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.....