Lapidary in Launceston.

Ben's on his way to Launceston today and intends to join the Lapidary Club of Northern Tasmania. The club has tools and equipment for gem faceting and polishing as well as plenty of local knowledge and expertise. He's also hoping to meet an 83 year-old gem-cutter named Rex who lives in Riverside, a suburb of Launceston.

This kit might have saved
the day - and the tyre!
(web image)

11AM edit: May not get there, the rear tyre is flat. Hoping to re-inflate it at Branxholm and limp the next 20km to Scottsdale where there's a bike shop. RACT is another option. It's odd that, just yesterday, we were talking about tyre repair kits - should have remembered to 'touch wood' or something like that. It could be worse though, at least it's daytime.

12.30PM edit: Rode back to Derby, pumped up the tyre at the service station, then rode to Scottsdale where it was replaced. The tyre was worn through to the belts - probably from riding on a deflated tyre. The now-expensive trip to Launceston continues...