Advertisement
Published: February 8th 2013
Edit Blog Post
The day starts off cloudy. I'm awake before sunrise, and before then - I never did adjust to sleeping on the mat. I packed up and am off by 7 am. I plan to make it to Geelong by the end of day, which is roughly 110 km. My intermediate goal is to reach Lorne by midday, which is 40 km away.
Birds, cicadas, crashing waves - these sounds surround me as I quietly roll north. Northbound traffic is sparse - a couple of delivery trucks and only a few cars. There are quite a few road cyclists going south, and most say good morning or nod. The road is cut into the cliffside and a shoulder is there but it is not wide; I'm glad to be mostly alone. After 9 am the traffic increases and i have to be vigilant to stay as left as possible and not swerve. It's cool, and I find a rhythm. There are coastal vistas and with the backlighting the sea spray mist is is visible between each headland. The waves crash over the black rocky shore as I ride on.
Just before Lorne is the St Georges River, with sand flats
and clear turquoise water. I wade as I eat apricots and cashews. A large wave from the ocean crosses over the flats and sends a wave front that deepens the water by 2-3 inches. The little kids get out of the water and watch the wave.
Lorne is a booming beach town; it reminds me of Bondi Beach with its long row of beachy shops. I stop for eggs florentine.
Back on the undulating road the traffic is very busy now, and I concentrate on listening to traffic and keeping left as possible. I can't stay in the shoulder since in quite a few places the rocks overhead have crashed down and left debris. I still can enjoy the view, and on this section I admire the creek valleys inland and their lush vegetation and rich wildlife. As I wheel by at the speed of life I can hear the birds and sometimes catch sight of something colorful.
At Airey's Inlet I stop for ice cream at an organic ice creamery - the raspberry sorbet is perfectly fruity and icey. A man stops to talk to me - he is a fellow cycle tourist but just not
at that time. He had once cycled this route and he verifies that it is a special route. He had also cycled in Tasmania and southwest Australia in the Margaret River area, amongst other trips. After Anglesea, where I stop for an apple and an icepop, the road turns landward and the shoulder is as wide as a lane. Thankfully, since there is constant traffic now.
The Lonely Planet recommends to cycle past Bells Beach, a popular surf spot. I do this, but I don't recommend it - the way is hilly, it is popular and there is a soft gravelly shoulder. After Torquay the way is easy all the way to Marshall, the closest train station on the Geelong to Melbourne line.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.053s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 11; qc: 30; dbt: 0.0264s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb