By this Author: djscooterman

Ok so this was the final day of our Great Ocean Road ride and the weather gods saved the best until last. Yesterday was blowy, but today took it to another level, and we had to ride right into the teeth of the gale for the last 10km or so. This is going to be a pretty short post as there's not too much to talk about on this leg of the ride, especially when the weather is not in your favour.
We left Aireys at around 830 with a gameplan to beat the worst of the winds and I think we won that battle. We left the highway at Anglesea and didn't bother to do any coastal lookouts on the way. The traffic was pretty heavy and the shoulders narrow to non existent in some places and with the wind often coming across us, we were keen to get off the highway sooner rather than later. We also decided to pull the plug at Waurn Ponds rather than riding all of the way into Geelong. This saves about 10km and unless you're into box ticking exercises on tour routes, it's probably better to finish here, even if the weather is good.
All up, this is an awesome ride. You need to be pretty fit and savvy in traffic moving at high speeds. Also make sure you've planned your tour carefully. The western end is pretty scant when it comes to services, so think ahead before you commit to riding on days 1 and 2. If you want to know any more about the GOR road, don't hesitate to drop me an email via this site.
We were lucky enough to catch a train that was waiting on the platform and before we knew it we were at Southern Cross station. I went down to check in my bike for tomorrow's train trip and was greeted by a guy who was probably related to the luggage attendant in Sydney. I won't bore you with the details, but let's just say he was a late middle aged man with a mullet. That can only head in one direction.
Anyway, here's a few pics from wandering around Melbourne this afternoon

We decided to make an early start today with wind and rain forecast for the afternoon. At about 11pm last night, the wind made an early appearance. It was strong enough to wake me from a deep post ride slumber and it made me wonder if we might have to make alternative arrangements for the day, like trying to negotiate a VLine bus to Airleys.
By the time the sun came up, the wind had settled a little and the gales of the night before were replaced with a striking sunrise. See pic below for evidence.

We had a quick breakfast and set off around 830 hoping to beat the return of the Apollo Bay tornado. The first stretch of the ride was pretty flat and the northerly wind was being broken by the escarpment along the coastline. The occasional gully provided us with a sense that the wind still had plenty of challenges to offer.
The sky was a bit grey but that made the scenery more dramatic. There's some nice lookouts along this stretch of the road and all of them have easy access.

Not too long after going through the small settlement of Wye River you'll come across the memorial to the Barque WB Godfrey Memorial. Whatever you do, don't miss this stop and be sure to read the information board. It's chilling stuff. In short, way back in March 1891, the Barque WB Godfrey was sailing between San Fran and Melbourne. The good ship Godfrey came a cropper amidst heavy bushfire smoke that obscured visibility. All passengers and the crew survived, so what's the big deal I hear you say.
In April 1891, the barquentine Chittor turned up at the site of the wreck to salvage timber and other cargo from the wreck. This sounds a lot like looting to me, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and stick with the word salvage. Five crew approached the wreck of the Godfrey in a row boat and, you guessed it, they capsized and two of the crew lost their lives.
Now at this point, the story just keeps getting weirder. In June, another operator attempted a salvage, but their the row boat capsized and one of the crew drowned. You'd think by this stage, the shipwreck site might have been classed as a no go zone for salvage teams. Back in the 1890s risk management wasn't even an idea, so lo and behold another crew arrive ready to salvage the remains of the Godfrey. this time the good ship Clara approached with some caution and unleashed the usual team of salvage experts in a row boat. Third time luck lucky? Nope. The rowboat capsized and one of its occupants was caught in the surf while the other two made it safely to shore. The captain of the ship, a man by the name of TJ Gortley, decided to help out, his flailing crew member V Godfrey, who strangely enough shared his surname with the name of the ship that originally sank at the site. Captain Gortley was brave to plunge into the surging water, but unfortunately he couldn't swim, so both he and Godfrey ended up in Davey Jones locker. From my research, it seems that after this third attempt, the salvage experts gave up on the Barque WB Godfrey. If the tide is anywhere on the low side, you'll see some remnants of the Barque WB Godfrey jutting above the surface. Today the anchor was clearly visible and the plaque indicates you can also see the canon and a few other bits when the tide is down. There's a memorial to Captain Gortley and V Godfrey which, as you will see in the picture below, is currently home to a huge mushroom.

After that sobering experience, we set off for Lorne along some quite exposed sections of the Great Ocean Road which offered no protection from the northerly. Again there's some good lookouts which provide excellent views of the coast and some pretty inlets which are really worth a stop.

It was now a cruisy 10km into Lorne and the traffic was not too bad, apart from one truck driver who thought it might be a you beaut idea to sit on my tail through some tight corners on a downhill section. When we made it to Lorne, we came across a cafe called Lorne Central which is a great place for lunch. We met a group of three women outside Lorne Central who were following in our tracks. One of them was on the wrong side, or right side depending on your view, of 70 and you had to admire her attitude. I said to her 'We are all mad', she replied, 'I call us inspirational.' I suspect she's right!
There's also the 'new' Golden Age cinema in Lorne. It's an old art deco joint which has been taken over by the people from Golden Age in Sydney. As a fan of the Sydney cinema, I suspect Lorne has struck it lucky.

We then pushed on to Aireys Inlet. This segment can be a little challenging. There's a couple of relatively small climbs, but if you've been across the Otways you'll hardly notice the ascent. The challenging bit comes from the traffic on this segment. After a few days of relative peace, you'll certainly notice a difference here. It's a pretty narrow stretch of road and the shoulders are either non existent or covered in forest debris. Hold your line on the downhill segments and look ahead on the climbs; it can be really difficult to keep as far left as the drivers desire. There's also quite a few big trucks here, so keep your eyes and ears open.
Just as we arrived in Aireys, the wind picked up and we even copped a decent shower of rain. Onwards and upwards to Geelong tomorrow with a nasty headwind forecast.

Today started from our accommodation in Johanna. It was a steep rocky descent, which was a little challenging on 30mm road tyres. After a cautious beginning I made it down to the tarmac and took a slight detour to Johanna Beach. It's a quintessential, windswept southern Australian beach. Given that there were strong gusts this morning, it was the perfect time to visit. I did notice that there were signs urging the punters not to swim at any time. It certainly looked pretty rugged out there today and I didn't need the sign to deter me from an early morning dip!

Next it was onwards and upwards, as Project Apollo Bay started to get serious. It was a pretty steady climb towards the Great Ocean Road from Johanna Beach. However once I reached the turnoff there was the encouraging sight of a downhill straight.

Needless to say the downhill bit didn't last long. but the straight bit did, albeit uphill for quite a long stretch. Just to add insult to injury, it was starting to get quite blowy, to the point where the bike was getting a little unstable on the next exposed downhill stretch. The good news was that there was a nice lookout at a place called Castle Cove, which me chance to regroup and grab a snack. There were good views to be had and quite a decent crowd of sightseers for a blowy winter's day. I was tempted to walk down to the beach, but Project Apollo Bay beckoned.

After the lookout there was a nice descent which was quite protected from the wind. Then it was flat, easy riding for quite a while, apart from an unpleasant encounter with a Vic Roads flagman, who clearly had a thing about cyclists. At the Hordern Vale turnoff we struck another road plant and it was here that the hill climbing fun began. The roadworks gave us a chance to catch our breath before the Otways sucked the oxygen out of our lungs.
The first 600 metres or so were pretty intense with a gradient consistently around 10%. This looked and felt a lot like the beginning of yesterday's climb, so I was prepared for the worst. I might also add that the shoulders are sketchy at best and non existent at times on this stretch. It wasn't such a problem today, but it might get a bit hairy if there's more traffic on the road, so you've been warned.
It wasn't too long before the gradient dropped back and the climbing became quite manageable, albeit not pleasant. The good news was that the average speed was up on yesterday and we actually felt like we were making progress. In fact, the top of the hill came much quicker than expected and we were soon heading down the hill on Project Apollo Bay. It's a nice descent, not too steep so you can get up a good speed without risking a fatal injury. To make things even better, the road is quite wide, so there's some margin for error, should it be needed.
It wasn't too long before Project Apollo Bay reached its final destination. After a couple of days in non descript townships, Apollo Bay was like a buzzing metropolis. Mind you I wouldn't want to be here in summer. It must be heaving with tourists and I reckon riding a bike around here might just come with a little extra risk.
After a quick shower, it was down to the Fishermans' Coop for their highly recommended seafood delights. I'm always a bit sceptical about these food spots in rural Australia that get talked up and often fail to deliver. I have to say that this place over delivered. The calamari was like butter and the chips were freshly cooked and crispy on the outside. If you come through here and have even a passing interest in seafood, make the coop a must visit.
Tomorrow we head for Aireys Inlet. It's a relatively flat day of riding, but the forecast says that the winds will be gusty from early in the day.

Ok so I knew this would be big, but probably wasn't aware of just quite how big it would be. I headed out at 830 this morning, as planned and made good speed along the way. Between Niranda south and Peterborough I came across the first big site of the day. The Bay of Islands is not really what the name implies but rather a bunch of rocky outcrops sitting just off the coast. Not too far down the road is the Bay of Martyrs. What's with all this religious nomenclature! Anyway, both places are absolutely worth visiting and a bit less popular than some of the other spots.
I had a rather amusing encounter with a woman at the Bay of Martyrs lookout. She told me that she had seen me travelling along the road at a good clip and that when she met me I was older than she expected given the way I was hooning down the bitumen. Possibly a backhanded compliment, but I'll take it anyway.

So now it was onwards and upwards to The Grotto and London Bridge. It was pretty early in the morning so I had the places pretty much to myself. I last came through here during winter in the late 1980s and I was much smarter back then, I drove a car rather than riding a bike! From what I read, the lookouts are packed to the rafters in summer and there's traffic jams on the road, just to make it even less attractive. I would have thought that in the space of 35 years, people might have discovered that this place is paradise in winter. Often really good weather and even more importantly, no people, or not enough to cause you grief at any rate. If you're thinking of coming this way, take that tip and make your visit in low season. You won't regret the decision.

Next stop was Port Campbell for a quick morning tea break and to top up on supplies. Port Campbell is a nice enough little town with a good supermarket, a few other shops and at least one pub. I had my tea break and bought a sandwich for the road at the Grassroots Deli Cafe in the main street. Lovely staff and great food. Now it was time to head for the big one, the Twelve Apostles, where I would meet my travelling buddies. This section was still easy riding and the drivers were generally well behaved apart from one revhead in a Tesla. When you buy a car from Elon Musk, I guess you're destiny in lifer is to so really stupid things.
I swung into the carpark to be greeted by Vanessa and Sandy, my riding mates for the next few days. We knew we had a long afternoon ahead, so made a quick visit to the Apostles. I had passed on Loch Ard Gorge, to make up a bit of time, but you can't really ride all of this distance and not check out the Twelve Apostles. The weather was stupendous and the views to the rocky outcrops spectacular as the pictures below confirm. Make the most of these shots as the afternoon was to prove grueling and the camera didn't get too much work.

It was a quick ride along the Great Ocean Road which provided a false sense of security about what lay ahead. After some brief climbing there was even a sharp descent which really made me oblivious to what was coming my way. It's worthwhile noting that there's a few localities marked on the map at this point, but don't get your hopes up that these places might have supplies. They are literally spots of the map and someone a long time ago decided to give them a name. There's even a place called Gellibrand Lower and another called Lower Gellibrand. That's strange enough in itself, but there doesn't actually seem to be a place called Gellibrand, so God knows why we need to have two variations of Lower Gellibrand. In short, don't worry too much about the place names, just remember you're pretty much on your own in this part of the world.
The really bad news is that climbing the Otway Range doesn't start gradually, in fact it's intense and remains that way for quite a while. Your ultimate goal will probably be Lavers Hill, so give yourself anything between 90 and 120 minutes from when you start climbing to when you arrive. To make matters worse, the township itself is unsurprisingly located on top of a hill, so the last 2kms or so will test your legs just a little more. The cafe there sells some good pastries, but the deep fried food was pretty unappetising. To be fair, we arrived right on closing time and the 'all day menu' looked ok. There's also a nice restaurant across the road attached to a winery, that gets great reviews. Unfortunately we were out of luck with our time of arrival, so I'll just have to accept it's as good as the reviews say.
Below is a screengrab of the profile going up Lavers Hill which will give you some idea of what to expect. I would love to say that I enjoyed every minute of this beast of a climb, but that would be a lie. It's painful from the very beginning and gets worse the further you go, but there is a real sense of achievement when you get to the top. Although I guess that depends on your definition of achievement. Some people might think it's just madness.

Anyway our day wasn't quite yet over, we had an 11km, largely downhill ride to get to our accommodation in Johanna. By the way, it seems there's nothing in Johanna, so don't come here with plans for a slap up meal and drinks at the pub. There's absolutely nothing happening, which was probably a good thing after our day on the road.
If you're thinking of having a go at riding the Great Ocean Road, it's actually a great experience, even the climb to Laver's Hill. At this time of the year, there's not much traffic and the road surface is generally conducive to good riding. The tarmac is well maintained and the high grip sections, that Australian rural roadmakers love, are not so grippy as to make riding too much of a chore. The shoulders are generally limited and often in poor condition, although it looks like the civic fathers and mothers are doing their best, albeit at a leisurely pace, to improve that situation. Get yourself conditioned on the bike before you set out and make sure you have plenty of provisions as shops are few and far between when you're covering big distances on a bike.
Tomorrow should be a much less chalenging day, with a leisurely 45km ride to Apollo Bay, although it will involve some climbing over the Otways, although the maps suggest it's not quite as punishing as today.

Ok, so let's get the less appealing bits out of the way early on and then finish with the good stuff.
Last night's train trip from Sydney to Melbourne, probably scores about 5/10. The couchette and fold down beds are pretty comfy and the guy who shared the space with me was great company. The toilets and showers were spotlessly clean, if a little dated.
The train itself was pretty noisy and not as steady as modern rolling stock, but heh that's what you get with a 50 year old piece of kit.
Breakfast was a bowl of cornflakes, fruit juice and a hot drink. The crew were pretty pleasant dudes, but let's say organisation wasn't their special skill.
We rolled into Southern Cross Station about 20 minutes late, whereupon I re assembled my bike after a quick visit to the luggage van. Everything seemed in good order and the brakes hadn't jammed; so far so good.
Next it was a two hour wait for the train to Sherwood Park. I abandoned the last leg to Warrnambool as it added about 5km to the ride, all of it spent on the Princess Highway. The train left from Southern Cross, about 20 minutes after the scheduled time. The carriages looked like they were heritage listed and the engine was a bit of a clunker! I was eventually unleashed on the world a bit after 2pm.
The first 7 or 8km were spent riding on the shoulder along the Princess Highway. Lots of heavy vehicles, plenty of grit and worse on the shoulders and a couple of bridge that narrow and leave no space for a cyclist. Watch out for all of those hazards should you follow in my tracks.
Once you hit the Great Ocean Road, the traffic disappears. However I suspect that might be a little different at the height of summer. About 5km along the Great Ocean Road, I took a nice detour down Childers Cove Road, it seems to add nothing to the distance and I pretty much had the road to myself. Plug it into your GPS and you won't have any problems tracking down the detour. There's no ocean views, unless you take the Childers Cove Access Road, but the countryside is sublime. Even better, I was kicking along with ease at 25kmh complete with two decent sized panniers. The road surface is good and the wind was pretty much non existent.
I had originally planned to ride to Port Campbell, but I was a bit concerned about fading light at the end of the day and called it quits at Nirranda. It's a beautiful place, but it re defines the definition of a one horse town. The general store apparently closed in the 1980s due to lack of interest from the locals, so don't turn up here under resourced in the food department. I did and I'm paying the price!
I'm staying at a B n B called the Butterfly Farm. It's owned by a husband and wife who seem like they might have had some direct connections with the world of hippies back in the day. If you're an aficionado of Australian 70s rock music, you'll find the posters in the carport of some interest. Turns out the male half of the management team, is an ex member of Madder Lake. Check them out on Wiki if you don't know who I'm talking about.

If you're interested, I covered the 31km from Sherwood Park in about 75 minutes of riding time. With a drink break and a couple of gear adjustments, it took me about 90 minutes. No hills of any consequence makes it a pretty easy start to your tour.
I'm planning on an early start tomorrow, with a morning tea break at Port Campbell, which is about 30km away from Nirranda. The weather looks like it will be as good as today, so there should be some terrific views once I hit the coast.
The afternoon session might get a little challenging. Whatever the case maybe, it's going to be an 80-90km riding day, so today was every inch a soft warm up.
You can bet the road won't be this flat tomorrow