Monday March 17, 2014

What a lovely start to the day we were on the road by 8:00.  We had chosen a short cut, the name of the road we took is Mount Clay Road.  Mount Clay Road would take us on a diagonal trajectory to Princes Highway without having to deal with too much heavy traffic.  However, as the road was called Mount Clay Road I knew it would be a bit bumpy.  It was a lovely road, hilly yes, but newly paved and very manageable hills – even if one of them had an 11% grade to it.  The legs felt really good going up the hills and the route was very pretty too.  We re-joined the Princes Highway at 17 kms and carried on into Port Fairy.

We had a wonderful tail wind and for the most part the road was good with a good shoulder to ride on.  The cars and trucks are usually pretty good and give us plenty of room.

The great thing about riding a bike is that you spot things that you might otherwise miss if you are in a car.  This rusting tractor in the field.

Or, you can stop when you see things that are unusual or funny and take photos of these things.  Not sure of the significance of the shoe fence.

Use an old microwave for your mailbox – why not?

This old bridge still looks in good condition, but no road connects to it.

We did get some rain today, but by the time we got into Port Fairy the sun was out and we chose to set up the tent.  We have decided to ask if we can get a discount for being carbon neutral!!  It worked today at the camp site, although she had to put us down as a senior discount in the computer!!

The campsite was centrally located for the Town centre and also for the beachfront.  We could hear the roar of the surf as we were setting up the tent.

Port Fairy has over 50 heritage buildings, and a very good downtown with no vacant shops.

Most of the shops were little boutique type shops.  We had homemade ice-cream, but stopped at buying the homemade cookies.

The Anglican church was built in 1856 but didn’t get the steeple/tower finished until 1957.

This very austere building started its life as a Wesleyan (Methodist) Church, now it is a Uniting Church.  In Canada we refer to it as the United Church.

The camp kitchens in Australia are a little different to the ones we experienced in New Zealand.  In New Zealand all the kitchens were in their own building and some had pots and pans and crockery etc.  In Australia a lot of the kitchens consist of an open concept (3 walls) with a BBQ and picnic table and no pots and pans etc.  If we have the choice of campsites, as we did tonight we ask if the camp kitchen is enclosed or open.  It is getting a little cool at nights and it is nice to be in an enclosed kitchen.

After setting up the tent and having a lovely wander around the Town we had an early dinner.  We thought we might be able to update the blog and the photos, but we were joined by a very nice mother and daughter who we chatted to until 8:00 and then another couple joined us and we chatted to them until 9:00.  A late night for us 9:30 pm.