Aussie_24

To be finished later Daylight saving time switched off last night and our 8:00 AM start feels like 9:00 AM (that won't surprise you I'm sure). The day was fresh to start with and no wind which made for good riding. Today being our final day Stephen had designed a shorter 50 km loop out to Eleanor into some more of the rich historic gold mining area. I've spent the last seven days over here in Victoria riding with a great bunch of Aussies. My good riding mate Peter (UK 2017), Elio (Au 2022), Phil and Stephen (NZ 2023) and Frank, Abdy, Geoff, Anthony, Mike, Rick (AU 2024). We've all got along really well, shared a lot of stories, debated much about the "Footy" (that's that " World famous in Australia" game that is played on a round cricket field with four goal posts at each end), had a lot of laughs and good humored banter as well if course enjoying a week of great "Hub and Spoke" rides all meticulously designed by Stephen who had come an...

 There was a good rain overnight and it was wet when we loaded the vehicles for the drive to Benella where there was also a light shower happening when we hopped on the bikes and Stephen took us around the town to look at the Mural Artworks that the Town have taken on board as something they do. There are many Murals on the walls of buildings and are certainly worthwhile taking in. We stopped at a Cafe for our morning tea break then loaded the bikes for a shuttle out to Tungamah for the one-way ride back into Benella. The rain had stopped by the time we began the second ride of the day and our first silo art to admire was there at the rail silos in Tungamah. It was a cooler day today and no sun to speak of but not cold by our standards so very comfortable riding weather. We stopped at the pub at Devinish for lunch and also to take a picture of George Coles first store (now Coles). The store is closed, the plaque is there and there was no sign of there ever being a Woolworths across...

Today we drove the 47 km's to Beachworth (with only one coffee stop required) and we then headed off through the Mount Stanley Scenic Reserve which took us to a relatively high elevation 800 m.a.s.l. for NZ standards with respect to the farming practices happening at that elevation. Over here, I guess because it is that much warmer it means at the higher elevations, they are still able to undertake quite an extensive range of farming activities - today we passed through Chestnut and Apple Orchards as well as vineyards and sheep, cattle and cropping farms. Our Camp Dad, Stephen had us stopping at his usual apple orchard where a 2 KG bag of Honey crisp apples was purchased and 1.5 KG of that was promptly eaten there and then. It was a good long and steady climb to the top of the hill and then a terrific twisty/turny downhill to the road running into Myrtleford. It was alongside this road that I saw Green Grass for the first time of the trip! I feel it must have been a combination of ...

 It was 10 degrees at 7:00 AM this morning however by the time we had driven to Springhurst 27 km's out of town it would have been in the mid-teens and was very pleasant for the rest of the day, no wind to speak of, no hills to climb today and by midafternoon we were riding in 27 degrees. Today's ride was our "Straight Road Ride" in that while it was a loop there were times when we pointed the bike in one direction and were still riding in that direction 20 minutes later. For probably a third of this ride we were on the same course that Peter, Elio and I rode on our Sydney to Melbourne ride 18 months ago except this time we were going in the opposite direction and in drought conditions rather than the underwater flood conditions we had last time. Chiltern was our morning coffee/tea stop and as it was a town I had visited previously I was charged with navigating to the old Masonic Lodge building which is now a Cafe. The town is still very original in nature with few if...

A 300 meter hill up through the Warby - Oven Reserve into the Warby ranges then a good steady downhill descent that took us into serious large scale (compared to NZ) grain farming country, very dry country but lovely looking soil free of stones. The stubble paddocks have been prepared for burning once the fire authority allows such. The route kept us off busy roads with very little traffic and for much of the ride it was a sealed single lane road on which most drivers slowed down and gave us a wide berth - however there always has to be one who heads past us at a great rate of knots! Within a 200 meters of passing a "Kangaroo" sign on the side of the road there was a XXXX????  (not sure what you call a family group or more than one Kangaroo in the one place) Let's say Mob, however Mrs Google informs me I could also call them a "Troop or a Court" of Kangaroos! There in the paddock was a "Troop" of Kangaroos, to me what appeared to be two adults and a nu...

 A couple of good showers overnight meant the riding today was a bit cooler - when the sun was out it was pleasant/hot when it was not it was coolish and the wind with it meant the jacket made life comfortable. We left at 9:00 for a figure of eight ride out to Beechwood which is an old gold mining town, Half the ride was on sealed rail trail - there was one 250 constant climb up the old railway line at a 4-degree gradient for most of the 5.5 km. On the return ride out from Beechwood there was an 11 km road section that lost a good couple of hundred meters in elevation so that was good to ride, What is quite noticeable riding here is the smell - no it's not offensive but very Australian and Eucalypt in essence - a smell I quite enjoy as it brings back memories of camping at Long Bay close to the big old Bluegums.