Wednesday March 26, 2014

We have decided to skip Melbourne.  We could have cycled up to Melbourne and then back down the coast road, but when all is said and done Melbourne is another big City that is having a few issues with cyclists at the moment.  It appears there is no love-lost between cyclists and car drivers in Melbourne.  There was recently a lady who was doored and the debate over car drivers and cyclists has erupted – cyclists should be licensed, they shouldn’t be allowed on the roads, cyclists want cycle lanes etc etc. basically exactly the same as anything you hear in Toronto, London or city’s in the States.

People always ask us if cars and trucks give us enough room. For the most part on the rural roads where there isn’t a shoulder the cars and trucks have been great.  Today, we were going up a hill and we heard a transport coming behind us.  There was no shoulder for us to cycle on and it was a narrow two-lane road, we pulled of onto the gravel.  The truck driver gave us a very cheery toot ta toot toot toot and a wave.  He was happy and so were we.  A little bit of consideration on both sides and we will all be happy and safe.

Yesterday, we took the ferry from Queenscliffe to Sorrento and today we carried on eastwards towards Stoney Point to take the ferry to Phillips Island and Cowes.  We cycled to Stoney Point from Rye with a head wind for most of the way.  The first part of the route was along the shoreline and then we turned towards the hills. Along the shoreline there were lots of colourful little beach huts.

The hills were good not too steep, but necessitated the granny gear on one of them. We arrived in Crib Point in time to see about 20 Jaguars driving through the Town.  This one had to stop for refuelling.  Ralf had a chat with the owner while he was refuelling an 80 litre tank.  If you can afford to drive this kind of car you do not worry about the cost of fuel.

We arrived at Stoney Point at 1:00 pm and waited for the ferry to Phillip’s Island until 4:30 pm.  Only 2 ferries run a day one at 8:00am and the second at 5:00 pm.  Ralf called the ferry company to make sure it would be running as it was quite windy.  Quote of the day “It doesn’t look too bad to me, the ferry will be running so long as she don’t sink between now and then”  Encouraging!!

We had to remove all our panniers from the bikes and lift our bikes onto a very small boat.  The bikes and panniers were on the back deck.  It was a rough crossing and I recalled the ferry crossing from Portsmouth to Cowes (Isle of Wight) with my Mum and Dad many years ago.  I was a little nervous about the waves, Mum would have had a heart attack!!

We arrived in Cowes at 5:45 pm and found a camp site in the Town.  We set up the tent, showered and Ralf went to get us some groceries for dinner.  We met a lovely couple from Canberra who have invited us to stay with them if we go to Canberra.  We are still trying to decide whether to go to the Capital City or not.

We are now on a new map Melbourne to Sydney!  Here comes the next 1,000 kms 🙂

Tuesday March 25, 2014

The not really 73 kms is because I had left my Garmin on while we were on the ferry so it recorded the ferry crossing distance as well 🙂

We left Torquay under a cloudy sky.  We had our jackets on primarily because of the wind, not particularly because of the cold.  We cycled out to Point Danger and then followed the Esplanade and a nice quiet road out of Torquay towards Barwon Heads.  One of the grounds people at the campsite had given us good directions to get to Barwon Heads along the coast road and then said once at Barwon Heads you can’t go wrong because there will be ferry signs to Queenscliffe.

Whilst we were at Point Danger we chatted to a road cyclist who invited us for a coffee at his house before we left.  It was already 9:30 so we declined but it was nice of him to offer.

We cycled into a headwind for much of the time to Barwon Heads, but it was a nice route.  We managed to get a photograph of a live kangaroo.  It was just sitting by the side of the road, eating grass.  I even rang my bell so that it would pose for the camera and it did.

Then it just bounded away.

At Barwon Heads we cycled into the Town to look for a bicycle shop.  Barwon Heads is noticeable for two reasons Cadel Evans has a house in Barwon Heads, the second is that there were no bicycle shops.  For those who don’t know who Cadel Evans is – he is the Australian who won the Tour de France a couple of years ago.  Apparently he is a very nice guy.

We cycled on into Ocean Grove, which had two bike shops.  We stopped at a bike store that sold Trek bicyles, Ralf got his brakes replaced and we both had air put into our tires.  The owner of the shop ?  put me on the spot by asking for my 10 most memorable moment while touring!!  As our touring experience is only limited to 4 months, it was tough.

•  Dog Leg corner and Mount Cook – NZ
• Rimutaki Rail Trail
• Great Ocean Road before the 12 Apostles
• The kindness of strangers

We got great service at Hendry’s bike shop.

We then headed out to Queenscliff where we caught the ferry to Sorrento. We had time before the ferry to have lunch and a little walk around the Town.

Could you imagine living in this house during its hey dey.  I think I would probably be working \”below stairs\” and not living the high life upstairs.

Arriving in Sorrento.

We figured we would have the time to get to Rye and find a caravan park.  The caravan parks are different along this stretch of the coast.  They are referred to as foreshore caravan parks, which means that they are run by not-for-profit committee.  It also means that they are stretches of land between the shore and the road, about 50 to 300 metres wide.  We stopped at a couple but they didn’t have a camp kitchen.  We eventually found one at Capel Sound foreshore, which has an open air camp kitchen.  The toilets and showers are clean, which is the main thing.

Monday March 24, 2014

I thought I had posted this last week on our rest day, but realize I hadn\’t oops.

We woke up to rain on the tent.  Perfect I can get the blog updated.  That is what I have done, hope you enjoy it.

The sun came out mid-afternoon, so we were able to get a load of washing done as well.  Ralf went for a walk around the Town and got us some lunch.  He also bought a map – Melbourne to Sydney next leg of Australia.

We should be in Melbourne on Wednesday.  We were going to go to Tasmania but have decided against it.  The boat is cost prohibitive $940.00 and we don’t want to pack up the bikes for another flight just yet.  We also want to save the money to go to Uluru (Ayers Rock) and Alice Springs.  We will have to fly there from Brisbane and I know that isn’t going to be cheap.  But we cannot come to Australia without going to Alice and Uluru.

Sunday March 23, 2014

A late start today 10:00.  It was a little cool this morning and once again we were chatting to fellow campers about our trip.  A couple of the little kids were feeding the cockatoos this morning.  These are noisy, screechy birds, but very cool to see them.  They are almost as common as pigeons are in the rest of the world.

I have seen such an abundance of different birds here.  I really need a book on birds for Australia to be able to name them all.  There are a lot of parrot like birds, one that I particularly like is bright red and blue and it has a nice sound.

Today’s ride was undulating to start with,  it was a little cool and was forecast for rain. We came across this Memorial site for the Great Ocean Road.  Would you believe that the building of the Great Ocean Road was created as a \”Make Work\” project for returning service men from the First World War.

As we were coming into Anglesea we spotted this house on a pole.  It is actually one room on the pole and the rest of the house is connected by a walk-way.  You can rent this place for your vacation.

When we got into Anglesea we were told that if we wanted to see Kangaroos we should go to the local golf course as they are one of the ‘hazards’ there.  We were deciding whether to head out to the golf course when we were stopped by a car and were asked if we were Ralf and Jacky.  Our warm showers ‘host’ from Mount Gambier had arrived back in Anglesea earlier than expected.  Our plan was to continue on to Torquay but we stopped and chatted to Sandy and Kirsten for an hour.  We were so pleased to have met up with them.  We wish we could have spent longer with them, but we needed to get to Torquay.  Sandy and his wife are planning their own touring rides and Sandy is building their bikes.  He said it is cheaper for him to buy the component parts and put them together himself than to buy the bikes in Australia.

There was a good climb out of Anglesea and then a straight road with a great wide shoulder (a full lane width) all the way into Torquay.

We are staying at a Great Ocean Road Trust campsite and got a discount. We always ask for a discount for being carbon neutral.  Sometimes they give us one other times not.  They usually have to put it down as something else in their computers, we got a Backpackers discount this time.

It is a good site with an enclosed kitchen that has all the pots and pans we need.  Of course when we got into the kitchen someone had left dirty pots in the sink.  I had to stop Ralf from washing them.  However, he did manage to organize the cutlery drawer!  Ralf intends on leaving everywhere we stay cleaner than he found it.  That is his mission in life, I think.

Tomorrow a rest day.

Saturday March 22, 2014

We were ready to go by 8:30 this morning, it was only a short ride to Lorne.   We hope to meet up with Sandy our warmshowers host from Mount Gambier tomorrow as we cycle through Anglesea.

The route today was very pretty it was very similar to Cape Breton Island.  The road was undulating with not too many steep hills.  It was a lovely route, but unfortunately we were going in the wrong direction, we were on the left side of the road and the ocean was on the right.  Because it was a very windy road, we didn’t always get the best views.

I almost got hit by a kangaroo today.  We were stopping to take photos, when this ‘roo came out of this driveway right in front of me.  It was as surprised to see me as I was it.  It skidded to a halt turned around and bounded off.  No road sense at all these ‘roos.  That is probably why we have seen so many dead ones on the side of the road.

At one look-out we saw a bunch of road cyclists with a tandem in amongst them.  The tandem peeled off to talk to us. Another couple cycling the Great Ocean Road.  They were American and had 3 weeks to cycle from Melbourne down the Great Ocean Road as far as Port Campbell then they were going to cycle inland through the Grampians.  They have suggested that instead of going into Melbourne through Geelong to go down towards Queenston and get the ferry across and come in via the east side of Melbourne.  That is what we are going to do.

Lorne is a very nice Town. This lovely hotel was at the main entrance to the Town.  Needless to say I think we will be staying elsewhere tonight.

The Great Ocean Road Otway Cycle Event is happening today and Lorne is very busy.  It started in Torquay and did a loop up through the hills to Lorne a distance of about 140 kms.  When we arrived in Lorne, at about 11:30 there were hundreds of road cyclists, there were about 3,500 cyclist signed up for this event.

Once we got the tent set up we were way-laid by a group of six Cypriots.  We chatted for about half an hour.  Although they said they were from Cyprus, all of them have actually lived in Australia for 40 – 50 years.  Helen was very funny she kept saying I could never dream of doing what you are doing.  Her friends agreed with her, she loves her creature comforts, hotels etc.

We had time for a nice wander around this sea-side town.  Every other shop was a coffee shop, bakery or some other sort of eatery.  Lorne also has a sculptures exhibition on throughout the month of March.

Various pieces of sculpture are dotted throughout the Town.  Some are very interesting others, you just shake your head at.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder or ‘What drugs was he/she on to do that”.  They also had a mini-sculpture show, to encourage you to get interested in buying art.

The campsite is very local to the downtown and is right across the street from the supermarket. The campsite is run by the Great Ocean Road Trust and all funds are put back into managing the area and upkeep of the campsite and beach areas in Lorne and in Torquay.

The beach is about 100 metres from the site and is popular with surfers.  When you see this many \”beginner\” surfers in the water the theme music from Jaws immediately pops into your head and I wanted to shout SHARK.  I know I have a weird sense of humour.

I am not sure what Ralf said to make me laugh something about my fat arse I think!!

Ralf has a bit of an odd sense of humour.  These were the only 2 guys wearing suits in the whole of the Town.  Definitely spies according to Ralf or \”Men in Black\” – trying to catch the aliens.

Although very close to the downtown I have already heard and seen a Kookaburra.  Ralf spotted this bird not knowing what it was – yes it is a Kookaburra.

Heading out to Torquay tomorrow and we will have a rest day there.

Friday March 21, 2014

I woke early and turned over and went back to sleep.  The coffee shop where we were going to have breakfast didn’t open until 8:30 so there was no point in getting up at the crack of dawn.

We were up at 7:15 ish and were just about ready to pack up the tent when Ralf commented it was beginning to rain.  It is the fastest that we have got the tent down and packed – it was still dry when we packed it.  Everything else was packed and ready to go.  We went to the little café and had a lovely bacon and egg sandwich for breakfast.  We also met two road cyclists who were cycling the Great Ocean Road – the only thing they were carrying was a couple of Camel-baks.  They were staying in motels and had one change of cycling gear with them!!

As we left the café it had begun to shower, then it rained.  We got the panniers covered and carried on.  The first part of the ride took us down from Lavers Hill into Horden Vale. A lovely open valley, then we went back up hill to the Great Otway National Park. We saw our first Kookaburra.  We considered cycling down to the Otway Lighthouse – that was a brief consideration, as it was still raining and the road was 12 kms down to the lighthouse and, of course, 12 kms back up.

As we were cycling back up another hill towards the Great Otway National Park, I commented to Ralf that this is one of those days that we should not be enjoying, cold, raining and hilly but we were both enjoying the ride and the scenery.

It was only when we got to Apollo Bay and stopped cycling, we got cold then all we wanted to do was find somewhere to stay for the night and have a hot shower.

Of course, we got a cabin and have plugged everything in to power up and done a load of washing.  Some of our clothes can be put into a dryer, others –  the merino wool cycling shirts and t.shirts have to be hung to dry.  Our little cabin looks like a wash-house.

Apart from the computer Ralf wanted to be off-grid – however, our power consumption is huge. I am surprised they don’t have regional black-outs when we get into a place where we can recharge everything:

• 2 Garmin bicycle computers
• 2 cameras and 2 batteries
• cell phone
• data stick for web connection; and
• laptop.

We also have the heat on in this little cabin one to keep warm and the other to dry the clothes!!

Apollo Bay is a surfing town with lots of shops catering for the surfers.

Thursday March 20, 2014

We left Port Campbell at 9:00 a lovely nights sleep once our neighbouring campers settled down and stopped talking.

There was an uphill grade going out of Port Campbell and we headed out on an undulating road towards the Twelve Apostles – the reputed sight to see along the Great Ocean Road.  Our Dutch neighbour at the campsite last night said that the area before the Twelve Apostles was actually more impressive.  The Loch Ard site was definitely better than the Twelve Apostles, it has a gorge, a cave and beautiful scenery.

While at Loch Ard we noticed a fire behind us.  Not sure what it was or where.  No reports on the news either

The Twelve Apostles although well renowned was very busy and in our opinion not as stunning as the other sites we have seen along this road.  The Twelve Apostles (actually about 6 now – due to the wave action that has knocked a few of them down).

All the tour buses stop here.  I hope they get to see Loch Ard as well, but we didn\’t see many buses there.

We were stopped many times to talk about our bikes, our trip etc.  So much so we left the Twelve Apostles at about 1:30 and still had 35 kms to do.  I chatted to a lovely French girl who was very interested in our trip and was amazed we were cycling the Great Ocean Road, she was even more amazed when I told her about the rest of the trip.  I indicated that you see so much more from a bicycle.  She asked if we had seen a Koala Bear.  Although I keep looking I still haven’t seen a koala bear.

The temperature was quite warm and I knew we had some hills to do.  Our campsite tonight was at Lavers Hill – there is that hill word again.

We met one other touring cyclist who was from Montreal, and saw one other coming down the hill from Lavers Hill with a big smile on his face.  He was going down hill and we were going up!!

After Princeton, the road headed inland and became quite hilly and with little shoulder.  The cars and campers generally gave us plenty of room even when we were going up some steep hills and windy roads.  This is an indication of our climbs today.  I didn’t have to get of the bike once.

Although it was hilly, (10-12% grades) still not as tough as the Coromandel or the hills in New Zealand.  Of course both of us are very fit and have our climbing legs.

As we were climbing up one hill we spotted a fella on the opposite side of the road with a wheel barrow and wearing rubber boots.  I asked where he was headed – Adelaide walking from Sidney to Adelaide in wellies?

We arrived at Lavers Hill to find a “Roadhouse” with basic camping facilities.  It does have a shower block but no kitchen.  We were trying to decide whether to stay here or go to the only Motel in Town.  Price difference $10.00 or $100.00.  The campsite won out.  It is incredibly quiet, the only thing I can hear is a cow mooing and some kind of bird.  Very peaceful and rural, we are the only ones here.  Ralf heard a Kookaburra as were getting ready for bed.

Wednesday March 19, 2014

We had a late start today, leaving the camp site at 9:00.  The ride took us along  a very pretty shared walking/cycling path for 3km.  I love these small communities that provide shared pathways along their beautiful coastline.

After the coastal pathway we followed a very quiet road and then headed in-land to Allansford where we stopped at the Cheese factory and museum and cheese tasting. We bought some nice cheese (Cheddar with black pepper and garlic).  We had lunch at the Cheese Museum and then headed out to join the Great Ocean Road at Nullaware.

Strange sights to see on this section of the road – a camel!  Alpacas for Melinda.

However, we didn’t see any sight of the sea until we got close to Peterborough (50kms into the day).  This section of the route was very rural and I was battered by bugs.  I could hear and feel them bounce of my helmet, shoulders, chest and glasses.  It was really annoying.  Then we made a right turn and saw the ocean and an incredible view of the coastline.

From them on and for the next 15 kms we were stopping every kilometre or so to view the absolutely stunning scenery in \”pull-outs\”.

Bay of Islands Quote on the Information Boards reads  \”There is a thin line between life and death for the plants and animals living here – caught between land and sea\”

Bay of Martyrs – \”By enjoying and caring about your natural and wild places, you can ensure they, and all that lives in them, will be here tomorrow\”

Although the quote asks us to look after the places we visit, unfortunately the sea is not that caring.  It is wearing away areas of this coastline with every wave.

The Grotto – the sea created a blow hole and now a cave eventually the roof of this cave will collapse and there will be more stone outcroppings.

London Bridge Has Fallen Down – just like in the nursery rhyme we used to sing as kids.  This used to have two arches.  I spoke to a lady who had been here when it did have two arches in the mid 80\’s.  The first arch collapsed in the early 1990\’s.

The Arch, (I didn\’t add a photo of the Arch, because I liked this one better), this area of the coastline reminded Ralf and I of a hand – Maybe it is a giant climbing the cliff.

All wonderful examples of the power of water.

Most of these areas had pull-outs big enough for cars and buses.  There were a few that had gravel roads into them.  A few had boardwalks, to keep you off the fragile coastline and flora and fauna.  all of them were within about 500 metres of the road.

We arrived in Port Campbell at about 4:30 one of our longest days, but not due to the distance, due to the scenery.  Tonight we are in Port Campbell a small seaside town.  We decided to eat out at the local pub – it was expensive but good. We are not going to be hearing the surf all night as we are surrounded by hills and about 1 km from the ocean.

Tuesday March 18, 2014

A very short riding day today because we wanted to spend more time in Port Fairy. We decided we didn’t need to get up early, as it was only a short day.  By the time we left the camp site it was 9:45 and by the time we left Port Fairy it was 11:15.

As we cycled up the and over the small hill behind the campsite we realize why we could hear the surf all night.

Griffiths Island has a Shearwater colony.  These birds travel over 10,000 kms through the Bering Sea between Alaska and Japan to breed here and then fly back to Alaska.  We had to go over a causeway to get to the Island and there were interpretative boards along the way.  It was well worth the visit to see the lighthouse and the surfers and the coast.

The route today was fairly flat until we got to Tower Hill which was an old volcano crater.  The scenery is becoming more picturesque the further we go along the coast line.  Tomorrow we actually join the Great Ocean Road.

We are staying in a very large campsite.  This is below the Maritime Village museum.

From this photo you would assume it would be rocking with surfers.  No, the average age is 900 years old!! Driving big SUVs and hauling caravans (camper trailers) the size of bungalows.

Ralf has gone to do some shopping in Town and I am doing the washing and writing the blog.

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.