Oatlands sits on the Midland Highway in the middle of Tasmania, and it is built almost entirely of local sandstone. The main street is lined with Georgian buildings, shops, inns and cottages, many of them dating from the 1830s and 1840s, and the town claims one of the largest collections of such buildings in Australia. It is not a showpiece, and many of them are simply in daily use, as houses and cafes and a bakery, which gives the place its reality.
The town was founded as a military post, a stop on the road between Hobart and Launceston to keep order among the convicts and the bushrangers who roamed the Midlands. The convicts quarried the stone and built the buildings. The Callington Mill, a tower windmill of 1837, stands on the hill above the town, and has been restored and now operates as a distillery and visitor centre. The mill is a clear landmark across the dry landscape, with a cap that turns to face the wind.
The landscape of the Tasmanian Midlands is open, grassy and gently rolling, scattered with sheep and white-barked gum trees. It is a drier, colder country than the coast, often frosty in winter, and the weather can change fast. Lake Dulverton, beside the town, is a shallow lake that fills and empties with the seasons and attracts black swans and other waterbirds, and it has a nature trail and a small hide.
The Midland Highway itself is a main road, with long straights and gentle curves, and for a rider it is more a means of getting between places than a destination. Freight trucks use it, and there are overtaking lanes and speed cameras on parts. The charm is in the stops, and the old stone buildings make a pleasant break from the monotony of long, flat sections. Before leaving, take a short loop through the back lanes that lead into the hills, for a taste of country riding.
Oatlands is a good stop for fuel and food, with a pump on the main street and a few cafes, though hours can be short, particularly on quiet days. Bagdad, a small town about thirty-eight kilometres to the south, is the next place of any size toward Hobart, and Hobart itself is about an hour away. Try the local pies and, if you have time, a visit to the distillery, though with the bike outside it should be a slow one.