April 16, 2024
Inverloch to Foster
It's raining, my alarm hasn't gone off yet and I'm stratergising how I'm going to pack up. 2 consideration, it's raining and the camp kitchen where the kettle is for my coffee is further away than I'd like. The rain eases and I opted to pack everything up and ride Lexi to the camp kitchen for breakfast.
This approach works so well it might need to be my new norm. I'm at the camp kitchen by 7:20am. Only the kitchen doesn't open until 8 am. Nooo, I quickly run through my head what I left in the fridge. Milk, tinned peaches, cheese and leftover chicken from dinner. Nope I don't want to just leave all that behind. I try all 3 sliding doors, yay, one opens, I'm in.
Eat, pack up, work my way through the pedestrian gate because apparently my bike is to light for the car gate and I'm off. It's 8:20am, amazing. The rain has stopped and the BOM forecast is for only 0-1mm so I should be good.
Three uncomfortable kilometres along the B460 the Bass highway and I turn off onto a gravel road. There was a good size shoulder on the highway but a lot more traffic than I like. Into Cows and fields, I'm in dairy country.
Then the rain started and I said to Duckie the BOM say 0-1 mm right, 0-1 mm and it got heavier. At 9:39am it happened, the water ran down my sock and into my shoe. I felt my shoe fill up with water. Did I mention that I'm a far weather cyclists, I haven't had this happen since 1993 in Southern Germany.
I arrived at Leongatha only to happy to get out of the rain. A bakery was the obvious solution. Pie and coffee while Lexi and my water proof jacket dripped all over the footpath.
I chatted to a lovely young lady who's mum cycles to work everyday, no matter the weather, tough Mum. I booked a cabin in tonights caravan park, my tent no longer so appealing.
Then onto the Great Southern Rail Trail. This will take me all the way to Foster.
The rain clears and it a pleasant ride.
The highway was realigned in 2022 and the Rail Trail wasn't forgotten.
I cross over the Tarwin River a few times as it meanders.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
I met some new friends in Meeniyan. 5 cycling doing a 5 days bike tour on analog bikes 🙂. Lots of talk about routes and journeys past was had. I rode on knowing we'd met tonight at the Foster caravan park.
Not far from Foster I found a koala running down the trail towards me, an unusual site even in Australia. I stopped, it stopped and did that cute sit down they do and looked straight at me. I'm scrambling to get my phone out to take a photo and it's like, nut, to slow, I'm off.
I had dinner at the pub with my new friends Jessica, Fiona, Richard, Helen and Phil.
Everything is drying in my cabin.
Today's ride: 89 km (55 miles)
Total: 320 km (199 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 4 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |