IMAGES:^ STUART^ GIBSONLEFT, FROM BELOW:
Bennett’s wallaby; Blue
Derby Pods; Blue Derby
mountain bike trailsComplete immersion
I’m told that Maria Island is Tasmania in microcosm — and
if that’s the case, then Di is Tasmania personified. A veritable
frontierswoman at 72 years old, her eyes are the color of the
water at Riedle Beach and, just six months after a double knee
replacement, she’s outpaced me every step of the way on our
hikes around Maria. She grows her own vegetables, brews her
own ginger beer, promotes environmental causes, and has an
in-depth knowledge of every bud, bloom, bird, and beast we
pass. She drives like a pro, too, dodging a masked white owl
in the middle of the road on the long drive through the night
to our next stop in Derby, a former tin-mining town in the
northeast of Tasmania.
It’s home to the Blue Derby Pods Ride, where I fuel up on a
feast of local sourdough and butter, pumpkin, hummus, and
salad ahead of a beginner’s lesson in mountain biking. Set
up in 2017 by 20-something Tassies Steve and Tara Howell,
Blue Derby Pods Ride combines three-day mountain biking
tours with spectacular food and wine, plus accommodation
in one of four wooden pods, which rise out of the mossy forest
like newly germinated seeds. Come bedtime, I feel like an elf
living deep in the heart of the forest. Four years ago, this clever
endeavor never would have worked as there was virtually no
reason for travelers to visit this corner of the island. But in
2015, the Blue Derby — a network of nearly 50 miles of world-
class mountain bike trails — opened and was immediately
lauded as the pinnacle of mountain biking in Australia. Soon
after, the Enduro World Series headed here, and Derby was
firmly on the map.
The biking tours are flexible and can accommodate
anyone from seasoned riders to novices like me. “We want
you to ride the way you’d go out and ride with friends,”
Steve tells me as we whirl downhill through mounds of
fishbone ferns, past tangles of myrtle, and under the thick
branches of macrocarpa trees. Botanically speaking, it’s a
dream. Exercise-wise, however, my backside hurts and the
combination of fresh air, adrenalin, and a new challenge
means I retire to my pod exhausted, yet contented in a way
that only a complete immersion in nature can achieve.PARTNER CONTENT FOR TOURISM TASMANIA