Day 4: Tower Hill, Warrnambool

It was a great catch up with Phil & Lynne last night, & a great meal! Thanks !

We're taking it a bit slowly today, as we both have sore knees - nothing desperate, but it's good not to push it too hard. First rest stop at Tower Hill

Long toilet queue, but at least it was shaded. After that there was NO ONE lining up for coffee & I was very tempted but Rikky said we have to wait till lunch time. It's a good incentive. 

2nd rest stop is Warrnambool, at Lake Pertobe. We rode past the hospital & I saw the hospital flats where we lived for 2 years!

Day 3: 95km!

Portland to Port Fairy

A long way - we just kept going. 

Quite an achievement!

You'll have to believe me: we saw a koala with baby in a tree. So many cyclists going past, all they could do was sit there

We also saw a pair of Gang-gang cockatoos - I thought they were black cockies but they were too small, & then I saw the male's red head. I also saw 2 pelicans flying overhead, one near the start, & one the finish. In addition, a huge flock of corellas whirling about & making a lot of noise. 

It was hard going today, a long haul into a head wind - but a lot warmer & sunny. 

Fill up water at a rest stop:

We were a bit late packing up today, and our closest truck was full, then the next one! But the third had heaps of room. 

Tim's cousin Andy U'Ren & his wife Susan passed us on a tandem, with 2 friends. 

When we got here, we met our riding partner from yesterday - she's camping very near us & recognised our bikes! That's amazing, in a crowd of 5000! It's a huge campsite, very spread out. Our luggage truck is a long way from the central area. It's a lovely camping spot. 

We're going out for tea with the Carters, special friends from Warrnambool. Will be great to see them. 

Extra bits

It's interesting meeting people on the ride. Like a man over breakfast whose job is setting up machines in factories. He said how important it is to set aside time every day at work to achieve the important things you need to achieve, ie, not be always doing what other people want you to do. Worth a thought! Leads me to think about how we (I mean, I) need to take control of our diaries & schedules, and make good decisions about use of time. 

We met a couple at dinner who we're going to ride to the start of this ride from Adelaide! (they didn't, because of the weather).

We bumped into my bus buddy, which was good fun!

And at lunchtime , to an ex-nurse from Leongatha.

People generally seem friendly and ready to chat. "How did you go today?" "Where are you from?" Many have never heard of Leongatha - but know of Wilson's Prom. 

Dinner conversation

Phone charging - $2 for a token at the main office, then hand in the token. & the phone, get a number to get the phone back. It's worked well so far!

That's just a small section ....

Day 2: Nelson to Portland

Today was quite a bit better for riding - no rain at least, still very windy. We did get hot enough to take rain jackets off. We rode with a girl for a while - she rode behind us, and then ahead, ie we were a small bunch! She said we were riding well, so that was encouraging. 

74km today, felt like a good achievement. 

See the sea in the background. It's fun riding through beautiful country.

So many people! 

Coffee queue at lunch time - worth it!

Campsite at Portland - same view in any direction, and more across the road - schools camp are over there & we had to walk to get our luggage from there. 

Time to tackle the queue for the showers. 

We've started!

So far so good! Yesterday we negotiated getting the bikes onto a cattle truck (number 8, but that didn't matter, they were there long before we went to look for them), the luggage into the underneath of bus 39, and we took the last 2 seats of bus 45. I sat next to a sponsored cyclist (female) and we had such an interesting chat! She's a museum curator at the VRC. Not into horse racing, but started cycle racing aged 40! She went to NCYC in 1987.. "Do you know Mark Lawrencce?" Turns out her kids went to primary school with Ethan & Tobias! And she would chat to Ruth at the school gate. 

We had a break at Colac & lunch at Port Fairy. It was good to arrive in Mount Gambier, find our stuff and a place to pitch our tent, get in line for registration kit - the all-important lanyard with card, the key to all meals. And queue for event cycle jerseys - then go & find the bikes. 

A grey day - cold & raining on & off. We thought we'd go into town for tea, but there were good choices in sale - we had couscous & Moroccan lamb, & shared a sticky date. We went into a tent to find a dry place to eat - & right there were a couple I know from the yacht club in Inverloch! It was great to see them. 

It felt like it rained most of the night - not so good packing the tent up wet. That was after breakfast of fruit salad then bacon & egg sandwich - the local scouts. (Formal event meals started at lunchtime today).

It was exciting starting the ride!

We went into town to the camping shop - Rikky's sleeping mat blew up with an aneurysm! We bought a few other things too. Rikky thought we'd be the last on the route, but there we're bikes everywhere in town. We had a coffee & set off. 

It was great to see the Blue Lake

Quite a lot of rain en route, & it was very windy. 

Here we are in Nelson, set up & we've had showers. The number of tents is amazing. 

Looks like mostly downhill, but there was plenty of uphill!

Nearly ready!

What a day - physio, fasting blood test, collect breakfast and head off for coffee with the girls, ward round, Woorayl lodge, lunch, home visits, shopping and packing! 

Shortly: a work dinner to farewell one of the docs, and we'll head to Werribee to stay with Mum & Dad, prior to getting to Geelong to catch the bus to Mount Gambier.

The physio told me about this story in The Age today, about a man who's done EVERY great Vic bike ride since it started! This is the 30th year.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/harry-sheldon-ready-for-his-30th-great-victorian-bike-ride-20131120-2xvtw.html

#climateaction

We went to a climate change rally this morning! The big one in the Treasury Gardens. It was inspiring to be there with 25,000 others, most dressed in orange, red & yellow. It was great to be part of such a fired up crowd. Some of Rikky's friends found us! We were also messaging some of our friends, but couldn't make the connection.

The speakers were inspiring and to the point. The only disappointment, I thought, was an academic scientist who is also a Christian  - he took the chance to preach the gospel in a traditional, divisive way, which seemed so out of place. I would have loved to hear a more inclusive and open approach, affirming God as Creator, and the need to care for creation, how important beautiful places are for our soul or spirituality. He said some of those things, which was good. I hope it wasn't all negated by the preachy stuff. 

I suppose cycling is relevant in the climate change issue - using the bike when possible should keep the air a bit cleaner!

We're more determined to get solar power & water happening at home.