Tag Archives: Victoria

Sunday 10th November

We awoke to more wind and rain but not as bad so always the optimist we checked the ferry website and there was no indication that the ferry had been cancelled today.

So we packed up and headed for the jetty hoping for the best the water looked choppy to say the lest In the distance we could see a little boat bob bob bobbing it’s way slowly towards us, yes we can leave the island. It’s funny when you are involuntary staying somewhere you do feel like a prisoner even though you still have your freedom your still stuck in limbo and it’s a strange feeling.

Five brave soles boarded the small vessel us and three older ladies out on a day trip they were excitingly chatting and taking selfies not in the least bit worried about the rough crossing un like mike and myself I guess we’re just wimps!

Half a hour later feeling slightly queasy we are on main land and it’s good to start cycling.

It’s easy going, a bit of wind and rain but nothing to challenging and we make good progress. However we are now heading into the city of Melbourne the traffic is heavy and drivers have no regard for our safety close passes and angry beeps galore. Australia is by far the worst country we have ever cycled. I was stopped at a busy junction waiting to turn left, a gap in traffic so I pulled out the car behind decided to pull out at the same time cutting the corner and me up. He had only just missed me by a hair width. I know that I was going slow enough that if he did hit me I would live but anyone whose been in that situation will tell you how scary it is and would probably end up with something broken it’s getting beyond a joke.

We are in a ibis for the night as the campsite is more expensive, city prices! Opposite is a bike shop and the airport is only 30 miles away. So after reflection and with a heavy heart we have decided to fly to Perth. People all along have warned us not to cycle the great ocean road because the drivers are bad, not taking the chance that they are worse than what we have already experienced we went into the bike shop and got two cardboard boxes, decision made tomorrow we will box up the bikes, book a flight and head to Perth.

Saturday 2nd November-Friday 8th November

We have been relaxing on Phillip Island for the week. From Phillip Island we can get a pedestrian ferry across to Melbourne and then continue our journey on. Well that’s the plan but unfortunately for us it’s a small ferry. Only taking 30 minutes to cross meaning that in bad weather it gets cancelled, it’s not run for the last 3 days and the weather forecast is still pretty bad for the next few days. Even had snow in Melbourne and there was us thinking Australia was going to be to hot.

So a extended stay in Phillip Island we are staying in a small town called Cowes there are a lot of similarities to the Isle of Wight, there’s a Ventnor also,and the landscape and beaches are similar add to that the rain and wind we’ve been having we could of just stayed a weeks holiday back home we only live a short ferry ride away from cowes.

Mind you you don’t get penguins on the Isle of Wight. Phillip Island is home to one of Australia’s largest penguin colonies. Little penguins are the smallest of 17 penguin species and the only penguin that lives permanently in Australia. They are counted in each night at a place called penguin parade, last nights count was 2.5k they make their way from the sea to shore every night at sunset such a awesome site.

The rest of our time has been spent walking the long empty beaches and browsing through the tourist trash and trinket shops it’s good to have a rest of the bikes. We can sit the weather out and wait for the ferry to run or do a 100 mile detour around against the 25mph wind and cycle to Melbourne. I think we will wait!

Friday 1st November

Wow November already where does the time go. So another short day following a rail trail this time we joined the bass rail trail a lovely easy route passing beaches into kilcunda where we had a lunch break tea and toasted sandwiches.

We passed over a old trestle bridge but I couldn’t find any information about it, just a old railway bridge.

After lunch we joined the cycle path onto Phillip Island and for some unknown reason they made the cycle path steeper than the road, ha ha Australia you’re so funny!

We are staying on the island for the next week and the weather is looking rather damp.

Thursday 31st October

Happy Halloween. Well this year is the first year that I’ve experience a summer Halloween, it doesn’t feel right. A really hot day,bright sun shine, people in shorts and T-shirts it can’t be Halloween it just doesn’t work.

As I said it’s a hot day today the hottest in oz we have had so far spring has changed into early summer lovely. This and the fact that it’s a holiday weekend in Melbourne something to do with horses. The Melbourne cup we keep the miles down. A mere 10 or so miles following the easy rail trail.

Inverloch to Wonthaggi. The last goods train on 7th November 1978 marked the official closing of the rail line, the last passenger train had already departed on the4th December 1977. The rail line was transformed into the coastal rail trail in 2000.

Tonight we camp in Wonthaggi a former gold mining town, the campsite is basic not a cooking kitchen, we have a kettle and toaster so breakfast is fine but for the evening meal we have pub grub. Roasted pumpkin risotto for me, you gotta have pumpkin on Halloween ๐ŸŽƒ. The pub has giant whale bones outside it’s door from a sperm whale that got washed up on a nearby beach in 1923.

Wednesday 30th October

Glorious day riding. The sun was out but we were shaded by the trees lining the old railway line. We followed the great southern rail trail all morning, which led us nicely into fish creek for a lunch stop. A quirky little town with pictures and statues of fish pretty much every where.established 1884 as a railway town

After lunch back onto the trail for a few more miles until we had to turn off onto rolling country roads leading to the coastal/ fishing town of Inverloch. Situated on a shallow inlet and our home for the night.

Tuesday 29th October

A really hot day today with that dreaded head wind made today hard work. We cycled from our campsite in Woodstock to yarram ten miles up the road, this gave us the perfect place to stop for a coke and breakfast. Whilst in the cafe I noticed a man outside taking a picture of my bike. I didn’t think anything about it, it’s something that happens it’s all loaded up and people are intrigued by it. He came inside and instead of the normal questions she just said are you the Jewell’s on tour. I smiled and said yes, with that he told us that he followed us on Instagram and just left. We don’t know who he was and it’s strange being recognised.

Ten more hot miles up the road more refreshments needed we stop in Welshpool for another coke and a sandwich from here we can join the southern rail trail. A disused railway line made into a cycle path

From here we follow the path to our stop tonight in toora. A town established in 1860 to supply hardwood to Melbourne. It has many old buildings but unfortunately they have been neglected over the years.

We make the most of our campsite indoor pool and hot tub. That will do nicely after 40 hot miles.

Tuesday 22nd October

A perfect day for a bike ride.

Not to hot= no heat stroke.

Not to cold = shorts and t-shirt.

Not to sunny = no sticky sun block.

Not to hilly = good average speed.

Not to flat = great landscapes.

Feeling good we ride a nice little 30 miles into Bairnsdale, established 1842.

It’s streets cape has the architecture of a 1860s gold rush town.

We took the rail trail following traffic free paths

Long and straight. We met a couple on a tandem going our way. Elisa and Jack they are staying at the same campsite as us tonight so we cycled together. They are moving to London from Brisbane to continue their studies next year. We spent the evening chatting about cycle touring. They also have done a bit and are warm shower hosts.

Thursday 24th,Friday 25th and Saturday 26th October

Enjoying a few days off. The ferry to Raymond Island is free the 1st one in the morning is at 6:30am and the last at night is 11pm it’s only a two minute crossing. We make the most of it and go back and forth enjoying walking around the island taking in the wild life. It has lots of wild life.

Echidnas, black swans,kangaroos and lots of brightly coloured birds to name a few. But of course it’s the koalas that we came to see and we weren’t disappointed.

The island has over 300 koalas, they can be seen sleeping in the trees. They sleep a lot anything up to 20 hours a day we were lucky enough to see some awake but they were very sleepy.

Wednesday 23rd October

We have decided to take a slight detour, our route will take us to Phillip island and the moto gp is on. This means that all the accommodation has either sold out or is a out of our price range. So the plan is to go 10 miles out of our way to paynesville where we have heard about a Island off of it where we are guaranteed to see koalas. The 10 miles was nice and easy.

We got to paynesville early. Time to relax in a coffee shop and watch the world go by. We also used the library, tourist information centre and supermarket. It’s a small town but has everything we need on hand. It was originally a fishing village that sent over 1500 baskets of fish weighing 40 tons each into Melbourne weekly. It also rapidly grew due to boat building. And the reason we are here is it’s ferry service across to Raymond island.

Monday 21st October

We made the decision to take the day off. Yesterday’s wind was fierce and today my thighs were killing me, so much pushing against resistance I’ve got big pumped up muscles, at this moment in time I would probably make the worlds strongest man look like he skips legs day!

We also are headed into Phillip Island bad timing the moto g p is on this weekend putting the price of accommodation sky high and fat chance of seeing any wild life with all the bikers taking over. Best to sit it out.

So with a day to look around we headed into town. It’s actually bigger than most of the towns we pass through with lots of charity shops to have a rummage in, my favourite kind of shop you never know what you might find. Exciting news they have a brand new vinies opening this week and it’s huge.

Apart from the charity shops it’s also quite a nice town. A good selection of shops and restaurants all set in a nice harbour.

On the foreshore statues are carved into tree stumps of the Monterey trees that were planted in 1924. The stumps have been preserved by a local chainsaw artist John Brady as a memorial to world war 1 service men

The sun was out and it’s a beautiful day just to relax. Tomorrow we will ride on to the next town it’s only about 25 miles hopefully the weather will be kind.