Campbells Bridge to Moonambel
Sydney vs Melbourne
They say that Sydney is a city for tourists – flashy, plenty of attractions – where Melbourne is a city to live, with plenty going on, plenty to do, but not so much happening touristy-wise.
The ride from Campbells Bridge (a short drive out of Stawell) to Moonambel is a bit like Melbourne. There’s not a lot to see, but the riding is great.
They also say that familiarity breeds contempt, and maybe there’s a bit of that going on as well. We are all in familiar territory today. Gone are the dry, red landscapes and stone cottages of South Australia. Now we have the equally dry, grassy pastoral landscapes of central western Victoria, initially flat but becoming undulating as we progress. At the end of the day, we are less than 100km from Bendigo; we are nearly home.
Thomas Ninnes still has a way to go.
We passed the 4 post Publick House on the south end of the Wimmera Plain. Reached Daisy Hill, Messers Hall and Mr Neils Station.
While the details are sketchy about Thomas’ route, the fact that he had previously lived in the area suggested that he may have passed by Glenorchy (where we finished yesterday) and the Avoca Diggings. His route may well have resembled the route we take today, crossing the lower part of the Pyrenees range and on to Moonambel – then to Avoca (in our case, by mini bus).
Our morning’s ride is fast, held up once by a red traffic light! We are in Navarre in no time and enjoying lunch, fortifying ourselves for the lumpier ride this afternoon.
After lunch we make great progress, riding the undulations of the Stawell-Avoca Road between Navarre and Moonambel. We regroup at the base of the last hill, then enjoy the ride downhill all the way to Moonambel.
We have the loading of bikes on the trailer down to a fine art, and before long we are settled into Avoca Cottages. No pub, no nothing open for dinner tonight, so we resort to spag bog, cooked at home, with a special vegie version for me. (Thanks Neil and sous chef Pat for dinner!)
After dinner we pile into the mini van for a short excursion to see the silo art in Avoca. The art depicts a barking owl, and what is special about this silo art is that the painting is luminescent, and thus visible in a special way at night. Imagine what Thomas Ninnes and family would make of this!
Stats for today:
- Distance: 56.13km
- Climb: 325m
- Average speed: 20.3km/h/h
- Average temperature: 22C
- Moving time: 2:46:18
- See our ride on Strava
The beer picture
At the end of a day’s ride, our tradition is to enjoy a beer, and to photograph it for posterity. Today’s beer picture was taken at the Avoca Cottages, Neil with Pat.
Along the way today:
