Maria Island And Oatlands

 

Maria Island, beautiful spot, outstanding cliffs and beautiful beaches....to come.

 We opted to head to Bishop and Clerk peak which started out as a gentle stroll, following by spectacular suicide cliffs then on and in an easy bush walk.

A few people had past us as we were taking photos and none had returned as yet, I said to Ellen I was suspicious as to why, either we missed a turnoff or it must get very difficult and steep.

So, with only 750 meters to go it became apparent that the latter was correct as the track gave way to a boulder hoping slope which saw us leave our walking polls behind to climb using hand holds on rocks etc so it was a real scramble to the top.

Finally at the top the views were second to none, we really were on top of the world and the small flatish area on the top was maybe 3 meters x 2 meters with sheer cliffs to certain death on 2 sides and a seriously bad day on the others, again I felt a little uncomfortable but hey scare yourself once a day.

 Ascending back down the rock faces and finally getting onto normal hiking tracks we felt like we had cheated death and our path now was around to the painted cliffs.

This area is where the sea has worn back the sandstone to create amazing patterns, the camera does not do it justice.

We did see these two, quite cute really, they look very cuddly but they are anything but.  

Back to the boat which left at 4.15 to Triabunna we made it back safe and sound having had a majestic day weather wise (was supposed to be raining and cold so I wore long pants).

Finishing this part we were preparing to set sail to Oatlands, inland slightly some breaky was had then a quick valve check to Skippy (part of 5000k check).

All valves were within spec except the RHS exhaust which I adjusted 0.01mm in, it was 0.11mm so back in to 0.10mm, only to be fussy really as it was close.

The ride to Oatlands was cold, 12 degrees it got down to so heated grips on and wet jacket to lock out the cold breeze, all afternoon in town it rained and cleared….repeat so we took the opportunity to go on a self guided tour which was cool.

 

 

Ellen wanted to go hiking, I was feeling quite notchy and achy in the bones with the cold and damp as well as the last big climbing steps etc so I sat the easy one out.