I Finished! I'm back in Canberra :)
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| Alice to Canberra bike tour |
First I'll fill you in what I've been up to in the last week and a half. From Echuca, I was desperate to go bush again, and the Barmah forest on the Murray turned out to be the perfect place for that. Everyone told me that the only way to head east was along the highways, but after a little exploring in the back streets of Moama, I happened upon the state forest dirt roads and for the next 3 days I followed them, hardly seeing a car, and camping by the Murray at night. It was a definite highlight of the trip. The Barmah forest is the largest river red gum forest in the world.
Once I reached Ulupna island and visited the local Koala population, I headed south for Shepparton where I hung out with my good friend Julia. Thanks Jules for the chilled out avo! With a set of freshly washed clothes and Thai in my stomach, I headed in the direction of Canberra again the next day. I camped in the Warby ranges that night. In the morning I met two brothers camping just up the road from me. They were over for the Masters games and one of them was the Orienteering world champion in his division (over 65s). The people you meet in the middle of nowhere!
The next section of the trip was the Aussie alps. I took the rail trail from Wangaratta to Beechworth. I gotta say, Victoria and SA are so far ahead of NSW when it comes to regional cycling. The rail trail was a dedicated bike path for over 80km from Wangaratta to Bright. NSW has nothing like that. From Beechworth I rode down the hill to Yackandandah and stayed the night there. The next day I crossed to the Murray via Tallangata and Granya mountain which was a great 1.5 hour climb. After following the Murray to Jingelic, I started heading north into NSW and ultimately into 3 days of mountain climbing and descending. I came through Tumburrumba, Batlow and Tumut and jeez I hit the mountains! I thought my leg muscles had all developed by now, but it turns out there are some right above my knee cap that still needed testing. Anyway, on Oct 5th, after surviving 2 days of rain I made it to Batlow. I'd organised to meet my folks in Canberra on the 7th, thus rounding out exactly three months on the road. However, the next day I made it to Gundagai by lunch, at which time a friendly South-Westerly started up. I just couldn't let it go to waste so I pedalled the other 100km to Yass that day which meant I arrived safe and sound in Canberra yesterday (6th). w00t!
Here are a few stats:
Days on the road: 92
Total distance: 6296km
Avg km travelled per day: ~68km
Most km in one day: 175km (Stawell to Marong)
Fastest speed: 73.5km/h (In Mt Remarkable National Park)
Biggest ascent in one day: 1243m (Thologolong to Batlow)
Punctures: 2
Weight Loss: 1kg. WTF?!?!?
And that's it. I haven't had any revelations or anything, but I *really* saw Australia and I did it on very little money, met some incredible people and got very fit at the same time. Again, I'd like to iterate that I was simply a tourist. The only difference between you and I is that my mode of transport was a bicycle.
I feel a bit like Forest Gump after his epic run. So I'll leave you with this quote from the movie. Cya.
Forrest Gump: [running] I had run for 3 years, 2 months, 14 days, and 16 hours.
[he stops and turns around]
Young Man Running: Quiet, quiet! He's gonna say something!
Forrest Gump: [pause] I'm pretty tired... I think I'll go home now.
