In April 2019, we rode from Sydney to Tasmania and enjoyed five glorious days exploring this island state. If you don’t know where Tasmania is, it’s the island to the south of mainland Australia.

Our trip was stunning and we were very lucky with the weather. Here I have consolidated the posts, included some maps and given some of my top tips, should you wish to follow any of our routes:

Link to each post:

Day 1-3 – the trip down plus first day’s riding in Tasmania

Day 4 – the west coast – Queenstown to Geeveston, in the beautiful Huon Valley

Day 5 – the south coast – exploring the Huon Valley before heading to Hobart for a day off the bikes

Day 6 – the east coast – Hobart to St Helens

Day 7 – the centre – inland towards Launceston, down to the Great Lake and then north to Devonport for the sail home

Day 8 – arriving early in Melbourne, we rode the Black Spur then the Eildon to Jamieson Road before over nighting in Harrietville.

Days 9 & 10 – over Mount Hotham and the Omeo Highway, we stayed in Tumbarumba before blasting up the motorway back to Sydney.

Route Around Tasmania:

Route Back to Sydney:

Some Top Tips For Riding Around Tasmania:

1. Roadkill Tasmania has an abundant amount of small critters, sadly many of them stray onto the roads and end there days there so keep an eye out for not just the dead ones but also try to avoid any live ones. The best top for avoiding hitting anything living is to stick to riding in solid daylight hours, mostly of Tasmania’s animals are nocturnal.
2. Farm Animals Many roads we travelled on crossed over un-fenced farm land so keep an eye out for cows and sheep hanging around at the side of the road waiting for a hapless motorbiker to jump in front of.
3. Gravel Whilst the road surfaces are mostly excellent, there can be patches of gravel present from the very large trucks which are forced to use the narrow roads, this can push gravel into the carriageway which is not your friend if cornering a little too fast.
4. Rocks Watch out for rocks large and small that tumble down from rock cuttings in mountain areas.
5. Big trucks As mentioned above, roads that would be considered unsuitable in Australia have to be used by trucks to get supplies to remote areas so be prepared. Signs are pretty good but you might need to be prepared to meet a giant truck on a tight road.
6. Variable weather Prepare for every eventuality, it can snow in January which is the height of summer, it can be hot and sunny in autumn, and rain can be torrential, we weren’t rained upon but we saw it over some of the mountains. Consider a range of clothing options. In April, I wore my winter gear (which has vents which can be opened) plus thermal layers underneath when we needed to, I took three pairs of gloves (summer, mid-season and winter) and I was very grateful for heated grips.