We said a slightly wistful goodbye to Bonnie & Michael and their beautiful home in lively Newtown. Then we rode on more or less continuous cycle paths towards the airport … and past it😊.

We didn’t miss the turn-off, but turned our plans upside down a few months ago in Western Australia: Why don’t we just stay in Australia instead of dealing with rainfall and temperatures in New Zealand and getting annoyed with airline pricing policies? After all, we have an annual visa and Australia has more to offer…

We loved the direct route through the forests of the Royal National Park, the view from Bald Hill and the ride over the viaduct at Coalcliff. This was followed by a few days without any particular charm. On the contrary: the gray skies were oppressive, the temperatures were boringly constant, the traffic was quite aggressive, the hills steep and numerous. Above all, however, we found the characterless and soulless settlements a horror! Houses far too big with no life, no people, just closed garage doors, cars and sterile green spaces. How lonely and lost the people behind these walls must be?! We saw our impressions confirmed when an elderly, single lady offered us the chance to stay with her for a few days at 8 o’clock in the morning. Although we felt sorry for Irene, we declined her invitation and cycled on with almost no detours or side trips. The sunshine and the beautiful swimming pool at Bermagui cheered us up so much that our good mood lasted until Merimbula, where we turned inland again. At last!

With every kilometer we cycled up the mountain on the quiet country road, our spirits lifted. Two days later, the temperatures soared, so we had to change our plan on the spot. We hadn’t gotten very far on our route through Snowy River National Park when we decided to stop for lunch at McKillops Bridge. At 10:30 a.m. it was already a sweltering 33°C and we had a long climb ahead of us in the blazing sun. Over the course of the day, the temperature climbed to 41°C and we were glad to cool off in the Snowy River… even I took a dip in the river😊.

To make the most of the cooler hours, we set off the next morning at 5 o’clock in the dark. But the heat was already over: at 16°C and in the fog, we shivered and made ourselves a hot coffee for snack and were delighted when the sun came out in the afternoon. We enjoyed the drive through the forests of the Alpine National Park on a very good road and spent the night for free on the beautifully laid out, well-kept campsites in the national park. In the evening, we were even visited by wild horses, the brumbies. Less welcome was the nocturnal visit of a possum in my front pocket. Unnoticed by us, it had gained access to the apple bag via the loosely rolled-up corners. With incredible skill, it pulled the bag out of the pannier and feasted on its prize in peace. Apart from a small hole in the fruit bag (and the apples, of course), it did no damage!

I didn’t have to go without my beloved fruit for long, because we arrived in Omeo for lunch, and stocked up on fresh produce again. In Omeo there was not only a supermarket, but also a free shower for us and the bikes. This meant we could tackle the ascent to Dinner Plain and Hotham Heights refreshed.

The two winter sports resorts were completely deserted, almost all the restaurants and cafés closed. Ski resorts in Australia? Yes, up to 2 meters of snow fall in the local Alps between June and August!

As soon as we left Stratford and headed south, the weather became drier and friendlier. From the village of Yarram, we followed the Great Southern Rail Trail, a fantastic cycle path on a former railroad line. Although the path is not paved, we made great progress on the flat, straight route. It got a bit hillier on the detour into Wilsons Promontory National Park. We had actually driven to the peninsula because of the unspoiled nature and were a little disappointed when we found a huge campsite with sardine-like occupancy. But the visit to the park was still worth it, because after eight months in Australia we saw the first living wombats! Yep, we could have watched these cute, grazing teddy bears for a long time. But unfortunately, they are nocturnal and it was getting dark.

After a morning walk to the nearby bays with beautiful beaches, we returned to the cycle path at Fish Creek, which ended abruptly in Noyra without a photogenic sign. Okay, this was it.
We continued on the normal road to Corinella. The somewhat original (but expensive) route choice over French Island took us there. An ancient, rusty barge with space for two cars and our two bikes took us to the flat island, where there are no paved roads, no police, rusty cars, unspectacular pastureland, lots of koala bears and a general store. We spent the whole afternoon in the store and waited out several rain showers before setting off on the sandy path to the empty campsite.

The next morning, we took a more trustworthy boat to Stony Point south of Melbourne. From here it was only 50km to Berwick, where Litsa and Geoff were waiting for us. We had met them several times in South Australia and received their contact details with a warm invitation. Their four grown-up children have left the large family home, which is why Litsa and Geoff love to fill the empty rooms with guests. And we were among the lucky ones who were allowed to stay with them, relax and sit down at the laid table. Thank you very much, Litsa & Geoff! We really appreciated the stimulating conversations over dinner and enjoyed having plenty of time to clean our bikes, take a tour of the city and do nothing at all😊.

Two short daily stages took us across the Mornington Peninsula to Sorrento, from there by boat to Queenscliff and along the cycle path to Geelong. Here we take the ferry to Tasmania, which should bring us to our next destination by the evening.