...and so to Z

What a difference a warm sleep makes! Up early although no ceremony for  Anzac Day. There is a new memorial...ready for next year.

LEST WE FORGET

To be officially opened on 29th April

This was a lovely old hall at Tallygaroopna

Before we left Katamatite we took pic of where we ended up staying

Imagine this water logged and it was where we were originally going to camp!

Pretty dark and dismal  with an incredibly chilly wind. I have not worn as many layers of clothes, ever! Good road so we had progressed without any significant stops until we reached

Z for Zeerust

Mission accomplished. No idea how far we have travelled, or the average speed or how high we climbed or the min/max temperatures but no doubt Luke will supply those stats. Sufficient to say the idea became a reality, we met some lovely people and certainly have a better appreciation of the geography and social history of Victoria. Now we know our ABC, next time............... who knows! 

Thanks to Heather and Myles for their Shepparton hospitality and car-minding to make the exercise possible - great cycling buddies.

THE END

X, Y and the heavens opened

W was not only for Wangaratta, but Warby Ranges and wind!

Officially there is no place in Victoria, with a postcode, beginning with X. But we made many crossings on our trip so was apt to mark X with...

North again, against the wind to Y for Yarrawonga

55 kms in the wind was a bit tiring; paused for lunch at Y but we knew the hardest part was yet to come- 35 kms s/w to Katamatite.  Wind in our face but was quite interesting scenery.

Just keeping an eye on him, as well as the sky which was rapidly building. It was like sewing fast  to beat the thread running out - we pedalled hoping to beat the inevitable. This photo doesn't do justice to the actual colours. The silos were dark blue and the sky deep purple.

We had phoned ahead to this tiny place, knowing there was a pub, but the guy said they didn't do rooms. He said there was a camp ground (basic) so we were prepared for that  - or so we thought! 5 kms out the heavens opened.The rain stung like needles and visibility was nil. Nothing to do but keep going. We arrived in  Katamatite, went to the shop to book in to camp. The lady was terribly apologetic- no cabins, no camp kitchen, not even any shelter. To boot, our tent was packed up wet this morning. The camp ground was awash, and we just stared...where and how would we pitch a tent , still in the rain? I had already started to think of how we might cope, when a guardian angel appeared in the form of the publican (female). "Wait 5mins - I'll arrange something" and off she trots. And she did. Behind the hotel an elderly couple had rooms ( once a motel) - and presto, we had one!The temperature had fallen from 10 to 5 degrees in five mins. We were wet and frozen but ever so grateful. Later we laughed, not sure what we would have actually done in the camp ground, but luckily we'll never know.  Had a lovely warm dinner ( with soup) at the pub, have stuffed the shoes with newspaper and now we will rest up for the last dash to.....

V then W

All day we watched  the sky. V for Violet Town held some little surprises.

Not ony are the streets named after flowers, but the signs all feature drawings of the flowers. The main street had similar signs indicating the hairdresser, the newsagent etc. Very quaint.

We voted this to be the best "town" sign of the trip.....courtesy of Leunig!

A pleasant run into Benalla. Have resolved to visit the art Gallery on our way home as the weather was closing in. We took a back route through Winton, climbed into Glenrowan where the first raindrops fell. Coat on and pedalled like hell as we saw the storm coming down the valley. Paused to take this photo of W for Wangaratta. At least it was still in sunshine!

Tent up before any moisture fell.

Now we are beginning to sound like the English - fixated on the weather - but it does make a difference to how far we can go and where we can stay.  Three letters to go. We  anticipate being back in Shepparton on Wednesday afternoon late, if the W, S/W winds don't hamper us too much. Bet you can't guess "X"!

U is for.....

We left Thomastown in a heavy fog, but it was great to see the sun break through as we headed north to Whittlesea. Great roads, obviously much used by cyclists. We were now in the area much effected by the famous bush fires so it was good  to see signs of recovery, mainly in the form of a great new fire station. We had eggs here  in preparation for potential hills!These didn't really eventuate, just a few climbs  in a gradual ascent to get to U for Upper Plenty.

This water tank is at the local school, maybe part of the recovery process.

It was to be quite a distance to our next "letter". We stayed the next night at Tallarook . No room at the hotel but he let us camp in the backyard - charged us $30 each! A curious experience - one gets the feeling he hasn't really done his market research on cyclists and the new Goulburn River High Country rail trail. We  rode part of this, as far as Trawool. It has not been officially opened yet and it seems they are already battling the elements. Although there has been some great new bridges installed, the trail itself is suffering in the recent rains. However, we enjoyed the bush scents and the fast flowing river.

At Trawool, we headed back towards Seymour, then took back roads through Mangalore ( explosives factory), Avenal (the Kelly Trail starts here)-



Spurred on knowing that Heather & Myles were meeting us in Eurora, we pedalled furiously through Locksley and Longwood to get to Eurora, have a shower, put tent up and be at the movies at 4pm. We all went to see The Artist which was quite fitting as it was screened in the original theatre - just like going back in time. At the climax of the movie, just as the main character was really losing it, accompanied by fantastic mood music, the hail came belting down. And in time with the passing story  crisis, the hail stopped when the movie regained composure! All we could think about was our little blue tent in the severe hail storm. Would everything be wet? Being the good little campers we are, no, all was safe. This photo was taken as we came out of the theatre.

We were grateful that H &  M were there to transport us from the camp ground. And of course we all had a convivial dinner afterwards. Awoke to a relatively dry day, but Luke had a puncture, so made it a later start than planned.

Along the way to R,S & T

We have resolved to visit the Queenscliff and Geelong areas again -there is plenty to see.The Bellarine Rail Trail experience was enhanced by both the perfect weather and the revegatative plantings that lined the route - it certainly tops those we have ridden so far.

The camp ground in Geelong was not central so we rode to the harbour for breakfast on Thursday morning. A great path around the bay , dotted  with carved wooden figures. A selection to rival the cows of Shepparton.
For  Ben, the bandsmen of Geelong:

And for Keith - a piper in the mist...

We headed north from Geelong towards Bacchus Marsh, past the Barwon Prison ( in the news this week) around the base of the YouYangs and into the country proper. Only got caught in one storm but we seemed to be in a high traffic area for quarry trucks. About 12kms  from BM we turned right and  eventually found our target, R for Rockbank Once on the highway it now sits  beside the freeway. The caravan park's claim to fame is that its the closest park to the Bass Strait Ferry! They have 140 permanent residents - 7 visitor cabins, so that tells it all. As it was wet we took hard top accommodation and had a relaxing night.

This is the only commerce in Rockbank! This morning  we continued north through some hills and wine country; what huge mansions they build around S for Sunbury. Of note, which we  enjoyed, was the fabulous shared paths into and out of the town.

Quite a large shopping centre. From here the roads were a bit dicey- lots of trucks and no edge. The worst roads are those that have a white line right on the edge, then a dirt rut edged by loose gravel. Some significant hills which we walked. But the time we got to Roxburgh  Park I was almost despairing but hallelujah! the cycle lanes started. What a difference infrastructure makes to the experience! We zoomed along - feeling ever so safe  in quite heavy traffic. Not one horn toot - it was real pleasure. This lasted right into T for Thomastown. What a surprise here - a fabulous railway station.

Simple but effective. And now onto U. No rain today although it was forecast. Fingers crossed.

NOT Marjorie Jackson

Whoops, mistake. Must have been all those distractions. Of course, the singer to whom I referred was Marjorie LAWRENCE, not Marjorie Jackson. Great day today around Queenscliff and then the BEST railtrail -the Bellarine. In Geelong tonight.

Three in One Day

Heading east we stopped for cofffe at a tiny place, Moriac, to find it was the home town of Marjorie Jackson, the singer. Undulating hills peaking at Mt Duneed then a flat run to Barwon Heads.

O is for Ocean Grove. A scenic ride across the bridge and around the coast to

P for Point Lonsdale

We probablyshould have stayed here but decided to push on to

Q for Queenscliff.

Now the holiday season is over, it seems the place dies! But we will explore tomorrow then take the  35km rail trail to Geelong. Haven't dedcided past that. At the park tonight is a group of 30 retirees - 4WDrivers. They asked us to talk about what we are doing  they were especially interested in he outback stuff we have ridden. But for me, after the bike, a 4wd wouldn't do it!