Lett me first start this blog by saying that Australia is a very safe country... with a murder rate about that of Switzerland... and the front page news has mostly consisted of weather related news. Our trip through Australia has been wonderful so far... the people hospitable, the wildlife unbelievable (seriously... everyother day my jaw drops as I point and stare and ask Kim, "What the... is that a gigantic lizard?"... and it is. The country is beautiful, amazing trees, and flowers that we're not used to... but there are always folks in every corner of the globe that give a place a bad name. Last week, we were midway between Melbourne and Sydney, where distances between towns are greater, the general store supplies are smaller, and the number of beer cans and bottles on the roadside heaped up..
Day 17: Cann River - Orborst (66 km)
Woke up to an unusually brisk morning at the Cann River Hotel. Kim's alarm was set for "weekday" so we accidentally slept in (the hours around sunrise and sunset have been the best riding temps, as the day gets too hot to ride without getting too cranky), but no matter... as the day was cloudy and the glaring sun wasn't out in full force. We still got ready as quickly as possible to hit the road during the cool, favorable conditions. About 10 km into the ride, as it started drizzling we quickly covered the front panniers with it's rain cover, the ponchos ready, and kept riding. 30 seconds later, it started dumping buckets. So hard that I couldn't see the road ahead. We pulled off, and huddled under our ponchos for a few minutes until the rain ceased (about 5 min later). We kept riding with our ponchos on, making us look like smurfs on wheels. After another 10 km or so of riding through the drizzle and thunder, the storm picked up again... this time as the rain drops got larger, it also got harder. Soon we were being pelted with olive sized hail. Once again we huddled under our ponchos shivering in the sudden change of weather.
Day 17: Cann River - Orborst (66 km)
Woke up to an unusually brisk morning at the Cann River Hotel. Kim's alarm was set for "weekday" so we accidentally slept in (the hours around sunrise and sunset have been the best riding temps, as the day gets too hot to ride without getting too cranky), but no matter... as the day was cloudy and the glaring sun wasn't out in full force. We still got ready as quickly as possible to hit the road during the cool, favorable conditions. About 10 km into the ride, as it started drizzling we quickly covered the front panniers with it's rain cover, the ponchos ready, and kept riding. 30 seconds later, it started dumping buckets. So hard that I couldn't see the road ahead. We pulled off, and huddled under our ponchos for a few minutes until the rain ceased (about 5 min later). We kept riding with our ponchos on, making us look like smurfs on wheels. After another 10 km or so of riding through the drizzle and thunder, the storm picked up again... this time as the rain drops got larger, it also got harder. Soon we were being pelted with olive sized hail. Once again we huddled under our ponchos shivering in the sudden change of weather.
As we huddled, we recalled the conditions of the previous day, when we wished we could have a short dumping of hail as we were sweating up another endless hill, cranky with the heat, as I was yelling "Stop Preten-daling!!!" to Kim, in which she'd reply, "I'm NOT! But if you accuse me one more time, I WILL!"... and how things had quickly changed.
After a 10 minute huddle (we figured out our game plan... keep cycling...) the sky cleared up, and we knew that the storm had passed... so our ponchos were packed away and kept riding. Another few more km had passed... and suddenly we were wet again! This time, one of the passengers in a passing car had thrown a half full (half empty?) Victoria Bitter at Kim's thigh.
This section of the Princes Highway had been the worst for cycling, with barely a shoulder, and numerous logging trucks passing us on blind corners. We were already on edge, and having a beer thrown at on top of all the rain and hail didn't help the situation. It was quite scary at the moment, but looking back on it now, we can only laugh, as Kim's thigh got Victoria Bitter-ed... a first, and hopefully the last of the trip.
Things have got much better... and hotter. We are on Raymond Island currently, as we took a short detour to see the Koalas... which are in abundance here (the locals call them "grumbly bears" due to the noise they make when they are active... at night... we've heard them a few times now). Within our first 5 minutes off the ferry, after seeing our first Koala, we met Peter, a friendly local who builds model trains and collects old engines, and invited us into his home to stay with him (he has visitors all the time). We took this random invitation as a sign and followed him to his home. That was 3 days ago. Peter has been a gracious host, and on top of that, it's been the worst heatwave to hit Victoria in the last 100 years... with temps in Melbourne over 110 F for the last three days... so we're not cycling. So we've been hanging out at Peter's pad along with his two dogs (Milo, a greyhound and Buddy, who likes to hang out out on top of the couch... a curious creature) and watch aussie TV (Aussie Open) and movies while cooling off infront of his A/C when I'm taking a break from reading.
This section of the Princes Highway had been the worst for cycling, with barely a shoulder, and numerous logging trucks passing us on blind corners. We were already on edge, and having a beer thrown at on top of all the rain and hail didn't help the situation. It was quite scary at the moment, but looking back on it now, we can only laugh, as Kim's thigh got Victoria Bitter-ed... a first, and hopefully the last of the trip.
Things have got much better... and hotter. We are on Raymond Island currently, as we took a short detour to see the Koalas... which are in abundance here (the locals call them "grumbly bears" due to the noise they make when they are active... at night... we've heard them a few times now). Within our first 5 minutes off the ferry, after seeing our first Koala, we met Peter, a friendly local who builds model trains and collects old engines, and invited us into his home to stay with him (he has visitors all the time). We took this random invitation as a sign and followed him to his home. That was 3 days ago. Peter has been a gracious host, and on top of that, it's been the worst heatwave to hit Victoria in the last 100 years... with temps in Melbourne over 110 F for the last three days... so we're not cycling. So we've been hanging out at Peter's pad along with his two dogs (Milo, a greyhound and Buddy, who likes to hang out out on top of the couch... a curious creature) and watch aussie TV (Aussie Open) and movies while cooling off infront of his A/C when I'm taking a break from reading.
Soon though... we shall be WWOOFing.
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