The cheapest rental vehicle in Tasmania is also the biggest. The Megavan, which we found by scrolling to the very the bottom of a dozen rental car websites, is so big that it spreads across four car parks in the Launceston short-term pickup area. On the plus side, it fits all our bikes, supplies, and luggage for four days and nights camping and riding Tasmania’s most famous trails during the Dragon Trail MTB Stage Race. And all for $300 bucks. Hell, if the weather turns bad, we’ll even be able to sleep in it.
We ease the beast into Launceston’s quiet highway system and take the long way around to Scotsdale, avoiding the shorter route that would take us through narrow twists and... Never mind. We wouldn’t have made it in the Megavan.
At Scotsdale we sit in a local café where we order an early dinner and watch, along with a dozen locals, as an enormous bus rolls up and dispenses dozens of people in sporty clothes with their socks hiked up.
“Mountain bikers” says someone, and we all go back to eating. We’ve beaten the Dragon Trail shuttle bus so far - the racing has begun. We’re having dinner before they have bought supplies - and we have already loaded up the Megavan with our snacks. Advantage - us.
When we arrive
