All Good Things ...

... Must Come to an End

It's been a week since the last day of our epic ride across the continent. We've unpacked, done all our dirty laundry (Di), put the bikes back together (Doug), cleaned the house (Di) and done some gardening (Doug.) We've been to the State Cinema to see a movie (Ricki and the Flash with Meryl Streep), had dinner with friends, out to breakfast this morning with some other friends and have even had a couple of rides. It doesn't feel weird anymore not getting up every morning and into our cycling gear straight away, so I guess we've generally settled back into being homebodies.

I figure there has been enough time - and space - between finishing the big ride and now to be able to look back and sum up the journey. Here are some raw numbers:

Total number of ride days: 44
Total number of rest days: 9
Total days from Perth to Melbourne: 53
Shortest stretch of consecutive days riding: 2 (the first two days; ~ 200 kilometres)
Longest stretch of consecutive days riding: 12 (Esperance to Ceduna;  > 1400 kilometres)
Total distance: ~ 4700 kilometres

Memorable Moments

I've always been of the opinion that raw numbers don't mean anything without some sort of context. In this case, the context has to be the experiences we had along the way, the things that really stand out. We went off on this caper with the attitude that it wasn't necessarily going to be a holiday as such, but that it sure would be some sort of adventure. We thought it pretty likely that we would have some very ordinary weather and that could significantly impact on player comfort level. (In fact, there were very few days when we set out in early morning rain.) Our little accident just a few days before leaving home didn't help. As it turned out things went much better than we could ever have dreamed, so there were a lot more highlights than lowlights. Here are some of the moments that stand out, both good and bad:

Best Moment Off the Bike

This one was easy: it's definitely eating oysters and drinking stout with Peter and Di in Cowell ...

Ahhh ... the simple pleasures of life!

Peter had treated us to some oysters in Tumby Bay and we were looking forward to some more further down the coast of the Eyre Peninsula in Coffin Bay. Unfortunately the weather was looking abominable for the ride south so our route was amended and we thought we were going to miss out on another feed of South Australia's finest oysters. Little did we know that Cowell is growing oysters and its reputation for them. I wandered over to the closest factory from where we were staying and paid for three dozen of them. When we got down to shucking the pearly beauties it turned out that we'd been given 38, so a great little bonus. And they were fantastic!

Worst Moment Off the Bike

We were in Madura. It was the longest day's ride of the entire journey: 157 kilometres, the first 60 of which was in pouring rain and into a bit of a headwind. Di had been having trouble eating as her stomach didn't like the various anti-inflammatories she'd been consuming to try to get some relief from her sore hip. She reluctantly got into the van after morning tea at Cocklebiddy after we'd plodded along that 60 kilometres and rode with Collis. We opted to take a cabin at the caravan park rather than crawl into our tent with thunderstorms threatening. (And did it storm! The thunder raged for over six hours!) Di was so low she said, "This is the worst holiday I've ever had!"

Hardest Day Of Cycling

Gairdner to Ravensthorpe. Definitely. Way back in Western Australia and only the eighth day of riding. It was the second of two long days - each just short of 150 kilometres. It started with a gradual uphill slog of 30 kilometres into a steady, cold headwind, which was too strong for Di to do much with so I towed her most of the way. I'd had diarrhoea overnight and was feeling pretty shattered by the time we finally made it to the caravan park. It was made worse by the fact that, after an exhilarating descent to the Phillips River just a few kilometres from the end we had the inevitable climb back up to the town. This was offset by maybe the ...

... Most Beautiful Moment On the Bike ...

... when we were just on the outskirts of Ravensthorpe. We rode towards a large flock of galahs which were across the road in front of us. Just as we neared they rose into a pink and grey cloud and wheeled, wheeled and wheeled again before settling on the road in front of us. As we drew closer once again they rose and flew off and we thought that was the end of it. But no: we soon came across another large flock that did just the same thing. And then another. There would have been hundreds of them in total and they left us feeling exhilarated after such a hard day.

Most Relaxing Morning Tea Break

This is an easy one. Di and I had climbed Horrocks Pass, ridden through Wilmington and on to Melrose. We had a fantastic break at the bike shop in the sun, drinking coffee and eating brownies and muffins!

Most Dramatic Finish

This happened on the short stage from Cummins to Tumby Bay on the Eyre Peninsula. I got a great photo of a dog in the back of a truck as we left Cummins ...

Could this be another King?

... then we had some great riding into the hills east of Cummins. Rain started falling as we got towards the highest point of the range and continued as we descended. But once we reached the outskirts of Tumby Bay the storm hit with a bang. It was so wild I was moved to howl back at the wind and rain. Di and I were out in front and made straight for the café on the waterfront and waited out the worst of it inside. Once we made our way to the caravan park everyone else had decided to forego camping and take shelter inside four walls and we promptly followed suit.

Most Rewarding Day

This is a tie. Sorry, but I've mulled over and over this one and there's no way out of it. 

For Di, the day to Madura was a shocker, and that night was the low point of our shared experience. But for me, that day of riding was terrific. The whole group had slogged into morning tea at Cocklebiddy, so soaking wet that the proprietor of the roadhouse was complaining as he mopped up the puddles we left on the floor. Perversely, I was feeling pretty chirpy - maybe because we'd done some of our training in conditions just like these and we were somewhat acclimatised, and had appropriate gear on. Once Di made the decision to get in the van, I decided to set off, and I set off with a purpose. The wind had come around and the rain eased and with that my spirits lifted further. I rode the last 97 kilometres of the day on my own in three hours and one minute. 

The other most rewarding day would have to be when we rode from Port Campbell to Wye River. The day started with some gorgeous riding along the coast before going up into the Otways, roller-coasting through thick temperate rainforest and then descending back to the coast and more riding beside the sea. We rode about 125 kilometres and climbed over 1800 metres - the most of any day on the whole route. Di, Neil and I rode together along the coast visiting scenic sites along the way, went at our own pace up to Lavers Hill and down the other side to lunch, then regrouped for the rest of the ride along the coast. It was one of those magic days on the bike.

Most Exhilarating Moment

This would have to be the wild descent into Palmer the day we rode from Gawler to Wellington. Thankfully, I'd been able to get my broken right shifter replaced in Gawler: I'm sure I wouldn't have had nearly so much fun on Collis's spare bike. I'd just paused at the top of a climb ...

... unaware of what lay ahead. But soon I found myself rounding a corner and plunging down a wonderful, twisting descent. The only thing wrong with it was that it was too short.  This would also have to have been one of my scariest moments of the whole trip. As I was racing down one of the few straight but short sections of the descent a stupid young woman blasted past me in her car with the horn blaring. Caught me by surprise a bit.

Not Just the Nullarbor!

I hope sharing the journey with us across the continent has convinced you that there is a lot more than just the Nullarbor between the west and east coasts. We certainly look forward to revisiting - at a more leisurely pace - much of the territory we passed through. But I can't help but leave you with this striking image from the early part of our traverse across the Nullarbor ...

Di with camel: another road train casualty

Home in Hobart

As I said earlier, I think we've adjusted to being home again. It wasn't hard, even though we think we both have a deep nomadic streak running through us; we love being back in the company of friends and there's lots to occupy us ... at least for a while. 

Today we did one of our favourite rides and had a great time on the bike despite the winds playing their usual tricks, which prompted Di to write a little poem ...

Ode to the Headwinds of Home

A damnable thing is a headwind from Hell

It gusts down the Derwent without letup or spell

And just when you've turned

For the tailwind you've earned

It's back in your face, all your pleasure to quell!

Despite the winds, we are pleased to be home for the moment. But it won't be too long before the restlessness gets the better of us. There are places to go and things to do! And, despite having my soulmate at my side I still haven't found what I'm looking for ...

IT'S ALL OVER NOW, BABY BLUE ...

Yep. We're done. And to salute, here's a fine Russell Morris rendition of that classic Dylan tune It's All Over Now Baby Blue.

Yesterday after we rode from Wye River to Rye I was just too bagged to do a blog post, so today's post covers two rides. It does feel kind of weird to suddenly stop any long journey so I'm sure I won't do justice to the end of this one, but here's how things panned out ...

Wye River to Rye

With another long day ahead including a ferry ride, Collis thought it would be good if we could be gone from camp by 7:30. It was a very cool start which was great because it meant that the skies were clear and the chance of any rain was negligible. We were so confident of staying dry that even Di set off without her rain jacket!

Neil, Di and I rolled out at 7:31, followed - according to Collis - almost immediately by Jim, Jen and Jacquei. The first milestone to tick off was Cumberland River, ten kilometres out of Wye River. It was the stopping place for the previous day's ride back in 2013, but the three of us were very pleased that Collis hadn't opted for it this time around. For one thing, it was that extra 10 kilometres further on top of an already quite big day - but also because it was deep in shade and absolutely freezing as we passed by. Just after we rode through the cold of the Cumberland River mouth and re-emerged in the sunshine, Di persuaded me to stop and record the scene looking back. You can see the road we've been riding along ...

The terrain for the section along the coast was very rolling as we climbed regularly over numerous headlands and descended the other sides of them. Cyclists started to appear intermittently from the other direction quite soon after we set out, and it was great to see like-minded people enjoying the early morning on the road.

Approaching Fairhaven, an amazing house came into view with the lighthouse silhouetted behind and I had to stop for a photo ...

Nearing Fairhaven

After descending this slope we were in Eastern View we paused to take a photo of the The Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch ...

Great Ocean Road Memorial

 Constructed by workmen and returned soldiers, The Great Ocean Road was constructed in the 1920's as a memorial to comrades lost in World War I. What a legacy!

Just going back for a moment to our departure from Wye River: when we arrived this lovely Grey Shrike-thrush appeared and was all over our gear, poking about and generally having a sticky beak ...

You nosy thing!

The photo doesn't do it justice, but it was a lovely little thing and reappeared the next morning with the same level of inquisitiveness.

Collis had suggested that we find somewhere to stop in Anglesea for morning tea, which we did. There was quite a climb out of that little holiday place, which is effectively the end of the Great Ocean Road. Once I got to the top of the initial section I paused to record Neil and Di coming up behind ...

The hill actually continued on for quite a way after this, but at a more gradual slope and then there was some nice riding on an elevated section of road through bush before the descent into Torquay. Collis had given us very clear directions for where we would find him waiting there. We got some more food into us before setting out again for Queenscliff, where we would catch the ferry across the entrance to Port Phillip Bay. 

The main reason for our early start on this beautiful, penultimate day of our journey was to try and catch the 1:00 p.m. ferry. Had we enjoyed a blistering tailwind that might have been a possibility. As it was, we had an light but steady headwind from the time we set out at Wye River, so there was no chance that we'd make that schedule. At lunch Collis reset the schedule, encouraging us to go for the 2:00 o'clock boat so off we went again into that headwind, which was gradually increasing the further along the coast we rode.

It was very pretty riding along the waterfront of Torquay, but I was a bit befuddled when Di wanted to stop again almost immediately. Of course I didn't realise it was a nature call that pulled her up, and was pleased when she re-emerged so we could regain our momentum ...

Are you ready now?!?

We went quite hard to try to comply with Collis's aspirations for the two o'clock ferry, but still had time to enjoy the last section from Barwon Heads to the ferry which took us alongside the water and through farmland and quiet small town streets and looked like this ...

Barwon Heads to Queenscliff

For those of you who don't know, Barwon Heads is the home of the great Australian champion cyclist Cadel Evans, one of only a few to win both the Tour de France and the World Road Race Championship (2009) - and perhaps the only one to do it clean.

We arrived at the ferry terminal with ten minutes to spare at 1:50. In fact, the ferry didn't leave until 2:06 and if Jen, Jim and Jacquei had arrived by 2:05 we would have been allowed to board. Apparently the strengthening headwinds finally took their toll and they arrived in Queenscliff half an hour after Neil, Di and I did. This meant that the three of us were pretty keen to get a feed before getting on the ferry, and had some great fish and chips at the special Seniors Price of $10 - and they were really, really good! Once the others realised they weren't going to make the ferry they stopped in Queenscliff proper for a meat pie.

We did manage to get on the 3:00 ferry together and enjoyed the ride across the entrance to the bay.

Then it was back on the bikes for the last section for the day from Sorrento to Rye, mostly along the beachfront, ...

Sorrento to Rye

... which was a lovely way to finish.

Collis had managed to organise for us to stay at a house owned by some people his daughter knew, which was fantastic. No need to put up and pull down tents!

Rye to Mordialloc

Our last half day of riding was pretty uneventful, apart from me getting a puncture and slicing open my finger checking inside the tyre for the offending article ...

... which turned out to be quite a large shard of glass. To save time I tried to pull it out without taking the tyre off the rim but that didn't work so off the tyre came. Once I turned it inside out the glass came out fairly easily, the tyre went back on, a new tube installed and I inflated the tyre with one of Neil's gas cylinders. Hey presto! Back in action.

On we rode to the Mordialloc Bicycle Centre where Di and I left our bikes for packing. We got into Collis's truck and rode back to the Ivey family abode with him, leading the rest of the troupe in. Collis had arranged for a couple of riders who had been on numerous trips with him and Kathy to meet us in Frankston and show us the way for the last 15 or so kilometres, which was kind of nice.

Here's the general route we rode ...

Add caption

It felt quite strange leaving my trusty steed for boxing up. Before I did I checked the final total for the number of kilometres since leaving Perth. In the end it was well short of the 5000 kilometres I thought I might ride if I did a few side excursions along the way. However, it is still a lot further than what I had ever ridden over a 52 day period - including rest days - before.

While it would have been nice to have more riders along on the journey to share the experience with, things went quite well in the end. Jen and Neil, the  two riders who joined us at Gawler, proved to be great companions. Jen had been on one of Collis and Kathy's rides before along with Jim and Jacquei and settled into riding with them. On our rest days she was pretty self-sufficient, taking herself off for walks to explore the particular environment we found ourselves in. I had hoped to get a photo from the back of Jim and Jen to illustrate the difference in their physiques as they were two such contrasting figures: Jim big and muscular and Jen diminutive and slender.

Neil ended up riding with Dianne and me after the first couple of days and we were most impressed with the way he coped with the demands of the trip especially - coming from Cairns - the weather, but also longer distances than he'd ridden for quite a while. He also was riding a relatively new bike that hadn't been very well set up for him. Once he changed a few things he hit his stride and was going like a train. The three of us had some great times together on and off the bike and Dianne and I look forward to catching up with Neil again before too long.

By the time we arrived at their place in Mentone, Kathy had assembled her and Collis's three children and two grandchildren to welcome him home after his six months away travelling around the country. She had also put together a terrific feed to celebrate the end of this, the longest single stage that they have ever run. Eventually Di and I said our goodbyes to the rest of the crew and headed off to our hotel - thanks for the lift, Collis! 

And that's about it for now. Feeling euphoric but also somewhat discombobulated, as you can probably  imagine if you've ever done a long journey like this yourself. Once we're back home and I have a bit of time to reflect I will probably do one last post to sum up the entire journey. In the meantime, thanks to Di for coming with me on this great adventure. It's been quite a ride!

Final Total Kilometres Ridden = 4722

IT'S A FINE LINE ...

Those of you who have read the previous post, perhaps (but not necessarily) are Australian and of a certain age might know the song I'm alluding to and will probably have twigged to the theme of this post. (For those of you who haven't twigged may have heard of Divinyls and Chrissy Amphlett; if not check this out.

While today's ride didn't involve school uniforms, fishnet stockings (although, now that I come to think of it, the waitress at Lavers Hill was wearing them!) or neon tubes and there was no physical abuse as far as I'm aware, we did tread a fine line between pleasure and pain, for perhaps the most rewarding day of our marathon from Perth.

Scenic Wonders

Neil, Di and I set off just three minutes before Collis's designated departure time of 7:30; presumably Jim, Jen and Jacquei made the cut off as they were all ready to go when we left. A nice warm up of about eight kilometres through coastal heath brought us back to the sea and our first scenic stop: the Loch Ard Gorge ...

Next up, only another four kilometres down the road is a must see in the form of the Twelve Apostles. We spent quite a lot of time there and between the three of us, made many photos  and videos. It was hard to work out what to include. Although my cheap little camera doesn't do that great of  a job with video it seemed the grandeur of the place demanded a bit of the old moving picture, so  here is what I got ...

Here are a couple of photos - also looking south - towards the bulk of the remaining features as the light changed with the sun waxing and waning ...

... and another looking north ...

The next 18 kilometres were through lovely rolling terrain along the coast, where we were entertained with many small groups of Crimson Rosellas swooping beside and across the road in front of us.  It was then into forest for a few kilometres before a quick descent to Gellibrand Lower and then we started our climb up Lavers Hill. The three of us were pretty chuffed to get up this, the biggest hill of the day in reasonable condition and in reasonable conditions. Although it was only eight degrees at the top of the hill, it wasn't windy and there was no rain. My feet were cold by the time I got to the top but I'm certainly not complaining: better that than soaking wet and cold! 

Collis had arranged for us to meet him at one of the great cafés in the township of Lavers Hill, which is about 50 kilometres from Port Campbell.  We had quite a long break and were spoiled again by Collis buying us morning tea, and were also treated to a wonderful display of more Crimson Parrots, along with King Parrots - first for us - and a bunch of other birds before setting off again on the fantastic descent out of the township. 

I got a photo of a couple of a couple of birds feeding on the ground ...

... and a whole bunch roosting in a tree ...

The descent from Lavers Hill was fantastic, with lots of swooping bends. I went ahead and found myself at a high saddle where I decided to stop and wait for Di and Neil ...

It looked like we had a gradual climb ahead of us, but that was incredibly deceptive. Pretty much as soon as we entered the trees you can see ahead we turned the corner and climbed steadily at 8 - 9 percent for longer than we would have liked after a quick descent in such cool conditions. Nonetheless, before long I arrived at a bit of a levelling off and waited for Di and then Neil ...

The road again pointed upwards and we continued at our own pace. After eventually topping out at about 350 metres above sea level we rolled along the undulating top towards the turnoff to Cape Otway and its historic and very important lighthouse, before plunging down towards the popular tourist destination of Apollo Bay, at just under 100 kilometres from where we started the day. Again, we were very pleased to have another break before tackling the last section of our day's ride.

Our route up to this point had been varied, challenging and rewarding. The last section would prove to be the icing on the cake. We had 28 kilometres to go, and it was along a road hugging the ocean the whole way. The three of us set off together but soon each settled into their own pace. Di stopped to shoot this short video ...

... while I took this one from the saddle ...

Neil also paused at least once to drink in the views. The three of us were all pretty tired but very happy to arrive in Wye River and went straight to a great little café for a hot chocolate and piece of Orange Semolina Cake to start getting some glycogen back into our muscles. Jim, Jen and Jacquei all arrived in good shape as we were putting up our tents. All of us were delighted with the day, and the four of us who have ridden all the way from Perth think today's ride was one of the picks of the journey. Di actually said that the last section was the most enjoyable 28 kilometres she's even done after having already ridden 100 for the day. The two of us think that today was perhaps the most rewarding of the trip, what with the scenery, the climbing, the birds and the swooping descents. We came close to crossing the line between pleasure and pain but managed to stay on the side of pleasure right to the finish. Let's hope neither of us get cramp during the night!

Here's a graphic showing today's ride. It's a bit inaccurate: we actually climbed 1850 metres and, with all our sightseeing detours, covered about 128 kilometres ...

And now it's to bed. I'll just have enough time to get my eight hours of kip before it's time to get up and do it all again tomorrow. We are closing in on our target: only two more days of riding and it'll all be over; tomorrow we cross the mouth of Port Phillip Bay before heading into Melbourne the following day.

Distance covered is now 4544 kilometres!

All Pleasure No Pain On The Great Ocean Road

Port Fairy to Port Campbell

Today was one of those days that you wish wouldn't end. Gorgeous cycling terrain with some great scenery and a few other interesting things to capture our attention along the way. Here's how it unfolded, although not entirely in order.

I'm jumping ahead to our arrival in Warrnambool - which is just about 28 kilometres from our starting point this morning - because of its iconic status in Australia cycling history. The Melbourne to Warrnambool Classic is second only to the famous Liège-Bastogne-Liège Classic as the world's oldest one day bike race, and - until the route changed - was the world's longest one-day race at 266 kilometres. 

With Kathy back in Melbourne, Collis was shouting us all morning tea at McCafé. I'd had a pretty filling breakfast so I just had a coffee. Collis had picked this spot because it is directly across from the monument to that great bike race and took us across for a photo before we continued on our way ...

Neil, Di, Doug, Jim, Jacquei and Jen

I really appreciated this touch as I love all that cycling history stuff. Actually, it's a completely different dimension, but I thought I might just pop in this photo I took of another great cycling monument, the Fausto Coppi memorial on top of the Passo Pordoi in the Dolomites ...

Hail Fausto, Hail!

Dianne and I were hiking in the Dolomites back in 2010 and I was delighted to discover this memorial. There were scads of cyclists around the place and, although we were having a great time ourselves, I couldn't help but feel a tinge of envy for all these people who'd ridden their bikes up the 30 or so bends to get to the top of the pass. I'm still hoping that I'll be able to do that myself someday.  

Anyway, I digress. It's time to go back to the start of the day. I think I mentioned in the most recent post the accommodation Neil had selected happened, by pure coincidence, to be just around the corner from the YHA where Di and I were staying. We arranged to set off together and ride via what looked like being a pleasant alternative start. Instead of heading straight out onto the Princes Highway we went this way ...

Cycling behind the sand dunes

... which provided us with six or seven kilometres of quiet riding past a lagoon, a golf course and a tiny, grass airstrip. A blissful start, which set the tone for the day.

Just as we were approaching the junction with the highway I saw Jim, Jen and Jacquei going by. It wasn't long before we joined them and played tag-team through to Warrnambool. 

After morning tea and that great photo opportunity we split into two groups when Jacquei missed a light. Jim and Jen waited for her and, despite Neil, Di and I cruising along slowly in anticipation that they'd soon rejoin us, we didn't see them again until lunch. 

Being Sunday morning, there was a relatively quiet stretch of 12 kilometres along the highway before we exited onto the Great Ocean Road ...

Turn here for the Great Ocean Road

... where the blissful riding recommenced. By this time I'd got Cat Stevens' Wild World into my head, which was kind of sweet. I've no idea how it got there, but it must have been some subliminal association or other - perhaps the mellow riding conditions?

It was shortly after getting off the highway that we passed the interesting sight of a whole slew of foxes hanging from a farmer's fence ...

It might seem a bit gross or sadistic for me to include this video, but I'll explain. Foxes were introduced to Australia back in colonial times for landed gentry to hunt. Of course, this stupid, selfish action has led to the utter decimation of ground-nesting birds and small marsupials. They also cost farmers by taking baby lambs and pretty much anything that they can get their teeth into, so one can understand farmers trying to get rid of them. Foxes are smart, and I reckon they'd probably steer clear of this paddock. Apparently, Jim did a count when he came past later and he reckons there were 54 carcasses strung up.

A little further on again, we stopped for a nature call, and were entertained by a bunch of corellas carrying on in the trees above us.  I tried to  video them but only got a short clip of a couple before they flew off ...

Very soon we were rejoined the sea at the scenic Bay of Islands. Although not enjoying clear blue skies, we were very lucky with the conditions given the time of year. Here's a look at what we got to see ...

It was a great spot for Collis to have picked for lunch. The three "J's" arrived just as we were finishing our lunch and on we rode to Peterborough, just a few kilometres along the road. I paused to take this photo of a few fishermen taking advantage of the favourable conditions ...

Fishermen at Peterborough

This section of road had many obligatory stops. The next was the Bay of Martyrs ...

... and then it was on to the Grotto ...

Shaping a Grotto

I took this panorama from the top of the descent into The Grotto ...

The Grotto from on high

... and this one from down almost at sea level ...

The Grotto close up and personal

... neither of which does justice to the ambience of the place.

The last significant stop that we made was at The Arch, where I put together this panorama ...

The Arch

By this time we weren't far from Port Campbell, our destination for the day. A fun bit of gentle rollercoaster riding brought us into the town. Although on paper the journey should have come out at 93 kilometres, a bit of touring around Port Fairy and in and out of our sightseeing detours along the way brought us up to just over 100 kilometres for the day. Here's what the route looks like on Google Maps ...

Port Fairy to Port Campbell

There had been a short, sharp shower overnight, leaving lots of puddles in the streets of Port Fairy and the road was a bit wet in places as far as Warrnambool. Overall though conditions were great: less headwind than we'd been expecting and only a very brief passing shower. Yes, as you can tell from the photo of us in Warrnambool, it was cool but we were very comfortable cruising along gently in our warm clothes. I was chuffed to see that the work I'd done yesterday cleaning up the bikes and, in particular our drive trains wasn't undone by a dirty day. This is what my drive train looked like after our 100 kilometres of riding ...

Happiness is a clean, crisply shifting drivetrain!

We've got what looks like another special day of cycling ahead tomorrow, but you'll have to wait another 24 hours to read about it.

Distance covered since leaving Perth: 4414 kilometres

The Last Leg Begins ...

Day One on the Great Ocean Road

Portland to Port Fairy

We must have done something right. The forecast for today was 8 - 12 degrees, with a clearing shower early. Luckily the shower was very early, coming through overnight. And we awoke to a minimum of only 10 degrees, so not as cool as forecast.

Here's Di on the way out of town down by the waterfront in Portland ...

Ready to roll!

Isn't she looking good after all these kilometres on the bike!

While we were down that way I stopped to take a photo of the port itself, with a couple of ships waiting to take on cargo from the huge pile of wood chips sitting on the wharf ...

Portland port area

The first ten or so kilometres of the ride were just wonderful. We were on a quiet road that followed the shore before joining the main highway. Once on the highway things got busier but at least there was a very good shoulder to ride on whenever a large truck approached, which was much less frequently than the previous two days.

All in all, it was a pretty uneventful day. Di and I set off about five minutes after the others and were just catching up to them when we noticed Jacquei passing Neil. In doing so she missed the turnoff to the main highway. Neil, Jim and Jen followed her and so did we, but I soon realised we'd gone the wrong way and alerted the others as best I could. Dianne and I turned around but we weren't sure whether the others were going to follow us or Jacquei, so followed the sign pointing toward Warrnambool and confirmed with a lady walking her dog that this was the most direct route to the highway and on to Port Fairy. 

As we were looking back, it appeared the others had continued ahead in the direction they were going so we sped up a bit thinking we would have to catch them again: perhaps Jacquei had found another exit on to the highway? We continued at pace for about 5 kilometres and then decided that we would have caught the others if they'd continued in the direction they were going, so slowed down again. 

There were a couple of interesting things along the road. The first was a collection of what must have been many hundreds - if not thousands - of pairs of shoes string up and on a fence alongside the road. I tried to shoot a video but it was useless. The second mildly interesting thing we passed was an old sandstone house with some early farm machinery parked alongside, counterpointed by turbines to the north. I took this photo, where if you look closely you can just see a turbine at the extreme left edge of the photo ...

The old ... and the new

We went at a steady pace through to  morning tea at the rest area at the Codrington wind farm entrance. There's this quirky bird(?) sculpture at the entrance ...

Watch the birdy

... and good views of the wind turbines ...

Codrington wind farm

Neil arrived a few minutes after we did, and then Jacquei. It turns out that they did follow our example and double back to the missed turn-off. Jim and Jen arrived a few minutes later so we did manage to have a little bit of time together.  I was a bit disappointed the way the morning had turned out because with the easy terrain - initially along a quiet road - it had seemed like a good opportunity for the six of us to ride together. 

We had a relaxed spell and then Neil, Di and I set off for the remaining 30 kilometres into Port Fairy. We had a very enjoyable ride together and were delighted to get all the way from Portland to Port Fairy without being rained on. With our last rest day here in Port Fairy Neil had opted to book into a hotel and Di and I had reserved a double room in the YHA. Here's my bike parked against the fence of the hostel ...

Arrival

It turns out that our accommodations are less than 200 metres apart. Collis dropped our bags off for us and we settled in. Well, Di and I did but Neil's room wasn't ready for him. He came over to the hostel and then we wandered into town and had a great lunch courtesy of The Farmer's Wife. 

Here's a graphic of our journey today ...

Portland to Port Fairy

We have just now walked back from the caravan park where the others are settled. Collis laid on a barbecue, with contributions from Jen (potatoes and nibbles) Jacquei (coleslaw) and a Greek salad prepared by Di. It was a convivial meal and now I am ready for bed, where Di has already taken herself. After our rest day we have three interesting days ahead before the last easy day into Melbourne. It seems incredible that we are more than 90 percent of the way through our journey and that it will come to an end five days from now.

Distance covered to date: 4314 kilometres

Yep! We're Still Here ...

A Transitional Stage: Nelson to Portland

While we were wandering around Portland this afternoon we stopped in at a coffee shop and Di spotted a photo over my shoulder that she said could easily have been me when I was a lad. Although she didn't know me when I was this sort of age, she thought that it pretty much encapsulates my personality, and I'd have to say I'm pretty happy she thinks that. Here's the photo: what do you think?

Doesn't this encapsulate why we all started riding bikes?

Heck, while I'm digressing, I might as well sidle away a little further. This photo makes me think of a wonderful song that I hope will always reflect my approach to life. It's something that I came across completely by accident one day ... maybe while driving in the car ... maybe while listening to the radio while poking around in the garden. Don't remember. But every once in a while the tune comes back into my consciousness, like today. You might know it; you might not. But if you ride a bike you probably lean towards this approach to life yourself at least some of the time. Do yourself a favour: turn your speakers up loud and listen to this. If you didn't quite catch all the lyrics you can see them here.

After the previous post you might have thought you'd heard the last of me. No such luck! Yep. We're still here. Yesterday's ride was so bad Di said partway through that there was no way she was going to ride 70 kilometres today on that bl&#dy road! Nonetheless, after we'd had a relaxing afternoon poking around the waterfront and then having dinner at the Nelson pub she felt rehabilitated enough this morning to get back on the bike. And the day was much better than we thought it was going to be despite what the lass behind the counter at the kiosk in Nelson and several other locals had to say. The road turned out to be significantly better than the locals they said it would be, and there were fewer trucks on the road. The day still had its setbacks though ...

Footloose but not fancy free ...

We were pedalling along quite nicely up until about the 10 kilometre mark until we stopped so that I could turn on my tail light. Our departure at about 7:30 was in clear conditions so I hadn't thought to put it on, especially as we (Di, Neil and I) were all wearing our neon yellow rain jackets. It was cool with high humidity and we imagined that we wouldn't be riding very quickly because we expected the road surface - and especially the shoulder - to be fairly ordinary. And it was, initially. The shoulder especially was either pretty broken up or non-existant. Luckily though, unlike yesterday there were very few trucks on the road.

Dianne and I had caught up to Neil a bit beforehand as he left a few minutes before us. As I said, I pulled over to turn on my tail light. Di stopped and unclipped to wait and so did Neil. We started up again, but I hadn't heard Di - who was at the back - call out that she hadn't been able to clip into one of her pedals. A bit further down the road I wondered why Di was lagging, so got off the bike to wait. Neil went on after graciously asking if I minded if he tootled on ahead. She'd been off the bike a couple of times to try to clean out her cleat, thinking that she might have got a pebble stuck but had no luck getting things to work. (We both ride with Speedplay, which need a bit more looking after than SPD style pedals.)

Once she arrived, I got her to take her shoe off so I could have a proper look. The cleat was very worn and I thought that maybe that's why it wouldn't engage. In any case, it just wouldn't! There was nothing for it but to get back on and ride as best she could until the morning tea stop. Collis and Kathy went past, with Collis stopping up the road a bit after I told him that Di couldn't clip in one pedal. I thought I'd try a bit of chain oil on the cleat to see if that would help. Nope. No good. 

On we went to morning tea, contemplating options. Collis has his bike on top of Kathy's car with SPD pedals, and I thought Di might be able to use his pedals if he had a pair of shoes we could take the cleats off. It turned out he didn't and Di thought she'd rather continue with one pedal engaged rather than riding in her flat shoes on flat pedals, both disengaged. 

By this time the quality of the shoulder had improved significantly and, when large trucks did approach, we were able to ride beside the road with confidence that we weren't going to end up ass over tea-kettle. Di started get the hang of keeping her unclippable cleat engaged with the pedal - as long as she:

• didn't try to pedal too quickly
• didn't stand up
• didn't encounter a really rough surface unexpectedly 

Into Portland we rode and followed the signs straight to the information centre to find out if there was a bike shop in Portland. It turned out there is a bike shop, and the lass running the place was very helpful. I asked what I was sure would be a silly question: did they sell Speedplay pedals or parts for them? (Funnily enough, they had had a display cabinet of Speedplay pedals and cleats but recently sent the stuff back because there just wasn't a market for such a niche product in Portland.) So, I made the snap decision to buy a pair of cheap Shimano pedals to get Di through the last five days of this epic ride. There was no way that such a minor problem was going to stop us from finishing this journey together, and we've got some big hills to cross when we ride from Port Campbell to Kennett River via the Otway Ranges. Being able to stand up and pedal - hard - will be a necessity at that point of our ride.

The cleats and screws were so worn that neither the bike shop mechanic or I could get them to unscrew. She tried tackling them with a hacksaw, then handed over to me. I managed to cut through the screws, allowing the cleat to be removed. It turns out that the spring for the cleat had broken and that was why the pedal wouldn't engage. (Before we'd left home I'd suggested that I order a new set of cleats for Di's shoes but she said, "No, they're working fine. Why much around with them?" Now she knows.

Now we don't have matching pedals ...

My Speedplays and Di's SPD's

... until we get home and the replacement cleats I ordered this afternoon can be installed.

Today's ride ...

Nelson to Portland

... was actually quite good and would have been brilliant if Di had been able to pedal properly and there were no big trucks. The terrain was quite rolling and made for fun riding. As usual Google Maps is quite accurate with distance but quite inaccurate with altitude: we actually climbed about 580 metres today, or more than twice what you see on the graphic.

Our campsite here at the Portland caravan park is quite nice ...

Portland Caravan Park

Right now Di is just finishing off a stir fry here in the camp kitchen. Neil is joining us for a meal; the others have gone to the pub. Time to eat!

PS: Distance covered to date is up to 4238 kilometres ...

Mount Gambier to Nelson on the Highway to Hell

What looked on paper like being a really nice ride turned out to be pretty ordinary. We only had 40 kilometres to ride. Collis had never been to Nelson before and thought, in keeping with the coastal theme of our trip, this seemed to be a good way to go. It would get us off the busy Princes Highway between Mount Gambier and Portland and bring us near the coast where the Glenelg River empties into a large bay at Nelson, which is a sleepy little settlement with a pub  but no supermarket.

We had a leisurely start to the day. Neil had breakfast in camp and then set off towards Nelson with some geocaching in mind. Jim, Jacquei and Jen set off into town before Di and I, looking for somewhere to have breakfast. Di and I were happy to go back to where we'd had afternoon tea and dinner yesterday. Now here's a photo for the grandchildren: Di waiting for her "Borlotti Beans on Toast" to arrive ...

Nana waits for Breakfast

Our intention afterwards was to go look at some sinkhole which is a major tourist attraction. After Di complained about me finding a short hill of 14% to ride up we made a half-hearted attempt to find it and then just decided just to  head out of town.

Initially things seemed quite good on the Highway to Hell. There was some nice rural scenery to look at ...

Canola field near Mount Gambier

... but we soon realised that this was no quiet country road; instead we found ourselves on a very busy truck route, with many log trucks in particular.

Di had been very keen for me to take lots of photos and that had been my intention, but there wasn't a lot to look at and the number of trucks rushing close by was downright scary. Really, the narrowness of the road and lack of a paved shoulder once one leaves the area near Mount Gambier makes it unsuitable for cycling with such heavy truck traffic roaring by in both directions. Before things got really fraught, Di got me to go across the road so she could take my picture in front of Australia's national floral emblem ...

No Blood On The Wattle this time ...

We soon found ourselves regularly diving for cover when we heard anything big coming from behind. Regularly we'd also get a pretty clear visual signal from the other direction that it was a good idea to get off the pavement when oncoming trucks took themselves partway off the road to make more room for trucks coming up behind us. It became a regular strategy to get onto the shoulder whenever we found ourselves riding up a rise to maximise our chances of staying alive. In fact, for much of the second half of the ride we probably spent at least as much time off the pavement as on it. The unpaved shoulder has been worn smooth to a degree by trucks getting on to it so regularly.

We saw lots of dead and badly mutilated kangaroo - too gross to take any photographs. When we passed one caved in carcass Di said that if that were her, at least someone would pick her up off the side of the road. We also passed a beautiful parrot which, much like the raven we passed on the way to Laura, this bird was not badly mangled and looked like it must have been dealt a glancing but fatal blow ...

Musk Lorikeet

A bit further on I spotted a registration plate lying on the side of the road and wondered if it was all that was left after some poor guy was hit by a log truck ...

Is this your rego plate?

... or perhaps some subtle message from the skies about the nature of the trucks - and their drivers - flashing past. Very few of the truckies seemed to have any regard for us, viewing us more as mere nuisances. Quite a few times we got a horn blast from some irritated driver as he was going past. Only once in the 37 or so kilometres between leaving the town boundaries of Mount Gawler and entering Nelson did we have a truck driver blow his horn to give warning when some distance behind.

Just a few kilometres before Nelson we crossed the border into Victoria ...

Western Australia, South Australia and now Victoria

... and just before arriving in Nelson itself one crosses the Glenelg River. It looks like people have build shacks on stilts as holiday homes ...

Glenelg River at Nelson

We are ensconced in a quiet caravan park about a kilometre out of town. The sun has been out most of the afternoon but is currently hiding behind a cloud. It hasn't rained all day and Aeolus has mercifully given us the afternoon off. There are a few gorgeous, inquisitive Red Wattle Birds fluttering about camp, staying mobile or, when still, keeping just far enough away for me to not get a good photo or video of them. But that's okay. Their presence is enough of a joy without having to capture their images.

At the moment things are nice and peaceful. Unfortunately our foray out on to the roads tomorrow will be pretty much like today's excursion - except 70 kilometres of mayhem rather than the 37 or so we had today. We wondered if heading out early might save us some strife but discovered that the trucks run 24/7: it's all about the need to feed the mill. According to the folk in the local information centre, the truck drivers are on a schedule of three runs per day and that's why they don't slow down. So, if you don't hear from me tomorrow or the next day, assume the worst. That's if for now.