Cycling the Great Ocean Road…

We arrived in Melbourne a few days early due to the bush fires… (a terrible disaster, btw, we've been reading a lot about it in the papers... but on the other hand the amount of support we have seen from all the communities to support the bushfire fund has really been heartwarming to see).

So, we took off after one night in Melbourne for the Great Ocean Road (GOR). Stretching from Geelong to Warrnambool, it's an incredible section of coastline that was built to commemorate WWII soldiers (LOOK THIS UP). Although it's known to get really busy during the holidays (Christmas to Australia Day… Jan 26^th), we were fortunate to get there after the busy season, but still during nice weather.

"How we going?" is a common Aussie greeting… and for this section our answer was "fast!" …as we had left our camping gear with Kevin and Robin in Melbourne, so we were travelling two panniers lighter, and loving it.

We were hoping to catch the train from Melbourne out to Warrnambool, but due to the bush fires, the trains were not in service, and scheduled to resume service in a few days. So taking our chances, we set off into the headwind, departing from Geelong, where Neil Mann (one of Kim's mom's colleagues) put us up for the night.

We ran into more cycle tourists on this section, as the route is a popular route for cyclists… this is Roman, who rode from Perth across the Nullarbor, and is on his way up to Brisbane. If you can read Czech, here is his blog… (www.adventureroman.blogspot.com).

The first section that we rode is known as the "Surf Coast", the coast is less dramatic, but the beaches are nice, and the surf is big… hence the name. The world surfing championships take place down here, and there are some small communities that would be heaven for surfers…

The "official" start of the GOR... used to be a toll road.

at the Lorne hostel... a great place for some bird watching...

We had heard some horror stories of riding the GOR, with lots of traffic, no shoulder, etc… but we thought it was a very nice ride… with reasonable shoulders in the beginning, gradually getting smaller, but with traffic also getting thinner as well… the last day we got passed by maybe 10 cars for the 60 km stretch (although it was really early in the morning…).

This area of Australia is one of the wettest areas on the continent, and there are some rainforests inland. There are huge gum trees, beech trees, and a few of the short self-guided rainforest walks are quite enjoyable… OH, and the carnivorous snails like it here as well. They almost got us (they're quite fast), but due to Kim's ninja skills, we barely escaped.

The coastline here is also known as the "shipwreck coast" (lots of names for this coast…) as there have been numerous ship wrecks due to high winds, rough coastline, and shallow reefs. So there are numerous historic lighthouses, including the Cape Otway Lighthouse… we made the 24 km side trip out to the self-proclaimed, "highlight of the Great Ocean Road" … which was ok, but definitely NOT the highlight.

Kim even managed to fall asleep in the first 30 seconds of a short video about the shipwrecks… I'll return to this topic later… but Kim can sleep anywhere…other than the bed at night…

Oh, but we did see a few Koalas on the ride out… they're always cute and nice to see… it's as if you were riding around, then all the sudden you see a sleeping Mingus in the trees… that occasionally poops on you (a hint to future koala viewers… don't look straight up at them…)

The road doesn't hug the coast for the whole ride… but it veers inland up to Laver's Hill, skirting around the Otway Ranges, where we stayed one night at the pub… the only night of the five nights that we didn't sleep next to the ocean. Once you return to the coast near Port Campbell, the real highlights of the GOR await you… as do the tourist busses…

but there is too much to see in such a short length of coastline that you can find plenty of privacy on an amazing cove, beach, or inlet if you are willing to walk just a short way.

12 apostles…

I'm wondering if we would have seen some leashed cats if this sign wasn't here…

Our own beach…

With a cave

Kim showing how some of these features are formed…

The geology here is very dramatic, with arches, columns, and islands around every corner. Any one kilometer of this stretch would be an attraction elsewhere… put 30+ km all together in one place, and you have the "shipwreck coast". The 12 apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, the Grotto, Worm Bay, and countless other features along this coastline are definitely worth spending some time. Many of these beaches have a strong current and don't have any lifeguards, so swimming isn't recommended, but there are some sheltered coves and inlets that are relatively safe. This area would be great to explore and I've vowed to come back and sea kayak along the coast… once I become a little more proficient. Just imagine kayaking until you find yourself in a cove that you can only access from the sea, all to yourself after a long day of kayaking through some arches, exploring sea caves, and maybe top it off with some sushi that you just spearfished…

One of many arches…

The grotto

Near Peterborough, where we stayed in a caravan! … just crossed the street, and voila! Amazing coastline… we saw a spearfisherman coming out of the sea with a bag full of fish.

The next morning we had to get up early as we had heard that the last train back to Melbourne from Warrnambool departed at 11:45. But this turned out to be the flattest day so far, and we cruised it averaging 25 km/hr. After meeting a local cyclist on the road (who invited us back to his place to stay…) we went to the train station and found out that they were running buses… only one train a day, the early one. So now we didn't have a ride back to Melbourne, and our place to stay for the night rode off… oh well… we ended up staying at a nice backpackers near the beach. Oh, and we went to a restaurant called Bojangles for V-day, and Kim can't stop talking about how good the food was.

We're back at Kevin and Robin's… spent a day at the Melbourne Zoo… which we all agreed was one of the better zoo's we've visited… monkey's are amazing… and so was the little girl watching them.

Off to Tassie tomorrow.

Woohoo…

Update: WWOOFing, koalas, and the heat.

So, we've been volunteering at a WWOOF host in Maffra, Victoria for the last week. It's been quite an enjoyable experience, and I'm sure our bums are not looking forward to getting back on the saddle tomorrow. The couple we have been staying with have an amazing house in the country, and live a very enviable lifestyle. We have had many topics to cover, as they are climbers (they have a cliff like 30 ft from their house they can climb… though the weather hasn't cooperated for me to hop on the rock), telemark skiers, avid cyclists (Jim lived in Belgium for 3 years as a pro), kayakers (there's a few places you can walk to from their house, a creek that I got to kayak down on my second day… for about 10 km or so, and a lake very close by), and travelers (they've been everywhere). It's very interesting actually living with a family as you slowly figure out similarities and differences between cultures. Having this time to relax and talk about culture, environment, wildlife, etc… has been very eye-opening. We've had a lovely stay and hope to do some more WWOOFing in the future… maybe in NZ and Japan?

Before arriving here, we were at Raymond Island for a few days as noted in the previous entry, and we took the 6 am ferry across and rode 100 km here most of it in the morning... then in the evening after we stopped in a pub around 2 pm… haven't rode since.

Battered, Bruised and Bittered in Victoria...

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.

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.

Soon though... we shall be WWOOFing.