Zipped back into the Strahan harbour area for a coffee and croissant at the bakery before starting our ride to Corinna. The ducks thought we might share….as if!

Strahan has some lovely old buildings and I particularly like this one.

Leaving town via The Esplanade, the water was very calm out on the Harbour.

Beautiful reflections on the Henty River.

Nice day to be riding, the conditions were excellent.

Nice mountain back drops

Zeehan is an old mining town established in the late 1800’s and its population peaked at 10,000 in 1910. Current population is less than 1,000. The Main Street used to have over 20 hotels. Below are a few of their nicer buildings.

The town is pinning hopes on MTB attracting more tourists to the area.

We stopped for coffee at this mobile van co located with the old heritage trains. A bit of a grumpy lady by the name of Linda who did not seem interested in tourists patronising her business. Whilst we sat down and consumed our purchases, nearly every other person said hello.

The scenery became more dramatic the further we headed.

A darker coloured river north of Zeehan on Heemskirk Road. You would not want to run out of water around here, as many of the rivers are stained from mining activity.

This was just a brilliant area to ride. The road was great, the traffic quiet, the weather just right, the views fantastic, the hills rolling.

First sight of the Southern Ocean.

The Granville Harbour wind farm has only recently been constructed, with the turbines and blades all being stored in Burnie prior to construction . I used to drive past them each day on my way to work. There are 31 wind turbines that will produce up to 112 megawatts of clean, renewable energy. This is enough to power around 46,000 homes.

I quite like this one Tony took as I crested a hill, resplendent in my Trek jersey. Great backdrop.

The road to Corinna turns off Heemskirk and is quite narrow. We stopped and waited for 5 vehicles to pass by. Part is sealed, part gravel.

Once at the end of the road, you arrive at The Pieman River. Our accomodation is on the other side. There is a button to press to alert the barge man. We waited a few minutes, wondering if we had pressed the button ‘properly’ so were relieved to eventually see a guy wave at us. The ferry has a motor and a cable to guide it. It costs $13 each with our bicycles but this ferryman you do not pay. ( You pay at the office in the hotel).

This was our accomodation – Pete’s Place, the only original road patrolman’s cottage left in its original position and in reasonable condition in the whole of Tasmania.

From the 1940’s to the 1960’s the road patrolmen lived in these huts all around Western Tasmania. They had a specific section of road to patrol and maintain, keeping it free from potholes and fallen trees.

We were in time to do the Sweetwater cruise, with 6 other people, heading down the Pieman River to the pristine and picturesque Lover’s Falls, returning via Savage River to see the sunken S.S.Croydon.

Lover’s Falls were named as such after a couple who in 1904 found a large gold nugget at the base of the falls, went to Hobart, bought a hotel, and married.

You can hire kayaks from the Corinna Wilderness Resort and paddle them to this pontoon on the Savage River then walk back.

The S.S.Croydon was a 100 foot long steamship that sunk overnight in the early 1900’s after having been loaded with Huon pine.

Back at the accomodation, we hung out for dinner, ordered our meals including sticky date pudding for dessert. The waitress suggested we could share one as they were a generous serve. We both laughed. Share? After we had demolished our meals, she told us we had done a ‘good job’!

Then we went for a wander before retiring for the night.

The Ferryman does have a sense of humour!

Corinna is well worth visiting. Originally named Royerine, it was changed in 1894, named after the aboriginal word for the Pieman River (kurina). It was originally a busy mining town with 700 residents. By 1919 the town was virtually abandoned but exists now as the only surviving remote area historic mining settlement in Tasmania, operating as an accomodation facility. We will be back.

Lovely reflections. Fantastic day to ride! Thanks readiOoroo.