North Day 2

Yesterday, I continued on my trip north. Starting at Sutherland's Creek tennis club it was a shortish trip up to Maude. The ride started with a pinch up to the top of the plain between the Moorabool River to the west and Sutherlands Creek to the east. The further north I progress the less options of crossing the Moorabool become. I am heading towards Sharpes Crossing beyond Sheoaks as I think this is the gentler of my options. Even so there will be a few climbs to tackle on the way.

The autumn weather is truly here today with a chilly cross wind present. The ride is pleasant passing a vineyard that is yet to drop its leaves for winter and the odd hereford calf who stop to stare at me. My legs are threatening to cramp today, maybe I started too hard on the first uphill pinch, but I stretch and continue on. Soon I can see the rise where a BBQ tea is waiting for me so I push on.

A short ride of only 9.5km today, but a convenient place to stop. The next stage promises some real hills.

Cheers

North Day 1

Long time no blog. Been busy doing things that don’t really fit this blog. One of the projects is another “adventure” vehicle restoration but more of that later. Also a trip to Hong Kong was adventurous but not along this blog’s line of thought.

Today was the start of what may become a long term goal. Living in the southern part of the state I have an idea of travelling north. The goal will be left open and we will see how far I get by the end of the year. The idea is to travel by various means, bike, walk, paddle, sail (whatever).

I am currently on night shift so rather than morph into a nocturnal dweller; I’ve decided to make an effort to stay a little active. Some small walks over the last couple of days have loosened up the legs and today the bike comes out of the shed.

 I left home a little after 1600 and headed towards my daughter who would be leaving Ballarat about 1730. An easy trip to the edge of the suburbs and then the first challenge. I know it’s hardly a hill but this is the blog of a big blokes small adventures. I made it to the top of Anakie Road hill in low gear and stopped to take in the view and farewell Geelong. (Truth be known I stopped because I was stuffed.) Then across to Moorabool  through Lovely Banks.  I had ridden the return of this trip but that was predominantly downhill. My hill climbing has to start somewhere.  Then across some flats before dropping into Sutherland’s Creek valley. Sure enough 50kmh+ is exhilarating going down but the 6kmh grind up the other side takes the fun out of it.

Once up on the flat again it was an easy decision to set today’s goal as the Sutherland’s Creek Tennis Club. So before too long I had pulled up a chair and was basking in some beautiful autumn afternoon sun beside the clubhouse.

 My efforts today had been assisted by a tailwind so I sat back and waited for my ride home to arrive.  Today’s distance was 16.3km with a couple of hills.

New Years Eve on the Barwon

New Years Eve and a predicted high temperature of 30+ for the day.  I have been working on a dedicated boat trailer that will hopefully be able to transport any of my many boats around. Yesterday saw its completion with the addition of mudguards so we were ready to test it out. My small outboard motor has also had a new water pump fitted so I was looking to test this as well. Lastly I also wanted to take Mrs Bigbloke for a ride in our latest acquisition.

A few years ago, another big bloke from the other end of our street dropped in for a chat. He had seen my son and I boatbuilding in our driveway. He had also built a boat and was the proud owner of a square ended canoe that he poked around rivers and lakes in the country.  The odd small conversation occurred and sharing of ideas on boat building etc passed occasionally. Late last year as I went for a walk I noticed his canoe on the front lawn of a house with a sign “Free”. I stopped to take a look and soon enough an older man came out of the house and said I could have it if I wanted. Being a lover of boats I willingly obliged and got talking to him. Apparently his son had passed away recently and he had no use for the boat.  The boat was soon in our yard workshop. All the external seams required fiberglass taping and a few coats of paint were added. Before long it was ready to hit the water but we needed a trailer and outboard.

So New Years Eve was the day when all things lined up. We headed off before the day got too hot and launched in the Barwon River just upstream of Buckley’s Falls. This area has a couple of fishing platforms and a concrete launching ramp suitable for canoes and kayaks. Some hopeful fishermen wished us luck as we launched and paddled around their lines. Once clear we dropped the outboard and started motoring. The river here is broad and snag free for the first few kilometers. Only after passing under the Ring Road and passing around a few bends does the river narrow and become snaggy. Once up in the snaggy parts we paddled so as not to wreck anything. The river twists and turns and has many obstacles to test your navigating and boat handling skills. (Nice flat water to learn and practice on.) Luckily there were plenty of shady spots because the sun was starting to throw out some heat. We passed another paddler just before our turn-around point. I have never seen anyone else paddling here so it was a bit of a novelty. We decided to turn back before the last set of bends before the straight section before Merrawarp bridge. I had been up here twice before over a year ago and there seems to be a few more snags as a result of last years floods. On the way back we stopped to stretch our legs at a small beach in the shade.  By now the sun had some bite so a few water-fights using the paddles cooled us down.

Once back into the more open water we dropped the motor to make a quick trip back to the launch point. On the way we saw a fox scurrying away and some birdlife. A large Darter seemed curious as to what was disturbing his peaceful spot on the river. We also saw many parrot like birds and wrens and the ever present coot and water hen. Lots of empty mud nests were seen over the river as well. Once back at the ramp our earlier fishermen had left, but as we packed up another set turned up. Good timing.

A pleasant way to spend a morning and a good trial run for what may become some bigger adventures in the future.

Cheers and Happy New Year.