A Climb to Pancakes

Today we started again with pancakes on the mind. Not that our ride was entirely flat, but it ended near a famous pancake barn. Mmmm... we couldn't wait for a big stack of yummy pancakes.

We headed away from Coles Bay at a dash (which soon slowed...) and back to the main road to continue heading north and closer to pancakes. We pedalled along past a mixture of rural lands and beautiful coastal roads (and quite a bit of flattened out wildlife - ick). Dense clouds threatened to shower us, but we managed to skirt all the rain and eventually found bits of sunshine. During the ride, we passed a fellow cycle tourist who ended up being Dave, the guy from Colorado whom we chatted with at our camp in Triabunna. It was nice to see a familiar face back on the road.

We then came to our turnoff which climbed to Elephant Pass... and the pancake barn beyond. A sign at the bend told us that we had 8 kilometers until pancakes... and we knew that they were all uphill. Once we turned, the open terrain of the day ended and we began to climb with gum trees hanging over into the streets and growing densely in the background. The scent of the forest filled the air and sparkles of light squeaked in amongst the shadows of the trees as we winded our way slowly up the hill. After several steep stretches and some relieving gradual slopes we finally arrived to the top.

Before we could begin our descent we saw the long awaited sign for Mt Elephant Pancake Barn. Unfortunately, we soon discovered that the pancakes served here were not the tall piles covered in syrup served in an American diner, but the elegant crepe style pancakes served in France. The large thin crepes filled with fresh berries and served with a side of cream (and ice cream!) were quite tasty, but did not fulfill our ravaging appetites like a tall stack would have. After we left, we had a short (mostly downhill) ride to our destination town of St Marys, where we finished filling up and headed to the "online access center". As I began to fill in my blog within the last minutes of opening hours at the center, I met a fellow who offered us a room in his large home down the road. Being a traveller himself, he often takes visitors in and likes to offer them a nice break from camping.

And we have had a nice break... we've enjoyed warm showers, a nice meal from the cafe down the street, and now we are listening to some of his musical works on the piano as I finish off today's blog.