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Published: February 25th 2005
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Nicolai and Petre
"would you sign guestbook?" 2005/02 Entry 3
DAY 13 : Cooma - rest day
Not much happened today
DAY 14 : Cooma --> Bombala
ODO: 797km DST: 92.5km MAX: 46km/h
The only real thing of note that happened today was when a guy came up to me in Nimitabel and said "g'day, i thought i'd come over and say hello to you, 'cause most ppl don't like to talk to fella's like you - they think you're on the dole and haven't got a job and so you ride your bike because you're too lazy, but i like to talk to you blokes anyway"....hahah...i said "huh?" and then he kind of repeated himself. Anyway, after a few minutes talking i think i may have convinced him that *1* i'm not on the dole and *2* most lazy ppl don't decide they're gonna ride their bike everywhere for the next year or so. I didn't stay too long in that town😊
The rest of the day into Bombala there was a pretty hefty head wind, so i turned up my radio and tried not to look too lazy to the ppl in the cars passing me by:P
DAY
15 : Bombala --> Cann River
ODO: 886km DST: 90km MAX: 54.5km/h
Early on in the day i came across Nicolai and Petre. They too were cyclists, going from Melbourne to Brisbane. They've spent the last 7months riding across russia, mongolia, china, vietnam, laos, thailand and malaysia (i think). As soon as Petre saw me he rummaged around and pulled out a "guestbook" for me to say a few words of wisdom in and sign my name😉. Petre looked about 60/65 and he seemed to be going strong.
About 20mins after meeting the Russians i crossed into Victoria. As soon as i saw the sign "you are now entering Victoria" the shoulder on the side of the road went from about half a metre to maybe 5cm. Not having a shoulder on the side of the road was a bit scary when those trucks go by - bloody victoria.
DAY 16 : Cann River --> Orbost
ODO: 967km DST: 79km MAX: 47km/h
I had a feeling Princes Hwy wasn't going to have a very good shoulder either, so i got my mirror out and taped it to the side of my helmet so that i
You are getting sleepy....very sleepy
the only thing these signs achieved was to make me feel sleepy, the signs said stuff like "feeling drowsy?" "feeling sleepy?" "drowsy drivers die"...this yawning one just topped it off, i mean, what's the first thing you do when you see a sign that says "yawning" on it? you yawn!!... could see any cars/trucks coming up behind me. As predicted the road was crap, but my little mirror seemed to work ok. That was until i was going around and up a hill - i couldn't see behind me properly because of the curve in the road, plus i had to look at where i was going because there was zero shoulder on the road (it just caved away into a ditch about half a metre deep). A couple of cars passed me and i thought "bloody hell" then, a logging truck passed me going quite a bit faster than the cars - the next thing i new i was in the ditch on my side with the bike on top of me. After several minutes of swearing and seeing if my bike was ok (it was) i took off again. Can i just send out a big thankyou to all the cars that saw me fall and didn't bother to stop to see if i was ok (there was a spot where they could stop just up ahead of me), i'm sure i would have been too embarrassed by any hint of concern on your part.
Luckily there
was nothing as bad as that for the rest of the way to Orbost, but, after ripping off the stupid mirror i had taped to my helmet i was constantly looking over my shoulder, so it wasn't a very fun day of riding.
DAY 17 : Orbost --> Bairnsdale
ODO: about 1050km
The road finally got a little better today - except for when i had to go across a bridge of some sort. In every case where there's a bridge the shoulder of the road dissapears so it's a matter of waiting for a break in the traffic before going across.
I decided to go to Bairnsdale via Lakes Entrance and i'm glad i did. The roads weren't great but they weren't bad, and there wasn't much traffic so i was able to enjoy the rainforest around me. Lakes Entrance itself is a bustling little tourist town and i gave myself a good chance of finding a place that made pancakes.
After wolfing down a chicken cheese and asparagus pancake (mmmm) i decided to go the rest of the way to Bairnsdale. It had been raining all day so i didn't feel like pitching a tent just yet.
The last 15km or so into Bairnsdale i followed a "Rail Trail" which is a path set up by the VIC government for cyclists and horses that follows an old railway line. It was very good and i only wish it hadn't been raining earlier because i would have followed it for longer (it started in Nowa Nowa but i didn't feel like riding on a muddy trail).
After a few words of wisdom from several indigenous australians as to where i should stick my bike i decided i'd get a basic cabin for the night.
DAY 18 : Bairnsdale --> Sale
ODO: about 1130km
The wind today was shithouse. And that's that. Basically i spent the whole day pushing into a 20km/h head wind with gusts up to around 40km/h. The chinese couple on the bicycles that were going the opposite way to me didn't even stop as i waved them over, they just noded their head and kept on riding. Maybe i would have too if i'd have had a 30km/h tailwind.
The only good part of the day was when i made it to the fudge shop in Strickland. The lady let me taste a dozen or so different types before i bought a big block. I remember she said to me "fudge is just so rich that you can only ever have it in small pieces"...i looked down at the block i had just bought (about 30x30x50mm) and thought "this should keep me going for at least 10km"...i think it ended up lasting about 7km😊
THIS IS THE END
Well, i've got some sad news. I won't be continuing my trip across australia. As i write this now i'm sitting on my computer back in Perth. I decided to end my trip and fly from melbourne to perth (after spending a few days in Melbourne hanging out with my friend rob).
There are a few reasons why I finished early. But basically it was just the fact that i wasn't enjoying myself as much as i thought i would. Every town i went to seemed to be the same as the town before it, and i don't think i took the time to go off and see some of the sights i should have seen (only because they were so far off the road i was traveling on). But even still, i think i would have been alright if i'd actually gone with someone (as every other cycle tourist , bar Christina, seemed to be doing) because the conversations with the retired people in the caravans at the end of the day didn't really ever have the chance to get beyond "so where are you from, where are you going? how's the weather been? what's the traffic like?" - "Orange, Perth, very good, thanks for not running me over".
So yeh, i've decided to end this leg of the journey early before i got too jaded with the whole thing.
On the bright side though, late next month i'll be riding around the south island of new zealand with my old cycling friend daniel veryard. Which should be awesome, and probably a little cold😉 We'll be spending one month over there.
Beyond that i'm still not sure. Anybody want to travel through malaysia/thailand with me?...cycling is optional, i'm willing to do the whole public transport thing if you'd prefer.
Ok, so for the next month or so this will be the last diary entry, then DV and i should be starting up a New Zealand entry and that'll most likely go on here....so until then happy traveling.
dk
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anonymous
non-member comment
Daniel, hi it's Elke from Challenge!! I have been reading your journals and I am sad to see you stop but also very excited to hear that you will be travelling thru NZ. My partner is from there and I've been told that it is beautiful so you will have to keep in touch!! Glad to hear that you have made it this far unscathed! (Well nearly!) - Elke McDeed