This was such a pretty drive through beautiful forests. The road was very windy, but there were hardly any other vehicles on the road. And, it was Saturday – the first day of the school holidays.

We had planned on stopping after about an hour in a very small village called Derby – if we spotted a cafe. Well, there was a cafe, but there was also about 500 people there (not all in the cafe – but it looked pretty full). All the people we spotted had a bike of one sort or another. There were lots of vans with trailers filled with mountain bikes. There were also a lot of people camping along the Ringarooma River.

Derby was once a thriving town built around tin mining. Now the mining has ceased, the population is less than 200. But the town has carved a nice little attraction in its area catering for mountain bike riders, of all ages.

The quiet town of Derby is dominated by the Blue Derby Mountain Bike Park which was opened in 2015. The park was specifically designed to weave through and around Derby and the adjacent Blue Tier Forest Reserve, providing riders with over 80 kilometres of single track mountain bike (MTB) trails. An exhilarating design has made this small town a mecca for anyone with an interest in mountain biking.

Mick and I were blown away by how many people were there to ride these tracks.

Once we arrived in Bridport, which will be our base for the next three nights, we drove around to get our bearings. We are staying very close to a famous landmark called the “Old Pier”. Named for obvious reasons.

For a little town, with a population of fewer than 2000, there seemed to be a lot on.

Today, this little gin distillery, beautifully set up in an old church, was having its official opening with live music at 5pm.

We went back, just before the live music was to start, for a drink, and were lucky to get a seat at the last ‘unreserved’ table outside. Neither of us wanted a gin, but they did sell wine and beer. Mick selected his beer and the wine I picked unfortunately couldn’t be found – a Chardonnay from Pipers Brook. The only other one to tempt me was a Riesling from Freycinet Vineyards – but we had a half-finished bottle of that excellent wine in our fridge back at our apartment, so I shocked Mick by selecting a beer as well.

The people who have restored this church have done an excellent job. Everything was finished off beautifully.

There are quite a few wineries on our ‘wish lsit’ to visit over the next two days. Let’s see how we go.