East Gippsland Rail Trail 3

Hello, back at Bairnsdale now and the end of the cycling! Yesterday from. Orbost to Bruthen was wet for most of the day but the bonus was that I saw lots of lyrebirds and wallabies. If was also a long day being almost 70km. Orbost was an interesting place, it sits on a hill and has a bit of a Wild West feel. A kid came riding past on a bike with music blaring from his back pack. Also strangely the pub owns the combined bottle shop/petrol station across the road. An innovative business model. I went to the community club for dinner and saw sone German tourists who didn't complete their meals. Seems like Australian pub food might be a bit exotic for them. I was glad to get to Bruthen after a wet day and the bonus was I had, accidentally, booked a very nice two bedroom flat for the night. And I can say Bruthen' s fish and chips was not actually awesome but very good. I like the fact that Bruthen, although only small, has looked after its original buildings.

Today from Bruthen to Bairnsdale was only a short day (32 km) but was very windy which made it difficult in the exposed bits of the trail. Overall it has been a good trip - one really hard day. The trail is a good one, but for mountain bikes, the roughest and prettiest section being from Nowa Nowa to Orbost. Much more undulating than the other rail trails I have done but runs through more bush land than the others. It's a pity that some of the cuttings and most of the trestle bridges are bypassed, it makes the trail harder than it should be. Apparently the bridges are too costly to restore but I would think some remedial works could take place to make use of them (trees going out of them doesn't help their integrity). In Nepal these bridges would be perfectly serviceable bridges! It's clear they don't put as much money into this trail as they do into the Wangaratta - Bright trail.

Pictures from the last two days....

Orbost to Bruthen

Bruthen to Bairnsdale