June 6, 2023
Day 27: Daylesford to Ballarat
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This was to be the last day of any significant riding, mostly trains after this. The weather was rain and mist but okay. We found our way out of Daylesford to the main highway which started with a large hill. The shoulder was insignificant and, in some places, non existent. The road was busy and even when the overtaking lane started, giving much more space on the road, a lot of drivers were less than courteous to say the least. Mostly tradie utes. With the lack of shoulder, the mist and dangerous driving; about half way up we decided to get off and push. The bikes were still on the bitumen but we were off the road. We got back on at the top and continued. The shoulders seem to disappear at the worst possible times. Fortunately, we weren't going very far on this road, this was probably the worst stretch of road with the most discourteous drivers of the whole trip.
The turnoff onto the small road that we were going to take for the rest of the day was at a pub, not open but we had a break out of the rain underneath the verandah.
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After starting the day on the worst road of the trip, most of the rest of the day was spent on one of the best. The mist got even worse as we climbed but this was a very minor road with practically no traffic. There were a couple of steep climbs with one very long one but the scenery (and serenity) was great. The mist just gave the whole thing an atmosphere of its own even though a clear day would have presented superior views.
I was watching the profile as we went and trying to keep Annette's spirit up by telling her that we were almost on the descent, however, I think she feared the descents even more than the ascents giving the state of her brake blocks when we got home. Their was a massive descent down to the Western Highway and in fact all the way to Ballarat It was a fun ride down (for me anyway). There was a closed down service station at the intersection to the highway and we stopped there for a while to consider our options. We planned to take a train from Ballarat to Ararat but it seemed unlikely that it would happen today. We didn't want to get into Ararat at night wondering where to go.
We looked at a few options on the way into Ballarat, cheap motels mostly. These places are usually well out of town and not very pleasant. We decided to try a campsite right next to the Eureka Stockade, not too far from the centre of town. Glad we did. We inquired about a cabin and were told that there was only a family one left for $170 per night, out of the question, she then reluctantly told us about an option that had an en suite in a seperate building like we wouldn't be interested at $90. This sounded okay so we took it. The best and cheapest cabin we'd had on the whole trip. The cabin had been placed next to one of the caravan en suites, literally, straight out of the door.
It was still early in the day, we had made very good time from Daylesford, so we walked into Ballarat. The town centre seemed as large as Adelaide with one major exception, hardly any people. Nothing seemed busy, it was a miserable day weather wise but you would expect more people in a town centre like this. Ballarat is a nice looking city, a historic Australian town with some impressive old buildings, we enjoyed wandering about. My knee didn't feel up to the walk back so we inquired about a bus at the railway station. The people there were very helpful. We bought a MYKI (the bus pass that is required in Victoria) and inquired about the train to Ararat. All easily sorted. We could catch a bus back to camp and have a full day on the bus tomorrow. We decided to stay another night. There was an excellent supermarket just down the road from the camp so all was good.
Today's ride: 43 km (27 miles)
Total: 1,428 km (887 miles)
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