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.

Halls Gap to Dunkeld.

Another hot day forecast so we set the alarm for 10 to 6. I slept pretty well despite having a kangaroo munching grass right next to the tent, a few centremetres from my head. The stars from the valley at Halls Gap seem extra bright and the dawn extra dramatic. We watched the east facing cliffs go a spectacular golden red colour as we munched our breakfasts in the camp kitchen. We were packed and on the road by 7.

As bike rides go this has to be one of the most scenic, with the mighty rocky outcrops lining the valley and the dense bush shading the road. The first phase of the ride is a long climb up over the great divide. Nice to get that out of the way early while the day is cool

We made fairly good time and really enjoyed the long sweeping down hill on the other side. We were encouraged by a Google maps profile which seemed to suggest it was mostly dkwn all the way into Dunkeld,  but we discovered afterwards that was a different route, one which avoided the energy sapping climb up over the ominously named mount abrupt. It was hot when we got there and it was a struggle to keep on going. But not a lot of options and we made it over and down into Dunkeld a bit before 1 by which time it was baking. Our tires were sinking into melting tarmac and we were seriously tired. We stopped at the caravan park but the prospect of spending the afternoon in that heat wasn't very appealing, so we booked into the very nice Royal Mail hotel, with aircon, fluffy white towels and a swimming pool for a bit of restoration. The forecasts are dire for the next few days so we plan to ride to Warrnambool tomorrow and see if we can shift our booking to go back tomorrow night. Means as 100 k ride though - a while since I've put one of those in on a loaded bike. But hopefully it gets cooler as we get near the coast.

Ararat to Halls Gap

We booked tickets on the 8.17 to Ararat, and headed out early to beat the commuter rush with our loaded bikes. Last night I found that the bike I was planning on taking had a problem with getting into low gear, so at the last minute I swapped the panniers over to the greenspeed trike, which I've never taken on a tour before. It certainly was interesting weaving through the commuter crowds at knee height, it wouldn't fit through the door of the train without being lifted and turned on its side, and it didn't fit in the bike storage rack on the train. But despite logistical challenges we got to Ararat and on the road by 11, just as the day was heating up. There is a good hill on the road out of town and we ground up that, followed by some steep down hills where I set a new max speed. We encouraged ourselves on the first hard up and down stretch with the prospect of a cold coke at the Moyston general store, but when we got there it was clear it had closed long ago. So after a rest we headed off into the increasing heat. I was crawling along at about 11 ks per hour, despite my best efforts. I was beginning to think I must have blown a gasket, but discovered after a few slow k that I had forgotten to release the park brake after our last stop. Instant doubling of speed helped us do the next stretch to Pomonal, with an open general store, in around an hour, but it was mighty hot and the heat radiating back from the road made it challenging. Coming into Halls Gap on the lovely bike path we had a nice encounter with a local, John, who had seen us resting at Pomonal and who had ridden out in his electric powered greenspeed trike to say hello.

We hit the campground set up our tents had a shower and started some serious rehydration. It is a lovely place, with inquisitive cockatoos and very relaxed kangaroos. Here is Jess testing the greenspeed as a camp chair, with a couple of kangas hanging out nearby.

We had a very good dinner at the pub over the road, and did a bit of planning. We hadn't counted on it getting so hot and we are both felling a bit weary. We will try leaving early tomorrow to see if we can get to Dunkeld before it gets too hot. Weather forecast for the next few days is pretty scary - a 40 day on Saturday.  Maybe a shorter route to Warrnambool than we planned. See how we go tomorrow.