day 1: Melbourne to San Remo 113km
got a late start leaving downtown Melbourne. checked out of the hotel at 10am, got a coffee on the way out of town and followed the coast to Phillip Island. had a flat tire after a couple hours so i patched it up and put on a new tire. then went to the tourist information office in a small town to check on the ferry timings to cross over to Phillip Island. was told that the last boat for the day would be leaving at 5pm. it was already after 3pm and still had about 30km to the cape - where the boat would be leaving from. so i took off down the road and made it there with about 30 minutes to spare. crossed over and traversed the island to the quaint town of San Remo where i set up camp at a RV holiday park.
day 2: San Remo to Morwell 133km
had another late start leaving town this day. followed the usual routine packing up the tent and so on. then a small breakfast before getting on the road. a lot of rolling hills with beautiful scenery going through small farming towns.
day 3: Morwell to Stratford 90km
i stayed at a hotel last night so made the most of my stay by enjoying my room until check out time at 10am. so yet again had a delayed departure and had a relatively short day on the bike. however i started feeling the heat and humidity today, getting a taste for the intense Aussie summer heatwaves. the supposed hole in the
ozone layer is said to be directly above the southern half of Australia. unfortunately the summer has just begun and i am headed north where it will only be getting hotter. i called it a day when i arrived in Stratford around 5pm and found a nice campsite by a river. set up the tent, went to the local library and picked up some veggies for dinner.
day 4: Stratford to Nowa Nowa 125km
this day was hot, i could tell the moment i woke up that it was going to be a scorcher. but there was some classic outback terrain to be covered. rode about 50km on a small country rode without seeing much of anything until i got to Bairnsdale. from there i got on the 'East Gippsland Rail Trail' all the way to Nowa Nowa.
the Rail Trail is a network of hike and bike trails created from all of the old rail tracks that are no longer used. although the paths are not usually not sealed, i was surprised to find that they were very well maintained and was able to ride them on my touring bike which is not well equipped for off-road terrain.
day 5: Nowa Nowa to Cann River 131km
the holiday park i stayed in last night was very eclectic and artsy. met some very nice people and stayed up talking with the locals. i liked it so much i considered spending a rest day there but finally decided to pack up and continue down the road. upon leaving town i reconnected with the 'Rail Trail' until it ended at Orbost(about 45km down the road). had lunch in Orbost and then followed a small country road
along the coast to avoid the national highway A1. eventually i had no choice but rejoin with the highway however it was late Sunday evening and the traffic was not very heavy. then rolled into a campsite at Cann River close to 8pm with just enough time to make dinner before it got dark.
day 6: Cann River to Eden 109km
not a long day in terms of distance but went over some very hilly roads. there were hardly any flat sections the entire day, it was either going up or down. a light drizzle turned into a downpour about 15km from Eden. i stopped for a short while at a shop to wait out the rain and then road the rest of the way. when i arrived i was spent and got a room in a motel.
day 7: Eden to Mimosa Rocks National Park 79km
got a late start this morning and was happy to see that it was not raining. it was to be another undulating day on the bike. going up then down, down then up along the coast. late in the afternoon i went down a 3 km steep dirt road on the coast to stay at a National Park campsite. the campsite was nestled in a dense rain forest with good tent sites and easy access to a lovely beach.
day 8: Mimosa Rocks to Moruya 111km
rode up the 3km dirt rode to reconnect with the Princes highway. followed some nice coastal roads and had breakfast in a little hippy town, filled up the water bottles and carried on down the road. i happily made it to Moruya at around 5pm. after not finding any suitable accommodation i continued on the highway outside of town.
after about 7km i found a free campsite filled with people enjoying the evening.
day 9: Moruya to Nowra 150km
this day proved to be the most difficult stage of this journey so far. everything started out smooth enough. stopped for breakfast in Batemans Bay and then continued along highway A1 towards Nowra. went through some patches of light rain and felt the highway traffic getting more dense. there was very little shoulder on the highway which made me a little nervous. late in the afternoon a nail ripped a hole in my front tire, so i pulled over and patched up the tube only to find the tube poking through the tire. i had to take the tire off and and put a piece of cardboard to cover the hole. a short while later the tube became exposed again so once again had to take the tire off and sealed it with a patch. by the time i arrived in Nowra it was about 9pm and i went to find a motel to rest for the night.
the following day (Friday Jan, 14th) i was on the outskirts of Sydney and decided to put my bike on a train to avoid navigating through city traffic. i took the train to Wollongong (near Sydney) and stayed with a friend there for a three days before heading into the big city. it was really nice staying in this small community near Sydney as there was a Folk Festival going on while i was there, my friend had an extra ticket so was able to enjoy some good old Aussie folk music and visited with some great people.
The Melbourne to Sydney portion of the journey is complete. spent nine straight days on the bike covering 1041 km.
