Day 7- Warrnambool to Portland

It was good to wake and find that the rain showers had passed over during the night.Again we were up at 6.00 am with the aim of getting away at 7.30am.

The ride today was over 110 kms with a route which was largely along the Princes Highway. Fortunately there was a good shoulder which meant that we could stay away from cars and trucks. The only real problem was caravans which seem to travel too close to the shoulder! I think that most caravan drivers do not know how to drive properly with the caravan as they forget you need to allow for the additional length when passing.

The route today took us past the Tower Hill extinct volcano which hs a lake. The views from the top of the crater was good. It was then on to Port Fairy for coffee and a bit of a look around the town.

Coffee was good and we managed to organise lunch for later consumption on the road.

The next 60 kms was on the Princes highway. The riding was good and I was travelling at a constant spend of over 25 kph.

We had a bite of lunch at a picnic spot about half way which was timed so we could have a bit of a rest for the 60kms into Portland.

I arrived at Portland at about 3.00pm feeling quite fresh despite the distance travelled.

After a shower and a short snooze we went out for dinner at a local cafe which specialises in seafood. My whiting fish and chips was perfect to re- energise myself for the day ahead.

Port Fairy harbour 

The oldest pub in Victoria…. The Stump 

Lunch at the halfway point 

Portland harbour during the day

…..and at night

Home for the night 

Today’s ride

Day 6- Port Campbell to Warrnambool

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Day 5- Apollo Bay to Port Campbell

Today was a big day of riding for all of us….

The day started early with us up and about at 6.30 am ahead of a 7.30 am start.

The sunrise at the end of the street was something to see as you can see from the photo below.

As we were taking our lunch today we stopped at the Apollo Bay bakery to get our lunch of rolls and drinks….i could not resist getting a coffee to start the day.

After this it was off to Port Campbell and after leaving the town we were on a climb of about 12 kms climbing about 350 metres…I was feeling pretty good on this climb and hoped that I had not “ spent my tickets “ doing this as we had significant climbing still to come!

The decent was great and enabled me to recover somewhat.

The next stage of the ride was through the Aire Valley which was quite pretty and over a flat area to Glenaire where we stopped for a regroup ahead of the big climb to Lavers Hill!

It was here that I met a German tourist who was hiking in the area and had sustained a badly sprained ankle. His car was located at the 12 Apostles and was looking for a lift back to it. Ian and I agreed to help and he was driven to Lavets Hill where another person helped with a lift to the car…. Rather fortunate for him as the travel by our Ute would have been delayed with stops to regroup us all at various times. I met him at the 12 Apostles later and he was extremely grateful of the help we provided.

After leaving Glenaire it was on for the big climb to Lavers Hill. This was a total climb of about 18 kms climbing 480 metres…. I was pleased to complete this without stopping. The trick is to keep a steady cadence and concentrate on achieving small gains in distance and time during the climb. This worked well for me and I reached the top in reasonable shape for the rest of the days riding.

We then had lunch at Lavers Hill in a “ picnic area “ ahead of the decent down to Princetown which was on the coast. We regrouped here and waited for Chris who had a flat tyre on the way down…

After this it was on to the 12 Apostles where we made a visit to the tourist centre and viewing platform. It was quite impressive and there were a significant number of tourists at the centre enjoying a lovely view in great weather… about 28 degrees with slight breeze.

After this it was off to Port Campbell to complete the ride at abou3.30 pm.

The days ride was 98 kms and we climbed about 1550 metres… a big day.

To end the day we had a lovely home cooked meal of hamburgers and sausages with salad followed by an ice cream on the after dinner walk .

Port Campbell is certainly an interesting town that has improved a lot over the years… it is worth seeing again!

Tonight I will sleep well ahead of the ride to Warrnambool!

Sunrise at Apollo Bay

The creek on the Aire Valley 

Some of the Apostles!!!

The viewing platform!

… an unwelcome guest on the path…. The Chinese tourists were intrigued!

Home for the night at Port Campbell 

Today’s ride

Day 4- Anglesea to Apollo Bay

Before I talk about today’s riding I just want to confirm that Steve Seyydid in fact make it to Anglesea yesterday…. He made very good time in riding from the Geelong station to our accommodation at Anglesea.

Today was one of the beautiful days of riding you could ever get!

The weather was cool in the morning and as the clouds burned off the sun provided a wonderful backdrop with no wind for riding.

We were awake early and after 7.00 am breakfast we commenced riding at 8.00 am as planned.

The first stop was at Aireys Inlet for a coffee then a body for me “down memory lane” in looking at the old family home at Fairhaven. The house has not changed much since we sold it.

After this it was on to Lorne for morning tea which was interrupted with cockatoos trying to steal our cakes….

The ride from Lorne to Wye River was really quite magnificent with the waves breaking on our left and the views of the coast….the weather really improved with the sun breaking through the clouds. There was virtually no wind as well!!!!

At Wye River we had lunch which was okay??? Very ordinary food and quite expensive! I don’t really recommend the Wye River General Store!

After lunch we continued the journey along the coast enjoying the views and great riding conditions until we reached Apollo Bay.

Arrival was at 2.30 pm which was great timing and the 74 km ride was achieved at an average speed of over 22 kph… good for the day after climbing about 800 metres.

All in all a great day for us all.

Steve arriving last evening.. well done Steve 

The group ahead of the ride today 

Interesting view from the Anglesea hill towards the Port Phillip Heads

The old family house at Fairhaven with the steps that my father built with a little help from myself.

A coastal view

… and another one with the bike

Home for the night 

Today’s route

Day 3 - Rye to Anglesea

We were all up early for the short ride to the ferry at Sorrento. The departure time was 8 am and we needed to be at the ferry by about 7:30 am.

Packing up the Rye house, including cleaning of the sheets and towels was undertaken by Ian and myself whilst the others made there way to Sorrento. We also had to stay behind to sort out the pump on the house with a local plumber!!!! This was done in pretty quick time which allowed Ian and I to catch the 11 am ferry to Queenscliff. Boarding the ferry was quite simple however the ferry seemed quite full with cars and passenger traffic. The short one hour trip to Queenscliff was quite entertaining with many tour groups travelling to the BellarinePeninsula for golf and touring along the Great Ocean Road.

On arrival at Queenscliff we checked with the bike riders who had made good time and were at Torquay having lunch. They were happy to stay and wait for us to take the 40 minute road trip to meet them.

After having lunch it was great to begin the bike riding finally!

With fine weather and a coolish southerly breeze we toook off for the 20 km ride to Anglesea. This was along the coast much of which is part of the Cadel Evans Road race. It goes through the towns of Jan Juc and Bells Beach which renowned surfing areas.

The road and cycle paths were good and despite some busy traffic on the Great Ocean Road , the road shoulder was adequate.

We arrived at the caravan park at about 3.30 pm which was good timing to enable us to all have a shower and rest.

Steve Seymour is joining us later this afternoon after celebrating his father’s 94th birthday….congratulations to Fred! He was making his way from Melbourne via the train to Geelong and then riding to Anglesea. Be good to see Steve arriving safely.

Today was a good day to get out of the hustle and enjoy the scenery along the coast and have relaxed chats with the guys.

We are having dinner at the local pub tonight which should be fun.

The riders at the start of the day at Rye 

A ship on the Melbourne channel as we made our way on the ferry 

A view of the coast near Bells Beach

Home for the night in the caravan park…. Very comfortable 

My riding today…felt good to be back on the bike 

Day 2 - Melbourne to Rye

After a very hot day yesterday the weather turned during the night to a colder and certainly wetter day today. There was quite a bit of rain all day which was a bit disappointing.

Chris was determined to do the ride from Seaford which was about 55 kms whilst Frank, Anthony and Ellio were on the train to Frankston. There was a delay in hoping on the train as a truck ran into a bridge which was on the train line. 

Abdy, Ian and myself had a bit of the sleep in to about 7.30 followed by breakfast and a coffee in Blairgowrie….After this we had to shop for lunch and dinner in Rye….. seems we are doing a lot of shopping!!!

Watching the movement of Chris on the WhatsApp location function we were able to see that Chris would arrive at Rye around lunchtime…. He made very good time!

Meanwhile the boys on the train were having misgivings about the ride from Frankston so I drove to the Frankston McDonalds to pick them up. The issue was rather heavy rain…. Or so I was told!

After picking the Melbourne travellers up we made our way to Rye and enjoyed a lovely lunch of bread rolls.

The afternoon was spent watching the Aussie Grand Prix and the Melbourne v Western Sydney AFL match.

In both cases it was a bit disappointing as Oscar Piastri was placed 9th ( after a good start) and the Dees lost by 3 points!

Dinner tonight was cooked by the group with sausages, mash, vegetables and gravy mixed with mushrooms and onions.. a good dinner for us all. I felt a bit of a cheat as I did not have a ride today… Chris was the only one of us who really earned a big dinner.

Tomorrow we move on to commence the ride on the Great Ocean Road.

It was good to have a conversation about the days ahead and get acquainted with the way the group will ride over dinner.

There’s real anticipation about the days ahead and I look forward to the adventures!

Me and the Ute… it was a bit cold!

Chris arriving at the house at Rye after completing the ride in full!!!