I slept in today, and had a nice campfire breakfast of fried eggs, muesli bars and espresso coffee, before packing my bag and exploring the Campbells Island State Forest on my way down to Barham and Koondrook.
Victoria
Murray River Day 1: Swan Hill to Murrabit
I got up nice and early this morning — 0500 — to catch the Ballarat V/Line train to Melbourne at 0615. I packed the bike last night, making sure everything was lashed and ready to go. Then lo and behold, the skies opened up and rain started pouring! Not the most auspicious start to the trip…
Melbourne to Adelaide in a school dress for charity: looking back
This time last year, I undertook a huge challenge that I’d never even dreamt of before, let alone attempted: I rode my bicycle from Melbourne to Adelaide, wearing a school…
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A river to myself
With Melbourne currently under Stage 4 coronavirus lockdown, my annual trip to the high country around Lake Eildon with my mates Stephen and Mick for the opening of trout season…
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Taking my daughter for her first ‘real’ river trout session at Eildon
With rivers in Victoria about to close for the 2020 winter ‘closed season’, and my daughter’s birthday the same day, we decided to hit the Goulburn and Rubicon Rivers near…
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Day 6: Watching GWS get spat out by a Tiger
After the hard day yesterday, today was brilliant! Awoke refreshed, with not a lot of distance to cover to finish off Leg 4 — about 40 km to Bordertown, SA. I left Kaniva early and headed out for the border between Victoria and South Australia at Serviceton. I was soooo happy to finally reach the border. Although I’ve already covered half the distance of my journey, in my mind the border has always been the ‘halfway’ milestone.
Day 5: The silent ‘h’ in Nhill
I set out from Dimboola and before long reached Loch Iel, more commonly known as the Pink Lake. This salt pan is home to a type of algae that reacts to the sun by showing a pink hue, making the entire lake varying shades of pink depending on time of year, sun position, etc. It was very beautiful…
Day 4: Dimboola
I started this morning in the worst possible way — disaster struck my rear axle. I snapped the ‘Burley Balls’ rear axle bolt, which was made out of cheap Chinesium, as I went to depart the Darlot Motor Inn! I was devastated — this could easily have been the end of the adventure right there. I was completely immobilised. Without a rear axle I couldn’t even walk the bike to the local bike shop. I rang my partner Danielle in despair.
Day 3: Horsham
I awoke early this morning to the sound of kookaburras laughing, and then cockatoos having a screaming match, so much better than an alarm clock! I love the bush!! Enjoyed a beautiful sunrise through the gum trees as I packed up camp and had a muesli breakfast. The family I’d met, the two little fellows were up bright and early like me, so we enjoyed breakfast together before I headed back down the gravel track to the highway. Lovely people!
Day 2: The second departure
Slept in slightly, then as I was leaving from home and not coming back, needed to double-check that everything was packed into the trailer and the gear was all ready to go.