Day 184: Newmerella to Goongerah

November 28, 2022

Start: 8:10am
Distance: 81km
Ride time: 4:53hours
Average: 17km/hr
Max: 51km/hr
Finish: 3:30pm

Some baby corn on the flats between Newmerella and Orbost.

Banjo Patterson's poem "The Man from Snowy River" was first published in 1895.

The Man from Snowy River was made into a movie in 1982.

Some street art in Orbost created by Neil and Ryan Findley:

A lyrebird. This piece is made from parts of a 1973 Kato excavator.

Lyrebirds are amazing and can mimic the sounds of other animals and machines and humans.

From Orbost I will head north, inland to Canberra. This will be a much quieter route than following the coast.

The beginning of the Bonang Hwy. It has hundreds and hundreds of bends.

I know this road well. It has no shoulder, is very hilly and winding yet it is surrounded by wonderful forests.

There are no shops until after I cross the border into New South Wales tomorrow.

Previously this road would have many log trucks using it. I am in luck today as the logging operations have recently ceased.

As the road is very winding it would be a little risky to cycle it while the log trucks are working. I recommend you talk to the info centre in Orbost before riding this road.

Olearia ramulosa.

A lot of this forest was burnt in the 2019 fires. It appears to be recovering very well.

I spent the day listening to many birds as I cycled along.

Daviesia.

I saw several cow ear tags nailed to trees with pink marking tape.

The Department of Environment has done this to identify where they have placed 1080 poison baits to kill foxes and wild dogs.

This big truck was the only one I saw today. It had a pilot vehicle in front so I had plenty of warning to get off the road.

This is a very quiet road. I would only see a total of 17 cars for the entire day on the Bonang Hwy.

Here I found 4 other cyclists. Meet Mitch, Noah, Stu, and Jordan.

They are doing a cycling loop from Orbost for a few days. They were heading north to Goongerah too.

I was surprised to see another cyclist, this time heading south. Meet David.

David is doing a loop from Warragul and is on a 2.5 week ride. He is riding a Reise Muller electric bike.

His bike has full suspension and a rohloff on the rear with an electric shifter and is a belt drive. An expensive bike.

We spoke for 20 minutes or more about all things bike touring.

I made it to the small Goongerah campground. I had climbed 735 metres to get here today.

There is a small river here, some picnic tables, and a toilet. No phone reception.

There are a few possum boxes in the trees around the campground.

Today's ride: 81 km (50 miles)
Total: 10,661 km (6,620 miles)

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