Today we rode the remains of the Great Southern rail trail from Toora to Port Welshpool. Again the weather gods were kind to us, with blue skies, mild temperatures and little wind. The quality of the trail is fab- well packed surface and not too many bumps. It was mostly flat with some minor rolling hills, so all in all an easy 40k ride.
The country side is beautiful round here. Lots of dairy and beef farms – very green and lots of water lying around.
Even the cows were enjoying a paddle
once we got closer to the coast the flora became much more ‘bushy’.
Port Welshpool itself was beautiful – although surprisingly nothing there in terms of township. Loads of cars with boat trailers parked along the boat ramp so obviously a favourite with anglers. Main feature is the Long Jetty, which is indeed long – we rode out to the end – a 1.8km round trip! The pier was recently re-built after someone dropped a cigarette and burnt the old one down. The new one is set up beautifully for fishing with lots of rod holders, little fishing cabins and two massive cleaning benches. A fisherman’s heaven no doubt.
Magnificent sky reflected in the almost glass like waters
Now back at our little home away from home contemplating the return to the real world tomorrow
Woke up this morning, sun was shining and tent was dry and we decided that rather than tempt fate by staying another day, we would pack up while the weather holds and move to our next destination.
This is the first dissemble of the tent and we managed it in a record 40 minutes – including packing panniers! Note for brother AJH – as I recall this was somewhat quicker than the first tvan pack up!
All packed ready to go
Destination today was Toora Caravan Park – ranked highly on Wiki camps and guaranteed powered sites. Only downside – lots of hill climbing required to get there. Started off by back tracking out of the prom towards Foster – only had to walk up two hills but plenty of huffing and puffing. Much of the highway has double lines- no overtake, so I’m sure there are a few folks who took a bit longer on their journeys for having to wait for us. They were all pretty patient though.
Once in Foster we linked up with the South Gippsland Rail Trail, so it was relatively flat and smooth surface from there on. Lunched on nuts and bananas in someone’s driveway and kept moving to try to get to Toora early. Toora is such a pretty town – lots of original buildings. A couple are boarded up and dilapidated – I imagine the heritage listing would make restoring them difficult (aka expensive).
Off the road at lastBeautiful riding through the bush
Tent was set up and lilos inflated in less than 10 minutes – gotta love these hiking tents. A quick walk to town for supplies and we had the makings of another hearty meal. The camp kitchens have been fab in the caravan parks and we haven’t had to use our little camp stove yet.
it’s 8.15 and we are about to take our weary legs to bed. The caravan park is pretty crowded so I imagine we will be woken early – if not by the campers, by the birds.
Distance travelled; 32km (big climbs and big descents).
Well we survived a night of thunderstorms and torrential rain without event. We held onto our hats a couple of times, but pegs and poles held and the tent remained water tight – phew! We were woken round 5.30 by a cacophony of frogs, parrots, kookaburras and every other bird species imaginable – while raucous, fortunately none of them have left deposits on our tent……yet.
Started the day with the Duck Point coastal walk, winding through gnarled bush paths to the beach. Tide was out revealing weed/shells/jelly fish and all those things we used to see on the beach that are much less common now.
After our walk we headed for a day ride to Shallow Inlet – really an excuse to ride the 7km to the nearest coffee. The inlet was a pretty picnic spot, and supposedly a great place for fishing. Was lovely to ride unencumbered with panniers/trailers etc. We made it up the 1km, 13 degree hill out of here without having to get off – will definitely be a walker when we have the full load on board.
And the alternative is?
Stopped off at the general store on our way back and stocked up on some fresh produce – so a hearty meal of BBQ steak, mash and beans – not too shabby!
We had planned to leave here tomorrow but are absolutely loving our camping spot here at Yanakie, so have decided to stay one more day. Currently our biggest decision before the morning is whether to ride in to Tidal Rover or to head back through Waratah Bay.
We set off with as little luggage as we could wrangle, but still ended up with 30kg of ballast by the time we had tools, spares, clothes (very few), tents, sleeping bags, lilos, cooking gear and the bare basics of food. Add 2 humans and one big bike with trailer and we were pushing the equivalent of a small car up hill.
Gives a whole new meaning to camper trailer
Set off on our first bike and tent adventure today. With a week up our sleeves we decided to free-flow it. Have booked a tent site for the first two nights (to avoid getting caught out by post-lockdown weekend tourers) and from here will go whoever our whim takes us – and as far as our unfit legs can carry us.
Left the car in Fish Creek and headed south towards Wilson’s Promentary. Short ride but huge hills (or they felt huge to us with a trailer on the back). The landscape was spectacular – lush rolling hills with loads of dairy farms. Cows gazed at us without turning a hair – they must see tandems all the time! Heading into the prom reminded us of Southern Tas.
My view for the day
Weather was a humid 28 degrees by the time we arrived in Yanakie – the Yanakie General store with its supply of ice creams and ham and pickle sandwiches (eaten in that order) gave us the energy to ride the last 7km to the caravan park, arriving around 2.
First set up of the tent took almost an hour and several consultations with the instructions. I think it has shrunk since the last time we set it up- lilos take up most of it with much of our staff remaining outside under the fly. Managed a quick swim and shower before the weather set in – huge thunderstorm and waves of torrential rain. There’s nothing quite like the sound of rain on a tent – so far the tent has stood up to it. The site is grassy and seems to be draining ok – but stay tuned….
Currently holed up in the camp kitchen. David cooked up a storm – instant carbonara never tasted so good. About to break out the pack of cards and hide away from the dampness for a bit longer.
Initially we had ambitions to ride the silo art trail, but with distances large, fitness levels not yet at pre-lockdown levels and only a few days up our sleeve we decided an a drive/bike combo – basing ourselves in Warracknabeal and looping round the silos from there.
We headed up the Calder instead of following the GPS west, which was a slightly longer route but gave us a chance to explore some of the little towns along the railway and dream of a tree change. Kyneton, Woodend and Macedon were buzzing but as we headed further and further north-west there were many empty shop fronts in the smaller towns. We arrived in St Arnaud and our first silo mid afternoon.
Arriving in our little cottage late afternoon we plotted out two drive loops and one ride to ensure we get to see all the region.
A cosy unique stay for a couple of nights
Day 2: Did our ‘northern loop’ today which included a total of six towns with a mix of silos and street art- Nullawill, Sea Lake, Pachewallock, Lascelles, Rosebery and Brim. The scale of these things is magnificent and the photos can’t hope to do them justice. Definitely worth the 300k+ drive (especially for the person in the passenger seat!).
Day 3 was our bike day. One silo (Sheep Hills) was within coo-eee of our accomodation – so we set off eagerly. On paper (literally as we have no phone/google maps service here) it looked quite straight-forward – how hard can 50k on flat back roads be? Well…quite as it turned out. ….
The route we plotted used dirt roads, largely between farm paddocks, most often (we discovered) used by tractors – making for a bumpy and sandy ride. After one tumble, luckily more of a graceful slip, we decided it was safest to walk the sandy bits. There is no doubting the impact of climate change up here.
After a picnic lunch near this beauty we opted for the tarmac main road back to Warracknabeal – the shoulder was good and traffic polite.
The perfect place to re-fuelBaked potatoes- the reward for our big ride
Day 4: The ‘western loop’. Our best made plans came a slight cropper this morning with the closure of the Western Highway. Nonetheless with a bit of detouring we managed to get to all bar one of the planned towns.
This one at Goroke was our fave today
The highlight for us today however was the Murtoa Stick Shed – a 4 acre tin shed built in the early 40’s for grain storage and constructed from logs (full height trees really) carted from the Dandenongs. Incredible. It apparently has fabulous acoustics but there were a few too many people around to put this to the test.
Can’t believe our last day has come around so quickly. With so much to see and so little time we opted for a walk/bike combo. We started off on foot thinking we’d stretch out our wearily legs along the Estuary Trail – a bush track following the banks of the Snowy down to where it joins the sea. Met a lovely lady from Bairnsdale along the way who is down in Marlo for a couple of days ‘away from it all’ – she shared stories of visiting the area in her childhood and was keen to explore our views of politics and Dan’s handling of COVID – I suspect we are at opposite ends of the political spectrum so I kept my views very neutral.
After a few k’s we realised there was much more to explore so we hot tailed it back to the hotel to pick .up our bike. Alternating between walking and riding. This is absolutely magic territory. Gorgeous views, peaceful spots and very few humans.
Left the bike at the top for this bit…
Amazing colours and textures
Ate our picnic lunch sitting on the board walk overlooking this beauty
Arrived back at our hotel late afternoon, ate dinner on the hotel deck and enjoyed one last magnificent sunset. It’s a clear night so we’re waiting for the sky to go dark so we can star gaze through the telescope in our room (David has been poring over the manual as it looks like you need a license to drive it)
We woke up early a bit creaky but pleased to see that our legs did move and our bottoms were only slightly tender from yesterday’s big ride. After a night of heavy rain we were lucky enough to wake up to light cloud and a slight mist but not enough to require rain gear. We had a hearty cooked breakfast and the best coffee of the trip so far at the Mingling Waters Cafe (attached to our holiday park) and hit the road, leaving our little cottage just shy of 9am.
Two muscle-bound athletes setting off for the day…
The rail trail goes right through the heart of the town so no problems finding our starting point today. First photo op was crossing the bridge over Boggy Creek just out of town – more like a river than a creek tho’
Early morning stillness made for great reflectionsAnd yet another trestle bridge – this one a little worse for wear
The foliage was quite different today to yesterday’s rain forest. The undergrowth was dryer and more bracken than ferns. With some areas showing post-bushfire fuzz.
Banana break….
After the long night of rain much of the trail was slippery so after a couple of episodes of fish-tailing we ended up walking the bike down the bigger hills rather than risk coming off (note: that’s the royal ‘we’).
Remnants left by a hungry cyclist?
Closer to Orbost things flattened out and we started seeing more grassy farmland…….and of course the beautiful Snowy River.
The Orbost bridge….Not the roaring waterway I was expecting
After a quick look around Orbost which is a very pretty little town with many of the original buildings, we hitched a ride to Marlo. While the distance wasn’t far, it was along a major road with no shoulder and with the amount of caravan traffic we decided not to risk it.
Now sitting in our gorgeous little room in the Marlo Pub with the most amazing views – our home for the next two nights. Doing it tough!!!
After a fairly ‘interesting’ night last night we couldn’t wait to get up and out this morning. Having been too hesitant to look at TripAdviser reviews of our digs last night we did so over coffee in the local cafe this morning. Let’s just say we were very glad we’d taken the extra precaution of spraying ourselves with Rid before bed to ward off bed bugs – others hadn’t been quite so lucky. Ah well – it’s all part of the adventure!
Did the big climb our of Lakes – mostly on the bike but some hills did get the better of us.
Some huff and puff to get up this bad boy
Wound our way back to Log Crossing – our lunch spot from yesterday. Campers had moved in over night – absolutely sensational free camp (note to AJH & JAH – have marked it on the map for future reference).
From the crossing we decided to take the ‘alternate’ route back to the main rail trail. Our travel guide said this was an easier route. It’s amazing what a difference one minor wrong turn can make (I told him it was the other left). 20km later and one enormous climb and we were back where we started – so it was morning tea and lunch a Log Crossing.
After this false start we decided instead to re-trace our steps from yesterday. While it was a strenuous climb the bush was gorgeous – the light rain overnight made it very humid and the fern gully’s were absolutely filled with butterflies. The overcast sky (compared to yesterday’s sun) totally changed the colours.
Another beautiful trestle bridge just outside Nowa Nowa
We arrived in Nowa Nowa late arvo with pretty much nothing left in the tank. Staying in a cute little loggers cottage at the back of the caravan park with a very comfortable bed and I’m very pleased to say clean linen! Have bought a re-heat & eat lasagna, home made by the lady in the general store which looks yum (pub not open for weeknight dinners). So all is good in the world.
Just hoping our legs can still bend tomorrow……not showing much potential at the moment.
Distance travelled: map said 38, felt like 60. No cell reception for most of the trip so we were unable to GPS map exact distance
We left the Bruthen Hotel bright and early – hard to sleep in once a country pub awakes and also wanted to push through bathrooms etc before the morning rush. We stocked up with salad rolls, coffee and water at the local bakery and were off.
We started on the Gippsland Trail but then after a 10k long uphill slog branched off to head south for Lakes Entrance, expecting a gradual roll down to the coastt – after all the sea is always at the bottom of the hill isn’t it? Um…..not quite…..
The Discovery Trail is a disused tram line that once carried granite from the quarries south to the lakes area. Legend has it that the big clumps of granite along the trail were thrown overboard by the crew in an attempt to get speed up to make it to the pub at the other end before closing.
The trail was narrower than the rail trail and absolutely beautiful with towering gums draping long strings of bark forming an amazing canopy. It hugged the bank of the now dry Mississippi Creek with deep undergrowth of ferns – the rainforest smell transported me straight to Narby (as I’m sure my Hax clan members will understand).
The leafy path made for much slipping and sliding
Fire remnants
We had our picnic lunch in a gorgeous picnic area – Log Crossing – where we met a lady who had driven from East of Bairnsdale to Lakes Entrance to sell her fresh fruit produce at the LE market not realising it was closed for the long weekend. We were the big beneficiaries and are now sporting a handful of crisp juicy Johnathon apples 🍎
The last 6 or so k into Lakes Entrance was less fun on shared local roads – as much uphill as down. Definitely not looking forward to the big climb out in the morning.
A chance would be a fine thing – I think we maxed at about 7km/hour on this big hill, but might have hit the 50 on the way down the other side….
The entrance is bustling with long weekend holiday makers, boats, jet skis and bikes. Accomodation is thin on the ground here this weekend so we are staying in the LAST motel with a vacancy – 1970ish besser block style with I think original bedspread and a plumbing hammer that judders the teeth- so let’s just hope our neighbours don’t have a late night shower!
Set off quite late for us (round 10) with a hearty breakfast under our belts and a relatively short (36ish K) ride ahead of us. After a slight hiccup finding the entrance to the trail we were off.
One wouldn’t expect it was possible to get lost in 285 metres but……
First stop was 10k or so down the trail at the Nicholson General Store that claims to have the best pies in Australia….of course we had to put that to the test.
Ad they were pretty fab………
The trail was a fairly steady climb up to Bruthen – with some downhill bits, but the legs got quite a work out. The landscape went from dry and flat to rich and undulating as we got higher.
By far the highlights were the old derelict trestle bridges, still towering, which gave a sense of how magnificent the original track must have been.
This one just out of Nicholson had the new bridge superimposed on topYou would never know what was below you if you didn’t go down ‘The turning circle’ to the river bank
Tunnels of giant corrugated iron pipes allowed us to ride under the main roads….
Arrived in Bruthen at a very respectable 3pm- in time for Devonshire tea at the Bruthen Tea Rooms – complete with plum jam and quince jelly to die for.
Now tucked up in our very modest room at the Bruthen Pub – having had early showers to beat our co-habitats to the shared bathrooms. The joint is filling up fast so we may be in for an interesting night. Menu looks like great pub food, served on a huge verandah with fab views. Our bike is in pride of place on the verandah (on instruction from publican) adding to the general quirky ambiance – and last seen was attracting some attention – so hopefully not being ridden round the veranda now we are out of sight. David is resisting the temptation to check on it hourly – he’d sooner leave me out there than the bike!
