May 5, 2017
Day two Warragul to Korumburra
Day 2 Warragul to Korumburra
Friday May 5, 2017, 44 km (27 miles) - Total
so far: 95 km (59 miles).
This was the day that we crossed the Strezlecki range. Not a major climb by American standards but we climbed from 110 metres at Warragul to a peak of 340 metres then descended to 210 metres at Korumburra but the profile is a definite saw tooth pattern with lots of rises and descents. This is hard work on a tandem.
Leaving Warragul Gardens Holiday Park we turned our back on Warragul and set off along Burke Street heading towards Howitt Street, where we turned right crossing over the Princes Highway. Cycling around a large round about we continued cycling along the C475 Korumburra - Warragul Road heading south.
Now we had left civilisation behind and the empty narrow road stretched out before us, winding its way up and down, up and down, up and down : this day's cycling gave a new meaning to the term green rolling hills.
Cycling south on the C475 we passed on the left hand side Bull Swamp Road and cycled over Bull Swamp Creek, further on we came to the junction of Grand Ridge Road (a very famous route which we were not taking today), the road is known for its attractive scenery ranging from open farmland to dense forest, especially as it passes through Mount Worth State Park and Tarra Bulga National Park. Its surface ranges from good quality sealed bitumen to heavily corrugated unsealed gravel.
We stopped for our morning tea break in a tiny school bus shelter made out of tin on the side of the road. Its heavy wooden bench was very high off the ground and seemed to fill the tiny shelter.
Further along the road we passed a few large homes behind huge hedges where an attentive dog seemed to bark so loudly its call was taken up by at least one other dog. The neighbours across the road came out to see what the fuss was all about and said they wished they had brought there camera to take our photograph, after exchanging news they wished us well.
A little further on we passed Mountain View Road on the right. Whilst Wild Dog Road and Wild Dog Creek soon appeared on the left and the sign for Wits End Country Cottages, luxury self contained cottages for hire was left behind.
About 5km out of Korumburra Mary was exhausted and was sitting on the ground resting when a car coming from Korumburra stopped and asked whether we were all right. They offered to take Mary to our motel in Korumburra which was in fact completely out of their way as they had just come from there. They loaded Mary and the rear panniers into their very small car which was already full of presents for a function that they were going to and took her back to the motel.
Mike rode the tandem with front panniers into Korumburra and fortunately there was only about 1km of climbing remaining then a nice 3km downhill into town. Even with front panniers and an unloaded rear end the Thorn tandem was perfectly stable on the descent. The Thorn people know how to design a solid touring bike !
The motel was old but tidy and there was a note in the room that they had a restuarant on site but alas it was no longer in operation, however the management at the motel recommended one of the hotels in town to us for a meal: saying that the hotel would send a courtesy minibus to pick us up. We decided to walk the 1.5km to the Middle Korumburra Hotel to loosen up our cycling muscles but we did take the free ride home. We each had a delicious Angus Beef Pie cooked in a ramekin with vegetables on the side.
Today's ride: 44 km (27 miles)
Total: 95 km (59 miles)
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