Ross is a tiny sandstone village on the Macquarie River, and it is the prettiest stop on the Midland Highway. A bridge, a bakery and a few old buildings are all it needs. The bridge, built by convicts and opened in 1836, is one of the oldest in Australia still carrying traffic, and its arch is decorated with nearly two hundred carved stones, the work of two convict stonemasons, Daniel Herbert and James Colbeck, who were pardoned for their efforts. The carvings include Celtic symbols, animals, and portraits of figures from the time, and every face seems to have a personality.
The town's layout has a nickname, the Four Corners of Ross, because at the crossroads at the centre there stand a church, a hotel, a town hall and the old gaol, and locals describe them as representing salvation, temptation, recreation and damnation. It is a good joke, and the buildings are all handsome, in the warm local stone. Ross also has a Female Factory, a ruin of a convict women's prison, which is a sobering reminder of how the system worked. The nearby Midlands are the heart of the Tasmanian merino wool trade, and the sheep that graze the dry paddocks produce some of the finest fleece in the world.
The village bakery is the other reason to stop. It bakes in a wood-fired oven and is known throughout the state for its pies and its scallop pie in particular, and on a weekend the queue can stretch out the door. Eat one at a table outside, with the bridge in view, and the village will feel exactly right. There is a tearoom, a museum and a handful of shops selling wool and craft.
The road here is the Midland Highway, a fast route with straights, rolling hills and traffic, and from a motorcyclist's point of view it is not a thrilling ride. The best use of it is as a connection between more interesting roads on the east and west coasts. Take care in winter, when mornings are cold and frosty, and in summer, when kangaroos, wallabies and wombats stray onto the road at dusk. Bushfire risk in the dry months can lead to restrictions.
Campbell Town, to the north, and Oatlands, to the south, are the safer places to refill, and a tank topped up at either will see you through. The village is at its best in the autumn, when the poplars along the river turn yellow.