April 18, 2025
Into the hill (There was only one.)
Shepparton to Black Springs
Yesterday’s rest day came at exactly the right time. Pete couldn’t have picked a better BnB. It was central, quiet, had 3 bedrooms and was one block from the Shepparton Brewery. For some reason our host thought it was Pete’s birthday (It wasn’t) and she left a card with a generous gift hamper and a bottle of Prosecco wishing him all the best.
By the time we wandered into town, did some washing and shopping and drank coffees on the hour the day just seem to vanish.
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We did run into ‘Slaughterhouse’, a former riding mate of ours from Bungendore. Trish was doing a ride with us years ago on the South Coast of NSW. After a decent session at the pub after an arduous ride she proudly proclaimed “My bodies not a temple it’s a slaughterhouse”. The name stuck.
Today’s ride was a long one, with almost all the climbing in the last 10 kilometres taking us into the Warby Ranges just outside Wangaratta. It’s Good Friday so we were concerned about the traffic but we needn’t have been. It was all quiet roads and tracks with maybe 20 cars passing us all day.
C
We took the old Dookie road for thirty kilometres to its namesake hoping that the one shop there would be open for a coffee and second breakfast. As it turns out the annual Dookie classic car festival was on and the place was teaming with people and stalls selling a variety of foods.
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There were some interesting cars and even more interesting people attached to the cars. I had a mediocre coffee made more memorable by the lady in front of me ordering a quarter strength almond latte. After a marginally better sausage sanger we took the Dookie rail trail for a few kilometres before peeling off onto the gravel. The roads are still long and straight but there are at least hills in the distance and it’s noticeably greener. It’s no Yorkshire Dales but it feels and looks less dusty than the two days into Shepparton.
Our lunch stop was in Devenish, another one pub and one general store town. We’d made sandwiches in the morning to take with us which proved a good call. The general store had new owners that were still finding their feet and were still trying to sort out their stock. I saw 7 containers of chicken stock, 5 cans of tuna and some packets of noodles and that was about it. They did have cold cans of Coke, my drink of choice on long cycling days but at no other time. I really need the sugar hit!
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That left another 30 kilometres to our campground in the Warby Ranges. Thankfully there was plenty of tree cover and virtually no traffic. Once we started climbing the dirt road it noticeably deteriorated and turned into a track that led on to our campsite at Black Springs.
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There’s not a soul here, probably because there are no facilities and no water. We did carry extra water just in case and I always carry some toilet paper because you never just know when you might need it.
I remember a guy I met backpacking years ago who had a bad case of the trots and had run out of toilet paper. He was madly reading a murder mystery novel and tearing out the pages once they’d been read to use them for the afore mentioned purpose.
It’s a lovely still night as I write this. We’ve got a campfire crackling away and have just finished a decent dinner of Hoisin noodles with a variety of vegetables that survived surprisingly well in my pannier. Bed is rapidly beckoning but I’m determined to make it to 8.30.
Today's ride: 82 km (51 miles)
Total: 508 km (315 miles)
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