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
Thursday, December 17, 2015
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.
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
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