Ocean Drive

By -

For about the last thousand miles people have been asking us if we plan to take 'The Great Ocean Road' and telling us we will love it.  Today, about 20 miles west of Geelong we we finally got there.  It is, without a doubt, very lovely but:

1/  we have already seen similar stretches of coast in NSW

2/ the route was packed with tourists and tourist buses.  You have never seen so many selfie-sticks!

3/ i have ridden California's Big Sur so my wow-meter is pretty discriminating

4/  we had a 25mph headwind for much of the ride and i was too busy being grumpy to look half the time

So......nice but not one of the 7 Natural Wonders.

Light My Fire (bonus track)

As previously mentioned, HIGH is the 2nd lowest fire alert status.  In the last  couple of days i have had two insights into what this actually means:

1/  at Barry's home he has a sodding great tank in which he collects rain water.  He also has a heavy duty petrol-engined water pump.  If his house is in the immediate path of a fire he is screwed but if it is just passing within a mile or two he must don protective gear, start up the pump then patrol his property dousing anything that falling embers ignite. He has had to do this and says it is terrifying.  I believe him.

2/ at our lunch stop the local shop window was covered in posters drawn by kids to thank the volunteer firefighters for 'saving their town'.  A bit meodramatic?  Take a look at the last picture.  It was taken at the next town and clearly shows where they managed to finally beat the flames.  Just to the left, amongst the remaining green trees are the homes!

One rather sad and bizzare postcript.  Apparently some of the fires are deliberately set by.......volunteer firefighters.

We are now in Apollo Bay praying that the bloody headwind eases tomorrow.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll/Mr Tamborine Man/I Write The Songs

By -
Image
  After an 18 month separation Plum and I are reforming the band for another tour.  The two of us, plus 6 others, are heading up to Scotlandshire for another crack at the North Cost 500.  I should probably introduce the full line-up:   Lead Singer - David.  David is the young(er) pretty one.....brother of John.  David also happens to be my Financial Adviser and is funding this trip (plus a yacht and a cocaine habit) out of what he makes from my account.   Lead Guitar - Nick.  Friend for 50 years.  At school Nick was a keen cyclist and consequently, quite rightly, bullied.  Nick has forgotten more about cycling than I will ever know.   Bass Guitar - Stuart.  Stuart and I worked together for many years; he has powerful legs and can push out big watts while looking like he is coasting.  I hate Stuart.   Keyboards - Michael.  Michael is also younger but not pretty.  Michael believes that upgrading cycle compone
Read more

If I Could Turn Back Time

By -
Image
If ever you are in the Inverness area on a Friday and looking for a lively night you could do a lot worse than avoid Muir of Ord.  Our hotel, the only pub, wasn't serving food so we walked into town where it appeared that Steven Spielberg had just finished filming some sort of post-apocalypse movie: nothing open, nobody on the streets and the odd bit of tumbleweed blowing along the pavement.  Even the fish and chip shop couldn't be arsed to open...on a FRIDAY NIGHT!  We managed to find a take-away offering a rather odd choice of kebabs and curries (served in pizza boxes for added novelty) and purchased some food which made up for in calories what it lacked in food-hygiene standards.   I recall a meeting where a few of my co-riders and I met to kick around ideas for a group ride.  We considered all sort of destinations....mostly in those parts of Europe where the weather isn't consistently shite.  I'm ashamed to say that I think it was I that th
Read more

Julia's Song

By -
Image
As some readers will know, Plum is no longer Chard's most eligible bachelor.  The lovely Julia has taken on the job that Social Services would otherwise have to do....making sure he changes his pants once a week whether they need it or not and loading routes onto his Garmin.  We are all very grateful to Julia, especially Chards most eligible bachelorettes who can get back on the dating scene now Plum is safely off the market. As we were starting our trip Julia fell, dislocated her foot and broke her Tibia so she is probably missing Plum more than usual. She has insisted that the show should go on so thanks for being such a trooper. Today was another with a shortcut that promised to turn a very hard day into something more manageable.  Some of our group took the high road and others took the low but I had a more cunning idea.....get in the van.  Whatever is ailing me, long covid or acute spinelessness, reached the point where pushing the pedals just w
Read more