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this page - pics
& story and for more pics see;
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2
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In
March 2001 32 members of the TR
Register Australia embarked on a tour of the island state of
Tasmania. We travelled from Melbourne in Victoria to Devenport in
Tasmania by the car ferry "Spirit of Tasmania" For a Full Report see below ..
The following photo shows Geoff James and
"The Tart" - the car took one look at the STOP sign - and it
did!
After arriving in Devonport, the
group was met by local members of the TR Register led by David
Pearce and by members of the TSOA led by Alan Donohue who then
guided us through various places of interest and on to the
accommodation at Burnie. 
For a better indication
of what transpired The idea of a tour around the Apple Isle came from a casual conversation between a couple of TR Register Australia members. By the time all the plans and arrangements had been finalised, a group of 32 people in 16 Triumphs were ready to board the overnight car ferry which runs from Melbourne across Bass Strait to Devonport in Tasmania. The cars and people had come from Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory, and the Queenslanders had covered over 600 miles just to get to the boat !! Why Tasmania? This island which sits just over a hundred miles to the south of the mainland is one of the most scenic and diverse areas south of the Equator. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the place, it is roughly the same size as Scotland, or twice the size of Holland. The population is about 600,000, with about one third of those people living in the two principal cities. The island is home to the deepest lake in Australia; the longest cave; the world s largest flowering plant and its most ancient trees. Some 40 % is covered by forest, while much of the storm lashed coastline is spectacularly scenic. And importantly from our perspective, the roads are good, uncluttered by heavy traffic, and were obviously designed with Triumph motoring in mind!! The TR Register Australia group which would eat, drink and drive its way around "Tassie", comprised 10 sidescreen TRs, a TR 4, two TR 6s, a Swallow Doretti and a Triumph 2500S. There was also a ring-in in the form of an Audi TT, which was a last minute replacement for a TR 3 which had succumbed to an illness shortly before the tour was due to commence. The sea voyage to Devonport was in mill pond conditions, not always the case as the shallow waters of the Strait can be violently turbulent at times. On arrival, the group was met by the local Triumph enthusiasts, who spared no effort to ensure that we had a smooth and trouble free tour. This included organising repairs to the TR 4 s radiator, on the Sunday of a long weekend, when the crankshaft extension bolt came loose and proceeded to bore a very neat hole through the radiator. Fortunately, this was to be the only mechanical malady suffered during the tour, which says something for the overall reliability of Triumphs, even those approaching middle age. The same could be said for the drivers and passengers, who, apart from an occasional headache seemed to scrub up very well each morning. And the weather was superb - there was only one day when the tops were required for most of the participants, otherwise the weather stayed fine and warm. After 14 days of touring this peaceful and friendly island, the group sailed back to Melbourne, again in very calm sea conditions. The cars had all travelled in excess of 1000 miles around Tasmania, and the crews had sampled many of the delights that the place has to offer. We had travelled to the rugged north west and west; taken boat and seaplane trips along the Gordon River; visited the relics of the island s past as a convict settlement; and visited wonderful National Parks and rain forests. We had stayed in excellent accommodation; eaten in great restaurants and sampled the delights of elderly pubs and modern wineries. It was definitely the touring venue everyone would be happy to revisit, but the TR Register is now considering when and where the next tour should run. It could be a problem, as Tasmania will be a very hard act to follow. John Pike |
