(no subject)

[juliet]

The intention today was to cycle from Port Fairy (where I currently am) to Portland, and thence to Mt Gambier tomorrow, in order to get a bus to Adelaide. But this part of the journey was only really for logistical reasons; the bit I wanted to do was the Great Ocean Road, which I did over the last 5 days. So when I awoke to a stinking headwind this morning, and the nice VLine bus man assured me that the bike would go on the bus to Mt Gambier, I thought, sod that then. So I am having a nice relaxing day in Port Fairy, eating cake and checking the internets and such. You may wish to keep your thumbs crossed for me that the VLine bus driver agrees in re the putting of bikes on buses.

The Great Ocean Road, however, was a fantastic ride, even if I did have a headwind for the first 2.5 days. Executive summary of the 333km ridden from Geelong to Port Fairy:

• Oh wow, how amazingly pretty is that?
• OMG there is a koala! And another one!

It really is absolutely beautiful, all the way along - and in different ways, as well. From Lorne to Apollo Bay in particular the coastline is spectacular; and again around Port Campbell (where the 12 Apostles are, which you have almost certainly seen a photo of even if you don't know it). Between there the road goes up through the Otway Park, through temperate rainforest and eucalyptus forests, and over the Otway Ranges. (Specifically, to Lavers Hill, which is at the top of a bloody big hill. I went up it the wrong way i.e. the steepest way. Well done me.)

In the absence of Little Bagpuss, before leaving Lorne I picked up his Antipodean penfriend[0], Charlie Koala. He is a bit brighter than the average koala and is therefore capable of keeping me out of trouble. Anyway, here is a selection of things I have been contemplating.

Things that are The Business

• Cepheus-the-bike, in all his sturdy shiny blue steel glory. Especially after getting fixed properly in Anglesea (the shop in Melbourne did not in fact fix the gears, it transpired halfway up a hill a ways out of Geelong). The BB was the wrong size and thus the derailleur was out. The take-home lesson is: if you must replace half the moving parts of a perfectly good bike, do not do so the day before shipping it off to the other side of the world, thus ensuring you have no time to check it over afterwards. I do however recommend TrailHeadBikeCo in Anglesea as being absolutely splendid - the mechanic chap was competent, friendly, and genuinely interested in getting it fixed right.
• All the rest of the bike kit - saddle, Ortleib panniers, Carradice barbag.
• My little stove (MSR Whisperlite), although I am still perfecting the art of getting it to simmer things (it's all about the pressure, and you can't reduce the pressure after you've started it).
• My lovely lovely lovely new fleecy trousers and hoodie, acquired in Port Campbell after 3 very cold nights in the tent wearing all my clothes and a not-very-helpful pair of footless tights.
• The Ortlieb folding water bowl whatsit, although I knew this already as it was incredibly useful whilst on trains and backpacking (not everywhere has plugs available and I've never managed to make a universal plug work).

Things I have discovered

• If your idea of sybaritic luxury is to make another cup of tea just before going to bed (thus putting the stove on again, you see: this is easy but uses ooh, a whole extra teaspoon of fuel in warming it), then snuggle up in your sleeping bag and your lovely fleecey trousers and hoodie with the tea and some chocolate biscuits and an episode of Stargate on the laptop: why then you can have sybaritic luxury every damn evening if you want, and very easily too. (I have at least 1.5 seasons of Stargate with me left to watch, so no immediate supply issues present themselves.)
• Australian dirt roads are kind of fun to cycle, if well-maintained, but it's a bit alarming the first time you start to lose your back wheel when you hit a bigger than average patch of gravel. (11km along the Gelliber River to Princetown, and I didn't actually fall over once.)
• Even very impressive limestone cliff formations can become a bit repetitive after a while. (The Arch, the 12 Apostles, London Bridge, Lord Aird Gorge, etc etc etc. Very pretty though.)
• Arnott's Chocolate Ripple biscuits are cheap, v tasty, and a packet lasts me about 3 days.
• Sitting outside your tent and knitting while you watch the sunset is awesome, even if your fingers get a bit chilly.
• Australia can get bloody cold in November. I have been freezing all week. It's even colder today.
• Five days in a row is about as much as I really wish to ride; a day off becomes increasingly attractive.
• Hills are a lot easier to go up when you're busy gawping at the outstanding coastline next to you.
• Flies really are a perennial nuisance here. Although they don't appear to like wind or height. How do flies work, anyway? I mean, they don't bite you, they just land on you. Are they eating bits of tasty mineral deposit off your skin, or something?

Wildlife watch:

• Koalas omg! They really are as insanely cute as they appear to be. Saw a couple by the roadside en route to Apollo Bay, then some more the day after on Cape Otway (one was sleeping in the fork of a tree!). And at Bimbi Park, where I camped on Cape Otway, they have koalas all over the damn shop and I saw one perambulating the area, and one clambering from tree to another tree, down the second tree, and then bounding across the field to yet another tree!
• An echidna by the road near Port Campbell. When I returned to have another look, all I could see was its spiny echidna bottom poking out of the undergrowth, and a lot of ants running round going "Fear! Fire! Foes! Awake!" nearby.
• Lots of birds. Black and white ones that look a bit crow-like; little ones with sticking-up tails; ditto but with bizarre blue hoods; scarlet parrots!

NB: note FAO dogrando, marnameow, and uon: no, I am not bringing any of them home. They are quite happy where they are.

Things I have not discovered:

• How the hell I can have so much damn stuff with me. I'm sure I can't possibly need it all, except I can't work out what to get rid of. (Other than the laptop, but that is a TOOL not just a luxury used for watching Stargate on, honest. )

Onwards shortly to Perth, where I am still trying to work out the details of the ride, as it's had to be cut short for logistical train-related reasons. I am way behind on email, correspondance, etc, because cycling and camping seem to take up enormous amounts of time. (e.g. it taking me 2 hrs to get breakfasted, packed up, and away every morning. And more like 3 of an evening to get set up, showered, fed, and cleared away, never mind the writing-up-journal time.)

[0] Humour me, kids, I have been all on my own on a bike for the last 5 days. There's only so long you can spend going "OMG this is insanely beautiful", though I admit I've been doing my best to push the envelope on that one. In between times you end up occupying yourself with such activities as making up stories about the social lives of soft toys, practising whistling backwards, and trying to get a song, any song, in your head that isn't either Waltzing Matilda or Papa Was A Rodeo. Thankfully I do very much like the latter, which is handy as I've had it as an earworm on and off now for about 5 years.