Thursday 15 February. Snake in the grass ready for passing cyclists

Wednesday 14 February Lorne to Geelong and train to Melbourne.

Another Lovely Day as the house name of a place en route stated. We had clear blue skies most of the day, light winds mainly as tailwinds and temperatures up to 33C.

Lewis rode with us for the first half of the day. No more Koalas today but more scenic coastal views. Soon after leaving Lorne we started a 2 mile climb up Big Hill to Cinema Point. We had given Peter W a 20 minute head start and caught him just before the top.

Then down to the coast and an Arch over the road commemorating the building of the Great Ocean Road. We stopped there for a group photo and Lewis turned round and headed back to Lorne.

We headed on and stopped at Aireys Inlet for elevenses. Then on to Anglesea and Anglesea Beach and an undulating climb inland. We took a byroad back down to the coast at Bells Beach and some steep short 18% climbs.

Then down to Torquay and lunch at a restaurant overlooking the golden sands of its bay where we had apple crumbles with ice creams.

We took a side road north to Geelong on Horseshoe Bend Road which had one bend but was otherwise flat and straight and with a tailwind for 10 miles. Peter W found this very comfortable.

We headed into the city of Geelong and got to the V.Line train station for a train into Melbourne . There was no direct route into Melbourne froGeelong other than the M1 freeway for 30 miles.

We got into the Southern Cross Station in central Melbourne for 5.30 and rode a few miles in the rush hour traffic to the hotel making better speed than the jammed up cars.

Although this completes the circuit we plan another ride tomorrow so I will calculate total mileage then. When the others fly back Saturday I will stay on another 3 weeks and will continue the blog.

47 miles for the day and 1840 ft of climb.

Edwin

Wednesday 14 February. Riding the Great Ocean Road.

Wenesday 14 February. Group picture at Arch at end of Great Ocean Road

Tuesday 13 February. Apollo Bay to Lorne. Koala Hunt Day.

Today weather was perfect, sunny all day with light winds and temperatures up to 33C.

We had a caf? breakfast and then met up with Lewis who was riding with us for the day. We headed out of town on the Great Ocean Road which for this days section closely followed the coast with great sea views.

There were gentle ups and downs with the road descending to bays and climbing part way up cliffs overlooking an azure blue sea.

Soon after entering the Wongarra State Park just before Kennett River we saw a Koala Bear traffic jam at a layby. We had been told by various people including the lady at Fauna Australia to expect wild Koalas in this area. We started the days first Koala Hunt (Strictly photographic)

There were about 15 Koalas in eucalyptus trees either side of the road and obviously a well known stop with paths among the trees. Most of the Koalas were asleep up in the trees but a few were active and reaching for leaves. We climbed a roadside bank to get a close view of one.

Then down to Kennett River for lunch at the Koala Cove Caf?. The location was very good but the caf? was the most cyclists unfriendly we had encountered in Australia with signs warning of no bike parking in front of the caf?. This was something we had never before encountered in Australia. They also refused to fill Lewis's water bottle.

After lunch we set out on our second Koala hunt of the day. There was one up a tree in the garden of the caf? and more up a gravelled track into the woods. We settled to relax on a grassy spot at the base of a tree where a Koala slumbered. There was a bit of excitement when some Koalas started waking up and moving around in the trees of the adjacent caravan park and a lot more shutters were clicked.

During the day I took 99 digital pictures of Koalas and about 30 slides!!

We moved on about 3 miles to stop for a tea (ice cream) break at a shop at Wye River. There were a few mutterings from some about the day being too easy but Peter W found it just right.

We continued with the scenic coast on one side and the remote forest of the Angahook Lorne State Park on the other side. We stopped at the viewpoint at Mount Defiance and I set the digital camera up on a mini tripod with a timer for a group picture. Then on to Lorne and our Motel.

29 miles for the day and 1082 ft of climb.

Edwin

Tuesday 13 February.Sleepy Koala

Tuesday 13 February. Koala Nibbles

Tuesday 13 February. View of the Great Ocean Road

Tuesday 13 February. Group picture at Mount Defiance Overlook

Monday 12 February. Lavers Hill to Apollo Bay

Today weather was dry with a mix of sunny spells and cloud and temperatures up to 22C. We again had a strong SE wind but not as bad as yesterday with a lot of the time going down or climbing up and sheltered from the wind.

I cooked porridge for the group in the room and I took a last look at the Koalas and Kangaroos. We descended to Lavers Hill village and then a long descent to the coast at Glenaire where The Bend Caf? provided us elevenses.

Then about 8 miles of flatlands before stopping for a picnic lunch in the sun over looking the Valley. Then the big climb of the day headed inland across the Otway National Park. We stopped part way up at the Maits Rest Rainforest Boardwalk and explored some scenic flora.

We continued to the top of the pass at 990ft and just as we started to go down we met Lewis a friend of Martin and Peter T coming up on his bike. He was staying at Apollo Bay for the night and was staying 3 months in Australia. He had arranged to ride with us tomorrow. Then a long descent to the coast at Apollo Bay.

30 miles for the day and 1601 ft of climb.

Edwin

Monday 12 January. Kangaroos early morning at Fauna Australia.

Monday 12 February. The 2 Peters walk the Maits Rest rainforest

Sunday 11 February. View of 12 Apostles

Sunday 11 February. Port Campbell to Lavers Hill

Today weather was pretty dismal with constant light drizzle driven into us by a gale force headwind at 35 mph!! Temperatures however reached a comfortable 21C.

Despite the weather we had an interesting event full day. After a caf? breakfast we headed out along the Great Ocean Road. Our first stop was to view the Rock formations of the eroded limestone coast at the Lord Ard Gorge. Then on the famous Twelve Apostles set of Limestone Stacks. We got some reasonable pictures despite the weather.

Then inland and up a long gradual climb to 450ft. Then we lost all the height down to the Gellibrand River. We then started a long and steep in places 11 mile climb to our nights accommodation at 1600ft.

We split up on the climb with Peter T and Martin speeding to the top to wait at a caf? there. I stopped at the Melba Gully Rainforest Walk. Areas of this part of the Coast are temperate rainforest and there were some spectacular views. Peter W caught up with me there. We went on to Lavers Hill village at the top and joined the others. We also met up there again with the Canadian Round Australia Cyclist we had met over the last few days.

After an early evening meal we went on another mile to our accommodation for the night at Fauna Australia. This is a private wildlife reserve with 2 accommodation units and the wildlife only accessible to guests. Finally we got to see KOALAS!! We saw the parents and an extremely cuddly looking baby Koala as well as various Kangaroos and Wallabies. We got to go in and stroke one Koala. In the evening we saw various nocturnal creatures including Wombats.

Our hosts provided us with seeds to feed the animals. These went in ice cream cones which the Wallabies loved to hold in their paws and nibble.

36 miles for the day and 3441ft of climb.

Edwin

Sunday 11 February. Mummy Koala. Very cuddly.

Sunday 11 February. Baby Koala max cuddly.

Sunday 11 February. Night picture of the nocturnal Wombat

Saturday 10 February. Warrnambool to Port Campbell

Today weather started with a short bright period but then the rest of the day was cloudy with intermittent drizzle and a strong 35mph SE headwind. Temperatures reached 21C but with freezing weather and snow back home we could not really complain. It was only the 2nd time in 4 weeks we had needed waterproofs on a moving on day.

We headed out on a back road and joined the famed Great Ocean Road at Allansford 10 miles from our overnight stay at Warrnambool. We stopped for pictures of the signs and then on to the nearby Cheese World for elevenses.

We were about to leave when the Canadian Round Australia Cyclist rolled up and we chatted to him and rode with him briefly later.

We took a back route via Childers Cove where we stopped for a brief picnic lunch in some shelter from the wind.

Then back onto the Great Ocean Road which eventually came down in line with the coast. We stopped at the Bay of Islands viewpoint where the limestone coast is eroded with stacks left behind as islands. Luckily the sun came out briefly for photos. We stopped at the Bay of Martyrs and then on to the small town of Peterborough for tea.

We crossed an estuary into the Port Campbell National Park and I spotted an Australian Ant Eater or Echidna all covered in spines on the grass verge.

We stopped at 3 more viewpoints, The Grotto, London Bridge (an arch which fell down in 1990) and the Arch. Then on down to Port Campbell and our Best Western Motel.

48 miles for the day and 1046 ft of climb.

Edwin

Saturday 10 February. Two Peters and Martin on backroad

Saturday 10 February. View at Bay of Islands