Stage 84: Victoria

Cowes to  Inverloch
Date: 12-08-2014 Time: 03:37 h Σ Time: 468:31 h
Distance: 56 km
(66 km)
Σ km: 9919 km Temp: 10/18°C
Up: 424 m Σ Up: 83538 m Down: 424 m
Calories: 1317 kcal Σ kcal: 212033 kcal  
Conditions: A wet start but sunny afternoon on this short cycling day.

Just 57 km on the board to ride today. Lydia, Eric and I added 9 extra kilometers to ride though the Koala Reserve on Phillip Island. It continued to rain during the night, so back to rain coats and wind breaker jackets, with the hope of improvements in the afternoon. We made it quickly to the park and rode the trails, scanning the trees for the cute little bears. Wallabies, rabbits and some kangaroos looked quite puzzled at us, riding in our fancy outfit through their territory.  I detected 1 sleeping koala in a tree, but not more. Unfortunately the conservatory opens only at 10am, more than 2 hours later, so we couldn’t go into the sanctuary, where we would have seen more and much closer. At least 1 in the wild, more than Eric had seen since Adelaide. Back to the main route we stayed the first 40 km together. I decided to take an alternate route on a sandy hiking trail, away from the busy main road. An extended breakfast stop in town delayed my arrival to camp by another hour. However the sun was already breaking through the clouds and heated the air. So I could dry my tent, and all clothes, including the sleeping bag and liner. What a great feeling, after the last few days in moist! After updating the blog I ‘ll suck in some sun, before I work on selecting some more photos to publish later.

Tomorrow we will cross the 10000 kilometer mark, with 9 cycling days left to Sydney.

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