Tasmania - Corinna!
January 1, #16
Corinna…somewhere on the horizon…
New Year ~ Welcome to Corinna
It had been 9 days since leaving Arthur River and if our estimation was correct, we still had about 3-4 days of riding to reach Zeehan for a resupply. Not knowing where we would end up most days, we were never making reservations more than a day in advance. Normally, that was fine, but now approaching Corinna, I found myself wishing we had a reservation to look forward to. I had called ahead from our hill-top camp just to see if anything might be available in the campground at Corinna over the holiday weekend, but as anticipated, they were fully booked.
Rolling vistas to lose yourself in
Corinna was another iconic place for us. We first learned about the area watching a Tasmanian’s You-Tube video and were instantly transfixed by the remoteness, the landscape, and the remnants of history left behind by the Piners and Miners from the 1800s. It was incredible to realize we were now just kilometers away. There was a free camp at Savage River, 6 kilometers outside Corinna, so we could at least stay nearby, but it wouldn’t allow us the freedom to leave our bikes at camp to explore on foot.
In this last stretch, what we thought had been the tough hills, we discovered were just the warm-up. The road was apparently descending into Corinna, but not without finding mountain sides to climb in between. There were stretches with amazing rolling vistas, lush rainforest covered hillsides, and in between grades steeper than anything we had encountered thus far.
Im not sure if it was because we had told the stranded couple we would check for reception along the way, or it was my gut hoping somehow a spot might have opened up in Corinna, I felt compelled at one point to stop in between hills just to see if I could get reception. Unbelievably, two bars popped up on my phone, followed by a voice on the line saying “yeah, we have a campsite available for the next two nights”. Elated - we confirmed our arrival that evening and made a 7:30pm dinner reservation as well.
Yeah, Nah - Yur Good
We stopped briefly at Savage River to check out the free campsites which looked amazing right alongside the river, under a canopy of man fern and old growth trees, but we couldn’t wait to get to Corinna. On our final climb from the river to the intersection with 4 kms left, we were once again pushing each other’s bike up the hill. Only this time, a ute with an empty bed, pulled over a ways ahead of us. The driver walked towards us, asking if we needed a lift. He assumed we were on e-bikes and our batteries had died. Once he learned we were on push-bikes, he assured us it was downhill after the intersection just ahead and left us at the side of the road. We looked at each other, shook our heads and laughed…
Check-in Karma
Rolling up to the steps of Corinna Wilderness Village felt surreal. We were actually here after being thousands of miles away on a couch in a suburb - longing to be, where we were not.
Corinna Wilderness Village in real time!
Cheers to Good Ol’ Tassie Karma!
We bounded up the steps to the reception desk hoping just maybe we could get a cabin for at least one of the two nights. Once again, we were in the right place at the right time. We not only got a cabin for our first night, there were just two more spots on the Pieman River cruise the next day and the manager agreed to store our bikes in the workshop until we returned. It was just as we would have planned it. To celebrate our arrival a perfect-tasting Stout with Quinoa (I didnt know beer could be so healthy) enjoyed on the front porch! It couldn’t get any better!
After moving in to our cabin at the end of the drive, we celebrated the New Year, freshly showered in our town-attire with a wine-toast and three-course dinner. Our travels thus far were beyond any expectations and more than what we could of ever planned. Thank you Tasmania for showing us how magical life can be!
Our Webster Cabin with a back deck for the bikes!
Back Deck forest view - what’s not to love?!