to be pretty crazy, so we might just have to do a few laps. Got some videos of today's driving to upload as well.

Here's a video of a proper racing driver in Targa when the roads are closed, to give you an idea of what we're driving. Obviously we're not going quite as fast :rasp: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxARf74Refg

 

[Andy.]

Great read. About as far as home as they can get!

 

[_Tom]

Awesome. I wanna go over there snake hunting..lol

 

[Ian_182]

Love the colour on that megane.

Great scenery too...

 

[Gaz.]

Looks mint. Would love to drive roads like that.

 

[Englebert]

Awesome photos there sir!

 

[edgeydt50]

Great write up and great photos

 

[Nas]

Cool pics mate.

 

[walkie86]

I'm back home now so will add the rest of the days with more detail to come but overall some stats:

I left home on Saturday 14th May @ 5:20am with the odometer on 57506km.

I got home on Sunday 22nd May @ 3:20pm with the odometer on 62274km.

Travelled 4768.1km
Used 389.9L of fuel
At an average of 8.1L/100km
With an average speed of 70.8km/h

Day 4

IMG_9660 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

IMG_9672 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

IMG_9679 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

IMG_9679 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

Strahan

IMG_9695 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

Run out of Strahan

IMG_9706 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

IMG_9716 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

Queenstown bends 8)

IMG_9751 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

IMG_9760 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

IMG_9771 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

IMG_9779 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

IMG_9790 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

 

[walkie86]

Day 5 - Wednesday

Accom in Tarraleah - awesome renovated weatherboard house

IMG_9835 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

Hamilton Pub

IMG_9839 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

Scallop pies for lunch in Hamilton

IMG_9842 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

Run down to Strathgordon 8)

IMG_9844 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

Dam lakes

IMG_9920 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

IMG_9921 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

 

[Gray]

The cars look so out of place from the 'normal' scenery we are used to seeing them..

Awesome photos and write up! Looks like you had a great time guys

 

[walkie86]

The MX-5 got fed up with being left for dead in the twisties, so he decided to show us who's boss:

IMG_9888 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

 

[walkie86]

Day 6 - Thursday 19th

Early start for the trip from Tarraleah to Hobart for breakfast with ejp44 and friends

IMG_9933 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

Our first bit of traffic in Tasmania (just before this photo), trying to get to the bridge to take us to the airport hotel for an awesome $10 brekkie!

IMG_9937 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

John's R26 (Dom's old car) was VERY clean and looks extremely well looked after 8) we were accompanied by a (very fast) MPS6 and a Mini Cooper S

IMG_9940 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

First stop in Richmond to see the oldest bridge in Australia (built in 1838 IIRC)

IMG_9944 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

A quick stop after a nice run up the coast at Spiky bridge. Across the water you could see the Freycinet peninsula

IMG_9951 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

IMG_9953 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

Lunch stop in Ross for another pie 8)

IMG_9961 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

IMG_9964 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

Saying good-bye to the guys, on route to the MONA (awesome new gallery) just outside Hobart. Thanks for the drive guys! That last targa stage was a great bit of road - shame the speed limit is only 60km/h!

IMG_9989 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

Had to get a photo on this boat ramp sticking about 100m out into the river!

IMG_9993 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Nice write up .. love the photos .. have just added you on FlickR !

 

[Goodj]

Love it boys, love ti.

Although this thread lacks Holden

 

[Hixle]

This thread gets better and better. Stupidly jealous :dapprove:

 

[Riad]

Awesome!

 

[Naith]

fantastic, such a variation in the fleet, so far away. thanks for sharing. love them all....

even the MXg5ay

 

[walkie86]

Haha thanks for the comments fellas. There're a few more photos to come but if you check my Flickr (follow the link below any of the photos) you'll find more.

Going to do a full write up with Google Map to track our route. Also, search YouTube for 'targa Tasmania queenstown' - that is one crazy road :rasp:

 

[mr.valver]

How close to the edge please!?

Cracking cars, even better scenery!!

 

[ROB91]

Epic trip, and great pics.

 

[walkie86]

Day 7 - Friday 20th

Last day in Tassie Stayed in Hobart on Thursday night and after a few beers in Salamanca Bay, decided that it would be a great idea to drive the long way home to Devonport to be at the ferry terminal by 6pm.

The early departure was somewhat stalled by the previous night's antics, but we got on the road by 8am-ish (with a quick McStop to fuel up):

IMG_0044 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

Driving through the country-side outside New Norfolk was a nice way to start the drive:

IMG_0053 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

Until we came upon a few (hundred) sheep:

IMG_0054 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

We got through fine and continued on the lovely 100km/h sweeping country road to Tarraleah. I only took this photo to annoy Teki as he wanted to stop to take a photo with the pipes but we said 'no', so I took one while driving:

IMG_0056 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

Stopped for a tinkle after Mt Arrowsmith (Targa stage):

IMG_0058 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

IMG_0062 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

And ran into the Canberra MX-5 club! Huw was excited, as you can tell:

IMG_0060 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

On route to Queenstown:

IMG_0066 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

The famous Queenstown bends 8) tight 2nd gear left-hander after right-hander after left-hander etc etc:

IMG_0090 montage by Alex B 86, on Flickr

IMG_0092 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

IMG_0102 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

IMG_0107 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

IMG_0112 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

IMG_0115 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

IMG_0117 copy by Alex B 86, on Flickr

Rest of the day to come 8)

 

[Jcs]

Some awesome photos/scenery. Lovely cars too.

Launceston/Devonport part confused me as I thought why did you go via Devon & Cornwall in the UK lol. Matching place names ftw.

 

[182_sport]

Epic drive, really nice cars I love that Megan

 

[walkie86]

End of day 7

Back in Devonport, earlier than expected, so waiting for the ferry. Who's got the dirtiest front?

We know Huw'll have the dirtiest back...

Goodbye Tassie! Thanks for the uninhabited twisties! :mrgreen:

 

[Gally]

Superb mate, super jealous!

 

[Dunn]

That is MEGA

awesome scenery

mazda mps 6 looks like it has some potential too

 

[walkie86]

Day 8 - Saturday 21st

Got a good night's sleep on the ferry but off at 6:30am, so straight to St Kilda for coffee and an early breakfast (as we met up with Dish, Jen, Griffyn and DanielG @ 11).

Teki's 250 looking cleaner than all of us! Oh, that's because he decided to wash his car instead of driving the long way to Devonport...

We had to fight with the cyclists to get a spot opposite Cafe Racer... we won 8):

Breakfast with Dish, Jen, Mikeee and DanielG 8)

 

[Cookie]

Brilliant pics!

Looks like a fun trip

 

[ch!ppen]

That 250 is stunning.

Lovely scenery too... I really do need to visit Aus soon!

 

[ALF]

Great, great photo skills in this thread, love it! :approve:

 

[Merk]

I have now decided I want a Meg 250 in that colour, simply because of these pictures.