Tuesday 30 January 2007

As is often the case, visiting with friends and family means time off from the bike and the continual exercise that comes with cycle touring, the problem comes with getting back in the saddle so to speak. We had a wonderful visit with Joanne's niece and family but now it is time to ride and explore some more.

Setting off as Mildura returned to work and the kids enjoyed their last day of freedom from the classroom, we followed 14th street out of town, legs complaining after enjoying a few days off. Mildura is one of those places where upon foundation the streets were just numbered and then as time went by other names came into being. 14th street took us past many of the vineyards in the area and away from the traffic on the highway. Following tourist route 54 we enjoyed very little traffic and roads that wound their way through the vineyards. A brief stop for morning tea at the Red Cliffs river boardwalk and we were on our way.

With the sun starting to warm the place up we the agriculture changed from just grapes, to citrus, almonds and grapes, and passing two large wineries, one of which was Lindemans, we began to work hard in the roller coaster terrain. With our stomachs growling we stopped for lunch in the cool shade of the trees at the rear of "The Hall" as it was named at Nangiloc. A chat with the lady in the general store about the track through the National Park and we were on our way, the river on our left and looking rather empty, the emptiest that we have seen since we began to follow it.

Following the river and having it so close showed us more river bank than river, and the trees along the banks were looking rather sick as well. Dotted along its banks were many of the pumping stations that supply the plethora of citrus and vineyards that the river supports.

Getting close to the National Park we stopped at the Colignan General Store to ask for more information on the track ahead. As we were about to go into the store a man turned up in his Ute. He questioned us about our whereabouts three years ago and reckons that he saw us in Broome on the Northern Western Australian coast. We chatted for a while and asked him about the different types of grapes that we had seen, he explaining their use and how well or bad they are as a business. We also asked him about the track through the National Park which he informed us was a single vehicle track and very sandy in places. We also asked him about a good place to camp along the river and he offered to let us camp on his vineyard and to use the shower there. He gave us directions to the place and told us to "see John and Pauline and tell them Tiger said you can camp there" he said and off he went.

Armed with the directions for a shower and a campsite we rode off down the road, finding the white letterbox with yellow and brown tape on it and following the dirt road lined on one side with trees, we found a couple of sheds, a grassed area under some trees, a motorhome and a few caravans. Announcing our arrival we were greeted by John, Pauline and mozzie the dog. We explained what Tiger had said and they before we knew it John had offered us the use of one of the caravans, complete with air-conditioner, an offer we felt obliged to take. So in very short space of time we went from looking for a place to camp in the shade, to all the comforts of home including a shower and air-conditioning, something we welcomed with the 40 degrees we were experiencing.

Today's Stats

From: Mildura

To: Colignan

Ride Time:
4hrs 0 mins

Distance:
59.9 km's

Av Speed
14.9 km/h

Max Speed:
35.5km/h

Max Altitude:
151m

Max Climb: 7 %

Av Climb: 2 %

Weather: Sunny & hot. 40 deg C.

Wednesday 31 January 2007

All the comforts of home were a wonderful way to finish yesterdays ride and with the air-conditioner on during the night we awoke fresh and ready to ride. We packed up and rode off, John & Pauline nowhere to be seen so we figured that they were out picking before the day got too hot.

Local knowledge is often worth listening to, though in the past some have got it wrong, so we decided to take Tiger's advice and follow the bitumen rather than tackle the single vehicle and possibly sandy track through the Hattah National Park. This detour added kilometres to our daily ride but probably saved some swearing and cursing. The road was nice and quiet, passing through more and more citrus and grape country before bringing us to the Calder Highway.

We had been trying to avoid major highways but in this case there was no way out of it. To our surprise, the highway had a good shoulder for us to ride on and the traffic was attentive and courteous, something we appreciated, and despite having a headwind we easily covered the 26 kilometres to our turn off at Hattah.

Along the way we passed the official sign telling us that we were leaving the Fruit Fly Zone. What was interesting was that despite the seriousness of taking fruit into the zone in other areas, and fines of up to $2,500 for doing so, traffic going into the zone along this stretch were not stopped and inspected thereby leaving the whole fruit industry reliant on people stopping to do the right thing by putting their fruit in the bins provided, sort of like locking the front door at night but leaving the back door wide open.

Humour is something that always perks the day up and the General Store at Hattah had plenty of it posted in it's windows and on blackboards outside. One blackboard read "the person who says nothing is impossible obviously never tried to slam a revolving door!" Cold chocolate milk devoured we turned off the highway and headed off towards Swan Hill.

The wind remained cool until around lunchtime when the day began to warm up and the flies began to become a pain. Stopping for lunch after 50 kilometres we sat in the shade of some Mallee gum trees and enjoyed our lunch which included some of the apricot and almond jam that we had bought in Renmark at the Almond factory.

Wanting to find a riverside campsite we rode on to Wemen, a small place on our map that we hoped was close to the river. Passing the Welcome to Wemen sign, we eagerly searched the countryside for any sign of access to the river, and about half a kilometre later saw what we had been looking for, a pumping stations on the riverbank and an access track leading away from the road. About half a kilometre later we found a nice spot next to the river and declared today's ride over. Coffee made, we devoured our favourite afternoon snack of a packet of ginger biscuits while sitting in the shade, enjoying the view of the river and the magpies chortling away on the opposite bank.

Today's Stats

From: Colignan

To: Wemen

Ride Time:
5 hrs 38 mins

Distance:
79.5 km's

Av Speed
14.1 km/h

Max Speed:
25.5 km/h

Max Altitude:
102 m

Max Climb:4 %

Av Climb: 1 %

Weather: Sunny 38 deg C.

Thursday 01 February 2007

As with any good bush camp it is always hard to leave and with the cool morning the temptation was to snuggle back into the sleeping bag and await a warmer time. Our camp had been delightfully peaceful, the only noises being the birdlife and the occasional plop as a fish jumped for a bug.

Packing up and on the road we rode through the very small place called Wemen (pronounced way-men), which consisted of a few houses, a general store and grape vines for as far as the eye could see. A couple of dogs wanted to challenge us as we rode, their masters children waiting for the school bus saving them from wearing a bike helmet across the nose had they come any closer.

The agriculture around these parts is either grapes or almonds, and there are some very large places along the way. These farms are also built on undulating hills and they made our legs work quite hard today, prompting us to wonder if a rest day was called for. Riding through Happy Valley we crested a hill and saw the largest shed we have ever seen which, as we got closer turned out to be a number of very large sheds and a house that you would need road navigation device to get around in.

Around 30 kilometres after we left our riverside camp we arrived in Robinvale, also home to some very large vineyards, though the grapes here are mainly table grapes and not wine. A stop at the tourist information provided a top up of our drinking water and our being informed that the riverside camps would be full of backpackers in the area for picking of the grapes. A few supplies bought at the supermarket and we headed off to find a free BBQ on which to cook lunch. Lunch cooked and eagerly devoured we were about to ride off when the phone rang, the caller being the producer of the ABC Melbourne morning program. She wanted to know what we were doing etc and asked if we would be willing to do an interview with Red Symons the morning show host. Red, as he is called, if a past member of the very successful Hey Hey it's Saturday TV program, and prior to that a member of the Skyhooks Band. So with the phone interview arranged for the morning we rode out of town to where we located another nice riverside spot to while away the afternoon heat and at the same time giving our legs an afternoon off.

Today's Stats

From: Wemen

To: Riverside camp 5 km SE of Robinvale

Ride Time:
3 hrs 1 mins

Distance:
40.3 km's

Av Speed
13.9 km/h

Max Speed:
32 km/h

Max Altitude:
101 m

Max Climb:5 %

Av Climb: 2 %

Weather: Sunny 38 deg C.

Friday 02 February 2007

A 6 am wake up call is not something we have had for some time now, but with radio stars calling we thought we had better be awake when the call came. 6.15 am and the phone rang with the ABC's morning show producer checking we could get a phone  signal, then a few minutes later our interview was on. Red Symons is rather adept at taking the Mickey so it was with some trepidation and trying to second guess that the interview went through. Red was not taking the Mickey and, although funny in his own way, conducted a reasonable interview.

Interview over it was time to pack up and get on the road before the sun got going. We were rewarded with a magnificent sunrise as we were packing up and enjoying our breakfast and it was a joy to behold.

We rode out of the area and back to the main road where, with little to no traffic, we began to ride the roller coaster road, up and down, up and down. Our speed was good and we were making good progress.

Riding was a combination of keeping an eye out for the many cement mixers that were on the road and checking out the kilometres of Almond orchards, the gas guns booming out to scare the birds away occasionally startling us.

Arriving at Boundary Bend with the mercury into the low40's we stopped at the caravan park/general store to enjoy a cool drink whilst sitting in the shade of a nice big tree, and then topping up our drinking water before pressing on to look for a nice riverside camp.

Not far out of town we passed the track to where the Murrumbidgee and Murray Rivers meet and would have taken it except for the six kilometres in on a debatable dirt track. Some kilometres later Joanne noticed a sign indicating a track into the Murrumbidgee State Forest and decided that we would investigate it, and it was a good job that we did. Riding about a kilometre into the forest we found a beautiful spot with shade right next to the river complete with a small sandbank which gave us access to the water. The river is flowing better here than anywhere we have seen of late so changing into our swimming gear we took to the water to wash clothes and to cool ourselves down, the afternoon to be spent sitting in the shade and taking regular dips in the river. 

Today's Stats

From: Riverside camp 5 km SE of Robinvale

To: Bush Camp Murrumbidgee State Forest

Ride Time:
3 hrs 36 mins

Distance:
53.3 km's

Av Speed
14.7 km/h

Max Speed:
30.5 km/h

Max Altitude:
112 m

Max Climb:6 %

Av Climb: 1 %

Weather: Hot 40 deg C.

Saturday 03 February 2007

Being so far into the forest ensured that our campsite was not only peaceful, but full of wildlife and critters including bull ants that decided upon a dusk attack. Coming in from all directions and trying to climb legs and take a chunk every now and then. This attack of course provided us with the necessary impetus to pack up and seek safety in the tent, which despite having been in the shade for most of the afternoon, was quite a sweat box. Thankfully the temperature dropped quickly enough for us to get a good nights sleep.

Reluctantly leaving our campsite we rode the 1.2 kilometres back out to the road and off towards our next riverside campsite. Yesterdays heat caused us to drink a fair bit of thewater we were carrying so the major task today was to replenish what we had used. The town of Toolebuc is over the river and in the State New South Wales (NSW), and, according to our information, was large enough for us to be able to obtain some h2o.  We took the detour and two kilometres later entered NSW and rode across the wooden decked "lift" bridge into town. The toilet block in the park was the ideal place to stop and there was a tap, complete with sign indicating that the water was in fact fit for human consumption. We filled out water bags, all 24 litres worth, bought a cold drink and rode back across the river and back into the State of Victoria.

Arriving at the Nyah State Forest we took the dirt track that was to take us through the forest for the next 10 kilometres, winding its way through the tall eucalypts and always a stones throw from the river itself. We continued on the dirt track wanting to get at least halfway through the forest and at the same time looking for that perfect campsite. After approximately seven kilometres we came to a nice clearing with easy access to a sand bank. It was here that we declared lunch and time to cool off fromthe40 degree heat. Stripping off and into swim gear we took to the water to wash our riding clothes and to sit in the shallows cooling off while the little fish nibbled at our toes.

Some hours later some people turned up to go swimming so with the shade disappearing we packed up and rode off in search of our campsite, something we located next to the river a further 4 kilometres along the track.

Today's Stats

From: Bush Camp Murrumbidgee State Forest

To: Bush Camp Nyah State Forest 30 km NE of Swan Hill

Ride Time:
4 hrs 45 mins

Distance:
61.35 km's

Av Speed
12.8 km/h

Max Speed:
21.5 km/h

Max Altitude:
128 m

Max Climb:9 %

Av Climb: 2 %

Weather: Hot 40 deg C

Sunday 04 February 2007

Leaving the State Forest at Nyah we rode into Nyah itself and left almost as quick as we came in, not for any reason other than the fact that the place is small, the roads around here again surrounded by grapes.

The journey to Swan Hill was uneventful and except for one of the largest rotary dairies on a road called Creamery Road, there was not much of interest. Arriving in Swan Hill we found the tourist information centre and obtained some information we were looking for, topped up our water supplies and did some shopping for food before finding a nice shady spot for lunch.

Over lunch we looked up and then contacted a couple we met on our trip around Australia and who live in Swan Hill. We had camped near John & Muriel in Pemberton five years ago and they had made the mistake of saying "if your ever in Swan Hill...". Contact made and as it turned out we had lunched less than two kilometres from their place. We rode down the road and there they were on the street corner waiting for us. We spent a pleasant afternoon chatting about our respective trips etc before accepting their offer to stay the night. Watching Australia beat New Zealand in the cricket we chatted about trips and poured over a large map of Australia and reminiscing over places and events.

Today's Stats

From: Bush Camp Nyah State Forest 30 km NE of Swan Hill

To: Swan Hill

Ride Time:
2 hrs 30 mins

Distance:
32.6 km's

Av Speed
13 km/h

Max Speed:
24.5 km/h

Max Altitude:
134 m

Max Climb:5 %

Av Climb: 1 %

Weather: Hot 40 deg C.

For a map on our latest travels, click on the map (opens a new window)

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