May 14, 2017
Day Eleven Stratford to Bairnsdale
After eating breakfast and loading up the bike early in the morning, we pushed the bike up the slope to the office / home of the owner of the Stratford On the River Tourist Park. The owner came out to see us off and wished us well, knowing that we would be back cycling with our club on the Queen's Birthday long week-end : 9th - 12th June 2017.
Turning left along Tyers Street / Princes Highway we cycled along an almost empty main street, where we could smell the bread and cakes baking in the bakery. Michael had found out that the baker opened his shop for business to the public when he started baking early in the morning. Buying fresh rolls and cakes we packed the bike and set off on the long straight ride along the Princes Highway all the way to Bairnsdale - it was Mother's Day.
Cycling along the main street we cycled around the round about and turned left into Dawson Street / Princes Highway A1. We cycled over the train level crossing and passed a large boat storage yard on our right hand side : we had left the Stratford CBD behind us. Cycling along the Princes Highway A1 we noticed that the homes to our right hand side had huge front gardens and very wide nature strips, whilst the small industrial estate on our left hand side was soon passed.
Cycling along the Princes Highway A1 we saw that the road way curved very slightly to the right and then back to the left as we cycled along a fairly steep long rise which finally brought us views across the open farm land to the horizon. From now on the Princes Highway really would be flat and straight.
Cycling along the Princes Highway's very wide shoulder we saw very few vehicles driving in either direction until we reached the out skirts of Bairnsdale. All the vehicles which passed us pulled over into the far lane of the two lane highway, except for two vehicles which only pulled over half way into the far lane to give us as much space as possible.
The time passed by as we cycled along looking at the gum trees and the sky, the road seemed endless. Until Michael noticed a heavyness in the steering and sure enough the front tyre was half flat. He tried the easy option of a quick inflation but about 1 km later it was back to half down. So it was a case of removing the panniers and placing the bike on its handlebars and removing the front wheel. We were unable to detect the hole in the tube so we turned the soft bead tyre inside out and went over it
inch by inch, but could not detect a foreign body in the tyre so we
took a new tube and refitted the tyre. Michael had forgotten how fiddly it
was to fit a soft bead tyre to the rim but with two pairs of hands we
finally succeeded. The tyre stayed up for the rest of our ride into
Bairnsdale and was still hard the next day.
After the puncture we stopped a short distance later at the Billabong Roadhouse, Fernbank knowing that there were no other shops before Bairnsdale. We ordered a pot of tea and sat down to enjoy the open fire and the brick-a-brack surrounding the roadhouse's walls. Whilst waiting we saw a vehicle drive into the roadhouse's forecout to fill up with fuel. When the car stopped we could see that there were three greyhounds with their heads sticking out of the car's rear window. We had always had rescue dogs and our latest rescue is a Greyhound so we always try to talk to other Greyhound people. Forgetting the tea we raced outside to talk to the driver of the car who said that she breeds and races Greyhounds but when they retire they remain on as pets. One of the three greyhounds had had a very sucessful racing career and had won a lot of prize money.
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The roadhouse was also home to the proud parents of four little ginger kittens a few weeks old. What an eventful morning tea, we had thought that the tyre puncture might have delayed our journey, but came to realize it gave us the chance to experience a unique gathering.
Continuing our cycling along the Princes Highway A1 we came to a bus depot and a camper van outlet on our left hand side which formed part of the Bairnsdale industrial estate. Soon the Princes Highway was flanked by the Main Street which provided the Bairnsdale CBD with a dual carriage way, and there ahead of us was the iconic Water Tower to our right standing in the central median strip and St Mary's RC Church to our left.
The Romanesque styled church which has a small copper dome on top of its 42 metre high, asymmetrical tower, was begun in 1913 and completed in 1936. The church is famous for its murals which cover the walls and ceiling of the building, they were painted by Francesco Floreani between 1931 and 1938. Floreani was a migrant Italian from Udine, who had studied painting at Udine College and then at the Academy of Arts in Turin.
Cycling along the Princes Highway we rode into the huge car park next to St Mary's Church. The church stands next to the newer information centre to the left of the huge car park and opposite the Aldi supermarket. After exchanging news of our journey so far with a local family, we bought milk and other groceries from Aldi and headed off along the Princes Highway towards the Bairnsdale Riverside Holdiay Park on the banks of the Mitchell River.
Today's ride: 56 km (35 miles)
Total: 402 km (250 miles)
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