Bellerive to Swansea

This week we left the eastern shore suburb of Bellerive and rode around the coast through farmland and forests before a quick visit to Maria Island. Finishing the week at Swansea was harder than expected with illness sweeping through the family.

Staying healthy on the road is going to be one of our biggest challenges this year. We must have picked up a cold during our Hobart stay last week and we all ended up coming down with the sniffles. For Wilfy and Hope this meant lots of early bedtimes in the tent. After coming along the rough Wielangta Road we stopped at the Triabunna District School to meet two classes who are going to be participating this year. Hope and Wilfy were understandably shy in front of all the ‘big kids’! Our bikes were left in the metalwork workshop at the school and we caught the ferry across to Maria Island. Check out the Maria Island Animals video to see some of the wonderful creatures that live in this national park treasure. We also met Jamie Graham, a Tasmanian Aboriginal man, who will also feature in a separate video interview.

Continuing on the bikes from Triabunna to Swansea was a challenge as Hope developed a blood nose and Andrew succumbed to a nasty secondary infection on his lungs from the previous cold. Luckily we have family to stay with here and can spend a few extra days recovering fully before heading further north.

Watch the video on Vimeo or YouTube to see how it went. Or see our progress on our Google Map.