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Cycle Tour Ballarat to Naracourte

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I went from Melbourne to Adelaide over new year 2004, riding from Ballarat to Naracorte. Covered about 700km in two and a half weeks of riding. More details in the written journal.

Organised photos... journal scenic people art photos bike signs wildlife everything

Loaded for touring outside Degraves Cafe in Melbourne. Camera in red pannier on the front, more random junk in backback lashed to top of rear rack. Bike mechanic with a whizzy track bike. Mostly it has 10mm pitch chain rather than the usual half inch (12.4mm). Slightly hard to tell in this photo, but take my word for it ;-) All the special chain does is give slightly more teeth on the cogs, so you get more gearing choices and possibly lighter weight. Tatts! Damon Dallas does the radio geek thing at me. When I get my scanner back off Sonia now I know more about how to use it. Potentially very useful. We stayed with Bill in Melbourne. Very cool - he's getting into bike building and is even more into deep environmentalism than I am. \nBill with his 300D. He had issues uploading files from his microdrive, but I think got his photos off it. Formatting the drive fixed the problem. Instruction manual in their toilet. I like it! Me on a fully faired Trisled. Very fast, and surprisingly light. I was impressed, especially when I got hit by a bit of a wind gust and it was more stable than I expected. About 25kg I think. My new bike. Ben is importing these and slapping a Trisled badge on them, at about $2200 retail. Very nice - I rode it on this tour rather than my MTB. But luggage space is limited... I could carry either my pack or my camera, so the pack got posted home. Forest activism is everywhere. Tarkine Rainforest Under Threat. Interesting sign above a urinal at Spencer St Station. The use of terms like "dress" has changed over the years. Grain country outside Ballarat. On the road at last! 2003_12_23 melbourne to ballarat Where we joined the Ballarat to Skipton rail trail. Map of the Ballarat to Skipton rail trail. Having a digital camera is useful for this stuff - take a photo of the map for later reference on the tail. I also photograph road signs rather than trying to remember names and distances (this will become obvious as you wander through these photos). Ballarat hospital. Sonia likes it here ;-) Sonia once they let here out, with her face still quite swollen up. 2003_12_23 melbourne to ballarat Lake Burrumbeet. Apparently you can just about walk across it with this little water in it. The campground looked poxy, and there wasn't anything to do except sit in it, so we didn't stay. Riding past the other side of the lake once we were back on the main road. Mount Callendar. Really. That's what it's called. Snigger. Farmland, and hills. Scenery. That's what we're here for. I like riding through this sort of country, at least for a while. It's got that peaceful pastoral feeling that comes from being where someone else works. See, I told you it was a mountain. Sonia camped at Trawalla. 2003_12_24 ballarat to trawalla 2003_12_24 ballarat to trawalla 2003_12_24 ballarat to trawalla 2003_12_24 ballarat to trawalla 2003_12_24 ballarat to trawalla 2003_12_24 ballarat to trawalla Misty morning at Trawalla. 2003_12_25 trawalla to ararat The wind farm! 2003_12_25 trawalla to ararat 2003_12_25 trawalla to ararat A blue tongued lizard that was sitting in the middle of the road. It stayed put even while I wandered about with my camera, and was still there when I left. And yes, it was alive. Green Hill Lake outside Ararat. Not much water in this one either. He's not actually in prison, just in a swimming pool. But... people who smoke around their kids? Me and Sonia at Ararat in a camp ground. She'd taken about 5 photos by this stage, so I started playing with her camera. Hence this shot. Chinese heritage centre in Ararat. Plaque at the heritage centre. Round the back the chinese heritage centre looks better I think. But there are still bits from every angle that are just bare grey concrete, and that just looks ugly. Museum in Ararrat. Love the architecture. Sonia camped in Ararat. Leaving Ararat, we're not that high up yet. Halls Gap will involve some climbing. Or not...calle.com lists Halls Gap as only 187m. Ah well, so much for that. Ladies, Gentlemen and Umpires??? The Grampians visible at last! Avenue of trees leading out of Cathcart Bike Sign! Around Moyston I started to see more signs that cyclists are here, then just out of Jallukar (I think, maybe it was Pomonal) there was this one. Outside Halls Gap on the road through the actual pass. Feral bicycle spotted in the wild near Halls Gap Nice steep rock with good holds.. must be climbing country. The walking track up to Venus Baths Kids at Venus Baths. Kids running around the the rock face opposite the track. Steep, but not that steep - definitely possibly to walk up it without using your hands in most places. 2003_12_26 grampians natl park 2003_12_26 grampians natl park Huge flock of parrots over the backpackers in Halls Gap. They managed to drown out the cicadas for a short time. The dam that supplies water to Ararat via a tunnel through the hills and the traditional very long pipe. Bypass/overflow for the dam. A big hole in the rock. The plug for the dam. Not sure why there's still water in it after they pulled the plug out. Further up the lake. Sonia. 2003_12_27 grampians natl park Not camping, just having a nap. Le Chef at work. Further down the valley where it's starting to dry out a bit more and turn scrubby. I rested for a bit until Sonia caught up. Farewell to the mountains Sonia cruising along in the heat of the day. We were getting over 30 degrees most days. An echidna trying to disappear. Echidnas are spiky but also hairy. Interesting. View from my campsite up the road out of the park, looking towards Mt Abrupt The waterhole where I camped. You can possibly see my hammock if you squint. Swimming insects about 10cm below the water surface. The big one seemed to be chasing the little ones (isn't that always the way). A small crayfish to the right of the rock. It's almost transparent and only about 5cm long, which made it fun to photograh. One of the locals at the waterhole. There were a lot of Santas next to the road going into Dunkeld, including this one that I particularly liked. Yay! A dead fox. The pub at Coondah or somewhere like that. In the middle of the wheat belt and 60km of boringness. A disused church, with disused church dunny. Eucalypt plantation. Moz reading under a pine tree while the weather did "hot" very enthusiastically. Native trees... and haybales. There was a 10m strip of trees beside the road for a few kms, which was nice, but not enough to camp in I felt. Only 24km to go, and I'm feeling a bit tired. It's hot and I'm bored. I want different scenery. A dead snake. The sea! I arrive in Portland Paraglider slope soaring off the cliffs at Portland. Portland... camping in a camp ground. Posters in Portland Backpackers construction of the house for those that are interested in such things. Made for a nice cool room, but I suspect a bit hard to heat in winter. backpackers again. backpackers again. Portland harbour in the morning. Portland harbour in the morning. Portland harbour in the morning. The rare aquatic cow. leaving portland at last. Cows get their own underpass, which saves the road (and me) from a lot of shit. both these place names are also in the area I grew up in New Zealand Not-camping in a wee forest somewhere near Gorae Wanna-be roadkill Kangaroos at dusk Kangaroos running once they notice that I've stopped to take a photo of them. Nelson in the morning light Uggh! Interesting snails on a signpost Gravel roads out here are like concrete. Crappy concrete, but you can leave skid marks on them if you are so inclined. Birds on the beach near Port Macdonnell Birds on the beach near Port Macdonnell Rarely do I find road signs remarkable, but in this case I can only agree with the sentiment wholeheartedly. Bike path along the shoreline in Port Macdonnell. Fossil trees Ewens Ponds Swimming in Ewens Ponds. The water is cold! flies love wetsuits in the sun. Which kept them off the rest of us to some extent. Odd place to put a huge mural - on the back wall of a shed. Signposts... I rode the 9km in and out to see Ewens Ponds. At the Blue Lakes camping ground. one of the lakes at Mt Gambier Yes! A sceneic ride for bicycles. A hole in the middle of the town. The Blue Lake at Mt Gambier. Birds at the Garden of Birds and Angels. Birds at the Garden of Birds and Angels. you tell me, I don't get it either. wildflowers Telford Scrub Conservation Park signage. Telford Scrub Conservation Park A cool seat in Telford Scrub Conservation Park. At least, I assume it's a seat. Telford Scrub Conservation Park Breakfast in Telford Scrub Conservation Park Tarpeena hall. Cool old plough still in use. Stormclouds as I camped. In response to the two signs "no access without a permit" and the one show with no permit being listed for cyclists, I took one and wrote "Despite your attempt to deny me access, I am donating $2 and taking an entry permit. Cyclists like birds too!" on the envelope that the money went into. Disused railway line. naracoorte caves naracoorte caves naracoorte caves naracoorte caves naracoorte caves naracoorte caves naracoorte caves naracoorte caves naracoorte caves naracoorte caves naracoorte caves Adelaide trains like bikes Belair National Park in Adelaide, where the trees have all been planted in nice neat rows. Still, it's a great thing to have in the middle of the city. Belair National Park TJs sunflowers Emma making parrot costumes. TJ sewing. Sunset from TJs balcony looking over Belair National Park. Sunset from TJs balcony looking over Belair National Park. View from the train a we head through the dry areas. Broken Hill water pipe, deserts... 24 hours on the train. Murals at Tarpeena
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