Monday 28th January St Helens to Scottsdale

Well what a marvellous cycling day. We managed to do 102 km today over some really big hills and climbed just over 5000ft . Not bad for fully loaded Bromptons and we would have been pleased with that on our normal touring bikes. We are back at Britts now. We set off from St Helens at 8.15 and got here at 6.30.
There was not many cafes or stops on the way which is the usual thing in Tas, but the ones that we found today were spot on the right place. At about 10.30 we arrived at The Willows Roadhouse Tearoom which was spot on for a second breakfast and a rest before the big test of the day, which was Weldborough pass. When we had sorted out our main climb there was a nice micro brewery pub where we had lunch. Then a good mostly downward ride to Derby who's best features I thought were the town hall and old bank (see photos) although an ice lolly from one of the many cafes was rather nice also.
We cycled on and got to Branxholm which we had cycled out to from Britts the week before when doing the rail trail ride.To be honest we had had enough by then, but the thought of 15 more miles would get us back with Britt and her lovely comfortable home comforts meant we kept going. We wanted to contact Britt but could not get a mobile signal and we phoned from a payphone but it rang out then just cut off not leaving an option to leave a message. We would just have to turn up on the doorstep and hope Britt was in.
The temperature had been kept in the low twenties by cloud cover, but this disappeared and we were heated by the early evening sun. We had bought a drink from the shop in Branxholm, but wished we had bought one for the final leg of the journey.
The journey was rolling from Branxholm and every down was not long enough and every up was really hard on the legs. So we arrived unannounced at Britt's or so we thought. Peter had driven past us and given us a toot and a wave earlier in the day. We had waved back although were not sure who we waved to. When he got home, he had phoned Britt to say that we were not far off and would probably be at Britts that evening. So we were expected unbeknown to us at the time.
A long cycling day with near perfect weather of no wind and comfortable temperatures. Really pleased with how the bikes are performing. We know from books, blogs and road signs that we did 102km but our mileometer shows only 57 miles. It was fitted for the trip but it looks like the calibration is out by about 8 percent . We need to have a look at our total mileage and take-in to consideration the miles lost when the battery died, plus this inaccuracy to see what miles we have done. If the only problem with the bikes is problems with the mileometer then I will be happy.
Rest day tomorrow, we can get this blog published, sort our washing and have a general sort out. We have spoken with Britt and will head out on Friday morning to head towards the airport, doing a mini tour north tasmania on the way, over four days. Britt is sorting out sightseeing on Wed and Thur, so we will now have a few days off our bikes except fir nipping into Scottsdale high street shops and back.