Following the Wind

The wind has been blowing from the southeast for days now, so I'm trying to go northwest.  If it keeps up, though, I'm quickly going to run out of roads.

My citymaps2go app showed a camping symbol near the river in Avoca, and the woman at the information center confirmed that camping was allowed there.  It was free, and I even found a table.  At sunset, the birds in the trees were deafening.  

The next day, I rode to the tiny town of Landsborough, in which I stayed in 2005.  It hasn't changed much, though the pub has new owners.  It had computers in the "Information Centre", though not entirely functional.  There must be a government program to install public computers in these small towns, but without provision to support them.  All seem to be set up the same way, usually with only an old version of Internet Explorer, with which I can't update the blog.

Government programs have also built nice sports facilities in these towns.  The one in Landsborough is a designated shelter during bush fires, hence the sign below.  Fortunately, the fire danger is low now.

Ominous Sign

From Landsborough, the wind blew me northwest to St. Arnaud, another old mining town, though a larger one.  The whole town seems to be built on tailings from the mines. When I asked if the water was safe to drink, the woman at the caravan park wrinkled up her nose and directed me to the rain water tank.  (This is typical since I left the dividing range, where there are reservoirs.)  The Aussies will scoff, but I treat the rain water with chlorine dioxide.  There's an awful lot of birds.

I'm taking a day off, in hopes the wind will let up a bit.  If it ever shifts to the north, it will get hot, and I'll head south.

From Avoca

My last morning in Maryborough was another warm one, but I found a shady spot in the park near my campsite.  Later I discovered that the smallest package of milk powder one can buy in Australia is 1 kg, so I now have enough for at least 21 breakfasts.  I managed to get a computer at the library to fix the missing pictures in the blog.

Oboe Spot in Maryborough

It was just a short ride from Maryborough to Dunolly, a much smaller former gold mining town.  Times are tough in Dunnolly:  the last pub just closed.  Fortunately, there is still a grocery, bakery, and cafe.

Kangaroo Crossing

That afternoon, as planned, I met 7 members of the Melbourne Bicycle Touring Club.  All appeared to be in their 50's or older, another sign of the ageing of bicycle touring enthusiasts.  They were planning day trips from Dunolly over the long Australia Day weekend, though several of them rode to Dunolly from a train station some 60 km away.   I had a very enjoyable time riding and visiting with them.  

Saturday night, a cool change came through, and it's been quite cool ever since, with southerly winds.  Highs have been in the low 20's C (low 70's F), and the nights have been quite cool.

On Sunday, 5 of us rode back to Maryborough, some of it on dirt roads.  I rode back with Heather and Michael on the same route I had ridden the day before, but this time with a tail wind.  I was concerned that they would all show up with super light, fast road bikes, but I was able to keep up without having to work too hard.  (Even though I did have the fattest tires.)  Both evenings we had excellent dinners at the cafe in Dunolly.

Alan, Michael, Heather, and John
Melbourne Bicycle Touring Club

The Melbourne cyclists all left for home Monday morning, and I turned into the wind for the short ride to Avoca.  It looks much the same as when Roger, Wendy, and I stayed here in 2001, though there's a new library with internet access.

From Maryborough

I had a nice break in Maldon.  It has one of the nicest campgrounds I've found in Australia.  There was even a table a the campsite,  Next to the rubbish bins, I found a slightly broken camp chair, which I was able to lash together.

Maldon Campsite

Decadence

I also took a ride on the historic steam train to Castlemaine.  I had a nice chat with the volunteer conductor, a local cyclist.

Historic Steam Train from Maldon

The next day I rode 59 km to Clunes, another old former gold mining town.  There was a nice tailwind, but a mixed blessing, as it was hot, about 35 C (95 F).  No table at the campsite, as usual, but it was quiet and I arrived in time to get the key to the shower.

It's another hot day today, so I got a fairly early start for the short 31 km ride to Maryborough.  Maryborough is a major center, so I'll spend the rest of the day poking around town and relaxing.  It would be nice to find a shady spot to play the oboe.

I've now run into two libraries with Wi-Fi which would not do email with my iPod Touch.  The one in Maryborough does work.  

On the Road

I had a very enjoyable visit with Ian, Ruth, and their daughter Rachel.  Through the miracles of technology, we made a Skype call to our mutual ham radio friend Peter in Finland from the site of Ian's new antenna.  The next day, Ruth and Rachel played some music with me.  Then I said my farewells and left for Daylesford.

Music with Rachel

Ruth, Rachel, and Ian

This area, known as the Goldfields, is quite hilly.  I think it's the tail end of the Great Dividing Range.  This is where the gold was found in Victoria some 150 years ago.  So, it was a short, hilly ride from the Williams' near Kyneton to Daylesford.  I didn't leave until 3 PM, stopped in Daylesford for dinner, arrived at the caravan park (campground) at 7 PM.  The office was closed and the toilets were locked, so I left early the next morning.  Now shower, no money.  I got an earlier start the next day for the 47 km ride to Maldon, also hilly.  There's a very nice campground here, so I decide to spend another day here.  There's a nice park for oboe practice.  The weather has finally turned warm, probably about 32 C (90 F) today, the first warm day since I've arrived.

Not THAT Spotted Cow
(a Wisconsin beer)

I'll be off to either Clunes or Maryborough tomorrow, another hilly ride either way.

Arrival in Australia

It was, as usual, a long, tedious trip from Madison to Melbourne, but all went well.

 The first evening, I had dinner with a Melbourne ham operator, Ernie, his wife Jan, and their family.  I'd only made a few contacts with him, but he invited me for dinner, and we had a great visit. 

The following day I must have walked 15 km around Melbourne's CBD (Central Business District) doing my shopping.  The Australian Open was about to start, and I walked by the tennis stadiums, but too early to see any of the top players practicing.

Australian Open Arena

The crowds of pedestrians on the footpaths in the CBD are just mind-boggling.   In the afternoon I assembled the bike, got the gear organized, and shipped the excess to Brisbane.  I had to carry the bike up the fire escape to my room for the night, as the lady running the B&B wouldn't let me put it in the empty garage.  It was a tight fit in the room.  It was a mild evening, so I walked to the neighboring suburb of Yarra for dinner.  Bridge Road is lined with open-air restaurants and pubs.

Then Saturday I packed everything up and rode along the Yarra River to the railway station, and took the train to Kyneton, about an hour north of Melbourne, where I'm visiting another ham radio friend and his family.

Unpacking Bike in Melbourne

Ready to Roll

Ian has what must be one of the largest ham radio antenna systems in Australia.  He lives just 1.5 km from the train station, so I've ridden my bike a grand total of 9 km so far, not nearly as far as I walked in Melbourne on Friday.  Ian's daughter is a violinist, home from university for the holidays, so I'm hoping I can talk her into playing some duets before I leave.

Ian's 60 Meter Tower

All packed up

Bike and Gear

Most everything is packed up.  It looks like the total weight of bike plus gear will be about 42 kg (92 pounds), plus food and water.  That's about 8 kg more than I typically carry on summer Wisconsin rides, but there's the oboe, a bunch of music, heavy tires, lots of spare bike parts, and a foam pad to protect the air mattress from the ubiquitous Aussie thorns.

I was lucky to find a large bike box, though it was made of such flimsy recycled cardboard that I had to reinforce it. Fortunately, it has only to survive the trip one way.

It's a mild day in Madison, almost up to freezing, so perhaps I'll do one last little bike ride this afternoon.

Last Training Ride