This post is an attempt to alert the HU community to a frequently overlooked part of Australia. Hopefully the HUBB will tolerate one person's shameless plug for an area he knows and loves.

Tasmania is widely regarded as the best motorcycling region of Australia, and from my experience it should be considered as one of THE great motorcycling destinations on the planet (alongside NZ).

I'm not alone in this belief, Peter Thoeming in his book "Motorcycling in Australia" declares the same thing. Spectacular scenery, pristine wilderness, every type of surface from beautifully maintained sealed highways to "Hail-Mary" wilderness tracks, spectacular terrain at every turn and a friendly population. There is sea transport (http://www.spiritoftasmania.com.au) for bikes and people twice daily and the ferries are fast and cheap.

Tasmania is an all-season area, though late-Spring to early-Autumn (November to April) is best. This timing is particularly good for travellers as this corresponds with the time that northern Australia and the Outback are dangerously hot.

Anyway, if anyone wants more advice, drop me an email and I'll be glad to give some recommendations for places to see and visit.
But if you are coming to Australia, I heartily recommend including Tasmania in your plans.

hiya

I was interested to see your post cos i was already of thinking of hitting Tazmania but not sure, now obviously i am. It would be useful to get any advice on places to visit/stay etc, which you could post here or email me directly. currently in india and should be hitting australia about march/april time at darwin. thanks.

Will

__________________
Will

Some day so soon....

Hi Manning,

I was glad to read what you wrote about Tasmania, it confirms so much I have heard about it!

A few of us have planned to go riding in Tasmania for about 10 days from the 18th of December 2010 onwards. We are competent riders, and have done a two month, 18,000kms journey around Australia (The Hard Way Round). We plan to be riding WR 250's and 450's and be completely self sufficient - we are happy to camp. We have heard many comparisons between the East Coast and the West Coast, and we have been told by many to avoid the West Coast due to the rain and mud.

Could you please give us some more information? If we have 10 days, what would be the best route?

Looking forward to hearing from you - Jonny