Day oneTravelling from interstate I hit the road a day earlier than everyone else. As usual I left in the dark and it was still pitch black when I refuelled in Lameroo, but light by the time I got to Pinnaroo. I would turn off the Mallee Highway at Walpeup and make my way to Patchewollock for the third time, the second time this year, and the first time on the Goldwing.
The only reason I dropped into Patchewollock was to ride the road from there through Speed and on to Sea Lake. I'd never been there before. I missed the turn off for Lake Tyrrell and couldn't be bothered turning around. In hindsight it was abit of a waste, because it was good drone weather. I didn't expect to see blue skies at all on this trip, but still brought the drone with me. Alas, I didn't use it. I did stop at the Silo Art in Sea Lake.
I saw this rusty truck at Karyrie from the other side and stopped for a picture, not knowing there was an anti powerline posted on the back. I'm not sure why they are whingeing about it.
In Birchip I got my first big thing for the trip - the big Mallee Bull. I put another photo of it in the STs in front of big things thread.
Earlier in the day I twigged that I left my reading glasses in the Kwaka so stopped at the local IGA in Donald and bought a couple of pairs. The following day I left one at my temporary office in Ararat and the other I put in the wing to take to lunch at Sebastopol. Do you think I could find them when I arrived? No. I went through every pocket and bag with no luck. Fortunately the menu was a huge font. The bizarre thing was as we finished and I packed up the wing to head back to my motel they were suddenly there. I think they got hidden in my Ozstoc cap. Either that or I need glasses!
I arrived at my digs for the next two nights in Ararat copping only a smidgeon of drizzle. The room was huge with more power points than you can poke a stick at. I counted twenty all up. Not only that but there were in reasonable places. I was surprised to return the next day to find they replenished my coffee supply and biscuits etc. Usually what you see on day one is what you get whether you stay one night or four. That was the good.
The bad... heating. The heaters in the room didn't adequately heat it. One side of the electric blanket didn't work. I needed a long hot shower to warm up. The following morning I met the person in the next room and he said what he did with the heater so I tried it that afternoon. An improvement, but far from ideal.
The ugly... just the loose stones in the carpark. It made pushing the bike back a bit tricky so I used the reverse gear. That said, I'd stay there again.
Day twoThe day of the RTE saw me wait until first light before departing. As usual, the ride wasn't going to be a straight line.
Plenty of fog on the Crowlands/Mount Cole Creek border. Google maps tells me I was a stone's throw away from the Ben Nevis railway station but I didn't see it. There was a level crossing here, but whether this line sees trains or not I don't know.
I couldn't make out if the Elmhurst pub operates these days, but there was plenty of weird stuff out the front of it.
In nearby Ampitheatre the fog gave way and it was quite sunny.
Avoca was even better. I think I recall seeing an RTE at the pub here posted on the forum last year or the year before. This may or may not be the same pub. I think I saw a couple of pubs here.
I don't thin the general store in Maryborough is in business any more. It's quite a big town and might be worth staying a night here next time I'm out this way.
I stopped at the railway station in Talbot and saw both the old and new platforms. The latter does see trains. This is the old railway building.
The Miners Rest tavern looks like it is still in business and couple be a suggestion for an RTE in 2025 or 2026.
From there I rode to the Royal Mail in Sebastopol, venue for sunday's RTE. Despite what the glass says this is Guinness. As per Micheal's request we got a table near the fire place, but him rocking up late meant he didn't get the seat next to it.
After lunch the ride back was also a bit roundabout although my only stop was at the platypus park in Skipton. I didn't see any platypuses (playpi) though except the the bronze statues on the sign.
Day threeI set off for home in the dark, but not straight down the Western Highway. I'd head out to Hamilton before taking a similar course home I did from the Birregurra RTE.
At Stavely I was feeling the cold and flicked the display to show the outside temperature. Minus one is not as low as the -6°C I had on the 2019 border run but the lowest I've seen on the wing. That said, the temperature doesn't display on this bike unless you manually push it and it shows for a few seconds before disappearing.
Got really close to a kangaroo in Coleraine, but fortunately it was a bronze statue. Coleraine is full of these statues of animals (roos, koalas, pigs, monkeys dog etc.). I'd noticed them on the way to Hamilton for the Birregurra RTE in february but didn't stop.
Like that trip I went home through Edenhope. That time the route either side was Harrow and Frances, this time via Wando Vale and Apsley. I don't know if it's in use but did stop at the Wando Vale primary school.
Chetwynd was a collection of houses and a telephone exchange but not much else.
I'd cross into South Australia at Laurie Park just east of Naracoorte. Even though I've done four Victorian trips this year I still have two more planned for the Snake Valley and Portland RTEs.
GPS logger tracking for the trip. The stats page tells me I did 684 kilometres on day one, 172 and 123 to and from Sebastopol, and 626 to get home, for a total of 1607·9km for the whole trip.
