Day: 005
Date: Tuesday, 1 August 2006
Summary: Riding from Woods Point to Bonnie Doon.
Start: Woods Point
Finish: Bonnie Doon
Daily Kilometres: 110
Total Kilometres: 406
Weather: Mostly overcast and cold.
Accommodation: Motel in Bonnie Doon.
Nutrition:
Breakfast: Full pub English Breakfast
Lunch: A pie and pastie
Dinner: Chicken “parm”
Encounters: None really, although I got vigorous waves from the Woods Point mail run/passenger minibus on their way to and from Mansfield . I has met them the previous night at the Woods Point store.
Highlights: Although you have to ride hilly and rough trails to enjoy the mountains, it was nice to get back onto undulating sealed roads this afternoon after yesterday.
Lowlights: Missing the chance, through impatience to keep moving on my part, of staying with my brother’s sister-in-law and family in Mansfield.
Journal:
I woke to find that my electric blanket had done the job and my wet clothes were dry, although there was a lot of dried mud in the bed which I scrupulously brushed off onto the floor! After a very filling full English breakfast and good wishes form the amicable publican I headed north out of Woods Point and, as expected, soon began the steep ascent to the 1034 metre Frenchman’s Gap. I probably could have ridden a large part of the way up, but decided to walk and enjoy the forest. The alpine forest was alive with the sounds of different birds and it was a pleasant if somewhat tiring climb. I had the road pretty much to myself, only seeing two cars on the 44km of gravel road from Woods Point to Kevington. After the Gap the road was steeply downhill (plenty of brake work, especially on the rough and tight corners) and then it levelled out as it followed various creeks and then the Goulburn River downstream in a narrow steep-sided wooded valley past tiny old quaint mining communities with names like the A1 Mine Settlement, Gaffneys Creek, Knockwood and Kevington. There’s a lot of history in this area. The scenery gradually changed from forest to rural with a forested mountain backdrop and I enjoyed the sights in the better biking weather although a bit of sun would have been nice. I was well rugged up.
After lunch in Jamieson the afternoon’s ride was undulating through mostly rural landscapes with a couple of sizeable climbs and then fairly flat. Although the map showed the road skirting Lake Eildon , I never once saw the Lake .
My phone had got some moisture in it yesterday and wasn’t working properly earlier in the day so I was unable to try contacting my brother’s sister-in-law who lives in Mansfield until I actually reached Mansfield (I dried out the phone by removing the back and battery and placing it in the side netting of my front carrier bag where it got plenty of wind!.....I also hang sweaty warm tops and bottoms from various points on the bike to dry them out when I don’t need to wear them any more!). There was some chance she would offer for me to stay at their house, but I wasn’t sure and then was unable to contact her. Given that there was still another hour or so of light, I pushed on to Bonnie Doon and checked into a very quiet hotel/motel where I was the only guest (the sister-in-law called later to say they were expecting me to stay with them in Mansfield , so I felt bad about that). The friendly manager kindly opened the kitchen and cooked me chicken parmigiana for dinner before closing the bar early. He had once ridden from Broken Hill to Bathurst .
I should comfortably make Shepparton tomorrow although strong north winds are forecast.
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