Hello again. In this blog I cover the final two days of my trip from Rutherglen back to Bright. As I mentioned there is no rail trail between Rutherglen and Wangaratta, instead there is a marked route (with blue poles) going from Rutherglen mainly along quiet backroads via Chiltern (20km from Rutherglen). Just before Chiltern the route went through the national park and then there was a fast downhill into the town. It was a a welcome doughnut and coke stop in this historic town before going under the freeway and following backroads paralleling the freeway. I was very lucky on two counts this day; I had a tail wind for the final 46km stretch to Wangaratta and I avoided the storms further west, I could hear and see the lightning in the distance. About 10km before Wangaratta I joined the Murray to Mountains Rail Trail and took that to Wangaratta (via the Bowser station site). I stayed in Wangaratta before tackling my final day. All day my water tasted a bit strange. I thought it was just the hot plastic of the water bottle, turned out I had been drinking moth cordial. I don't recommend it.
The final day was the longest, 84km back to Bright, along the rail trail. I retraced my steps of the previous day to day to the junction where I had turned on to the rail trail. The weather finally caught up with me but I managed to avoid the rain for most of the day. I only really got rained upon for a short 8km section between Taylors Gap and Myrtleford. Bright was a welcome sight and that was the end of the trip. The bike was immediately taken for a service and a new back tyre!
One final thing, my book, Random Thoughts & Tales is currently available for a 10% discount (using code LULU10) from the Lulu Publishing Website.
The final photos....
Rutherglen - Wangaratta:
Wangaratta - Bright:
Hello, I have just come back from my five day cycling tour. The intention was to ride from Shelley (near Tallangtatta) on the High Country Rail Trail and return to Bright via the Murray to Mountains Rail Trail.
The idea for day one of the tour was to ride from Shelley to Wodonga via the High Country Rail Trail (85km). It all started quite well...I got by bus to Wodonga and then got a taxi up to Shelley. That's when it started to go wrong. The taxi fare was much higher than I anticipated as I didn't know that taxi vans charge more. But I got up to the old Shelley railway station which is Victoria's highest station at 779m. It was downhill for most of the way, bush at first but the trail was rough at times with a lot of forest debris but it was pleasant through the eucalyptus, some trestle bridges, and lots of bird life. Went past the old Koetong station site (with a pub nearby) and then onto the Darbyshire site. After that the trail is not really developed, however the old trainline formation still exists. This section goes through many cattle farms, with gates, and it's rough in parts. The major object, at this stage however, was to dodge the cow pats. There were also a couple of creek crossings as the trestle bridges were not in use. It only got worse; one farm gate was locked so I had to retrace my steps and then detour via the road to pick up the trail again. Then things started deteriorating rapidly: a flat front tyre. I changed that and then noticed the rear tyre was flat too. I only had one spare tube, so that was the end of the trip with still 45km to go back to Wodonga. I called RACV Bike Assist (yes, there is such a thing!) and they organised a (partly subsidised) taxi to take me back to Wodonga (but not after a couple of kilometres walking to get to a road junction. I decided to stay an extra night in Wodonga then I could complete the trail from the Wodonga end. In the morning I went to a bike shop to get new tubes and off I went, after 10km another rear flat. I changed that and then the rear gears didn't work. I limped back to to the bike shop who fixed the gears but it was the end of the High Country Rail Trail for me. Wodonga clearly doesn't like me even though I was born there. It's a very spread out place and there is not really much in the centre unless you like fried chicken or are in need of medical attention. They also have a lot of palm trees for some reason. They are redeveloping the centre and trying to beautify it but (no offence to pigs) it's like putting lipstick on a pig. On the other hand, the parma I had at one of the few hotels there (all equipped with TABs) was excellent. The motel I stayed at was cheap. It had some interesting features. The design on the bathroom floor tiles looked like someone had tramped on them with muddy boots. The window latch was held in place by a teabag, the receptionist locked herself in the reception area (you had to ring or waive to her from outside to let you in), and reception itself didn't open until 10am. Did I say it was cheap?
The next day was a trip via back roads from Wodonga to Wahgunyah (on the Murray river) on then on the rail trail to Rutherglen. The Murray to Mountains Rail Trail starts at Wahgunyah and goes through to Bright. However there is a bit missing from Rutherglen to Springhurst (although according to the hotel owner in Rutherglen funding is to be provided to complete the missing link). Wahgunyah is a pleasant spot on the Murray and they have a quaint one way bridge (with traffic lights) that gives access to Corowa in NSW. It's a small place but they have a pub and a fish and chip shop as well! I stayed in Rutherglen, which is a much bigger place, 9km along the rail trail. It is a pleasant place which has a well preserved historic main street. The motel I stayed at was excellent, they gave me a key to their shed to store my bike in, and something I haven't seen in a motel before, was you could buy local wines (or beer) from them. But then it is in the middle of a wine growing region. So things have turned around after this day! And the weather was good for the first three days too!
Part 2 of the blog will take up the trip from Rutherglen back to Bright.
And, finally, some pictures....
Shelley to Old Tallagatta (High Country Rail Trail):
Wodonga to Rutherglen:
Hello, a bit of a quiet time before my north-east Victoria cycling tour in a couple of weeks. In the meantime some observations:
Reality TV
I am really into the ambulance/medical programmes at the moment. The people working in these areas are the arch enemies of knuckleheads it appears. For instance, paramedics have a genuine concern for people whereas the knuckleheads make fake calls to 000, cut them off when they are driving to an emergency, and assault them when they are trying to provide medical attention.
On the other hand those reality programmes where they recruit people to appear on them and engage in some sort of artificial interaction, appear to only recruit people with personality disorders (or there the only ones that volunteer).
I have an idea for a new reality TV programme. It's a programme of people watching people watching Googlebox. It will be twice as funny.
Knuckleheads
Speaking about knuckleheads, I think I have found a measure of their prevalence in society. According, to a recent news report, 600,000 people have not notified Medicare of their banking details so they can be paid refunds.
Hot Chocolate
Sorry hot chocolate with water instead of milk is not hot chocolate but chocolate cordial.
Lizard Farm
I've mentioned previously that my garden has developed into a bit of a lizard farm. Now some of them are just playing with me. The other day a skink came up to my motion sensor (which triggers an alarm) and started licking it. The other day I saw a blue tongue in the front drive way that was enormous - half a metre long (see picture below). But he was very slow, so I suspect is old and one of the original inhabitants. A smaller one appears to live in my garage. The other day, I opened the garage door to take out the bins, when I closed the garage door, I saw something jumping from the door on to the ground. What I found was a lizard looking at me askance. I should really remember to check the garage door before I open it as the lizards really like to lie on the lip of the garage door. but don't appreciate the ride up and down.
Swimming
I think this last Summer has proven that ethnics can't swim. They can handle still water to some degree but sea is definitely out for them. That's why I don't like to go anywhere near water. I think it must be genetic.
Melbourne
As I have mentioned many times, visits to Melbourne always serve up plenty of entertainment. I was at Hoppers Crossing station and there where two youths doing a photo shoot of themselves on the platform or was it a photo shoot of themselves in front of graffitti on a wall that was behind them? On an a train heading to Hoppers Crossing the passengers were entertained by a loud talker having a conversation (apparently a trainee security guard) about the scientific basis of the concepts of "gut feeling" and "women's intuition". Bonus was we could hear the person on the other end of the phone because his phone volume was up so high and/or because she was so loud. Talk about the blind leading the blind.
On the way back to Bright I caught an early Sunday morning train from Southern Cross. This usually, means coming across party goers who have been up all night. It seems that the males have a uniform: black pants or jeans with overhanging shirts. To get my train I caught a taxi to the city, again I struck a jackpot. When I got into the taxi it was like a sauna but the driver realised quite quickly that if he didn't turn it down I would not have survived the trip. Then even though he was using a GPS he managed to miss the exit to get from the freeway into Melbourne which meant a bit of a circumnavigation of the city. He was completely lost and so I had to direct him to the station. I unilaterally rounded down the fare (without any objection from him) but I have doubts about how long it would take him to get out of the city.
On another trip to Melbourne, the knucklehead alarm went off when a passenger turned up just before the bus was about to depart, then insisted his small bag should go underneath the bus. Then he redid his pony tail on the bus (obviously he was in a rush). Turns out he was only going to the next town (10 minute trip). On this same trip I went to a Melbourne Victory game and as coincidence would have it, a quite "interesting" supporter sat right in front of me. She came rushing to her seat, plonking her large bag on the seat next to her. She
had a Melbourne victory t-shirt, cap, and scarf on. Then it got
interesting, she pulled out a second scarf but didn't put it on but just admired it for a second. She then got out a battered exercise book and pen and started taking
notes. Things only got better when she got a pair of binoculars out of
the bag and started scanning the crowd (before the game). During the match she took notes
at key points of the match and occasionally used her binoculars to verify something, before making more notes. I am not sure whether she was a reporter, a
writer, spy, or just a personality.
Apartments
I see a lot of apartments being built, especially in Melbourne, promoted as being "luxury apartments". There seems to be a dearth of squalid apartments being constructed. I think there is a gap in the market there.
Badges
I have noticed that people wearing badges, particularly multiple badges, usually have an opinion and are prepared to use it.
Words
When people talk of something as being "classic" or "retro", I think they really mean old and outdated. It also appears that "budget" means cheap, falling apart, poor quality and/or small.
Vacuum Dementia
I think my robot vacuum cleaner is developing dementia. It is quite old in vacuum cleaner years, nearly 6 years, and sometimes it forgets where it is and vacuums the same spot over and over again.
Random Thoughts & Tales - the Book
For those that haven't purchased a copy of the latest edition, it is now available for a 15% discount with the code ONEFIVE. Also the original "classic" edition is now available with a 40% discount on top of the discount code discount (above). All books can be ordered from the lulu.com website.
Some pictures from Bright and the rail trail to Wangaratta...
And grandpa Blue Tongue...
