Dunkeld to Warrnambool

We were up and on the way out of town by about 6.45, reluctantly forgoing the no doubt delicious buffet breakfast offered by the hotel which would have delayed our departure. It was lovely being out in the cool of the morning. We passed a young Australian Shepherd puppy, about 6 months old, having a great time herding a flock of worried looking wood ducks across the road.  He was doing a great job, and though he was initially a bit suspicious of the recumbent, he came up for a pat.  A nice farewell from Dunkeld.  It was a lovely ride through the quiet country back roads, undulating through stands of fir trees, with magnificent views across to Mt Eccles and back to Mt Stapylton. The view from the recumbent seat was like this for a lot of the day, Jess vanishing over the rise as I cranked along, hoping to catch up on the descent on the other side.

We followed Google maps suggested route, which landed us on a dirt road for about 6 kilometers - a teeth rattling experience but very pretty and quiet.  And so nice to get back on the tarmac.

Coming over one of the ridges, we could feel cooler air, and there was a visible line of sea mist along the coast line ahead. We arrived at Woolsthorpe about 11.30 and stopped for some health food - a can of coke and a chocolate milk at the general store. The lady in the store said the temperature was currently 26, and their forecast top was 38. We could feel the gusts of wind getting hotter by the minute. There is a picnic table under a beautiful golden elm tree outside the store, but they had a creepy full sized santa on the verandah of the store which played a repertoire of four christmas carols. Over and over again. Perhaps intended like the musak that shopping centres play in carparks to drive off loitering youths.  It sure worked for us.

The road got busier and the shoulder on the road varied from good to disgraceful as we got closer to Warrnambool.  A strong southerly headwind started up, which was good for keeping us cool, but sometimes hard to peddle into. After a few days of friendly drivers waving to us, and giving us an extra wide berth as they passed, the traffic in Warrnambool was particularly aggressive, and the inhabitants of three separate cars yelled something at us.  They probably thought it was terribly witty, and it might have been (though I doubt it), but to us, thanks to the doppler effect, it sounded like "ooraahhhroo" or something. Anyway, hills, headwind, dickhead drivers, tired legs, the last bit wasn't a huge amount of fun, but we hit the station, changed the booking, had a wash and changed our clothes, and headed out for lunch by 2.  After we headed down to the local library, and enjoyed the guilty pleasure of recharging our phones in a bank of powerpoints under a sign which prohibited recharging any device but a laptop. (Why, one wonders ...? )  We were grateful of the quiet space and relaxed until about 5 when we headed off to get our bikes on the train. A nice trip except for the lady a few seats back with the loud voice and the mobile on speaker phone who called various apparently deaf relatives.  "Hello Auntie Beryl.  How are you?" "What?""How.Are.You?" "What?" "HOW. ARE. YOU?" ... Thanks heavens for earphones. The train dropped us in Melbourne at 9.20 and after retrieving the bikes, trying to get the station lift to work and a bit of stress getting to our platform on time, we got onto our local train, and home by 10.

All in all it was a good trip, though not quite what we planned. Temperatures today around 40 degrees, so we are glad to be home and cool.  Note to self: plan future trips with more of an eye to the weather.