Dry weather road only

Despite the advertised Goulburn River access, we didn’t see the river as we left through the farm gates.  Our route was along a dry weather road only, and given the deep ruts, we were pleased that there had been no rain for sometime as the road would have been impassable on bikes.  

The frequent ruts meant we had to keep a close eye on the road, however, the riding was pleasant and the surface was surprisingly easy to navigate. The road was tree-lined, occasionally running alongside the river and past open farmland.  We continued to meander in and out of the Lower Goulburn National Park and found a nice spot for morning tea, with all the essentials – shade, a comfortable log and river views.

Simon was making coffee when two other riders stopped – the first bikepackers had seen on our our travels.  They joined us for a cuppa and boiled up some water.  Having started in Swan Hill, they were en route to Seymour when they discovered that coaches had replaced trains to Melbourne.  Concerned that they would not be able to get their bikes on the replacement buses, they were now cycling to Rushworth and onto Bendigo.  They had a lot of kilometres ahead and we were relieved we had done our train leg first to avoid encountering the same problem.  

They seemed a little surprised when I commented on how good the track had been so far, as it wasn’t their experience.  They also advised that they had ignored the road closed sign further along the route without any mishap.

Back on the bikes, we soon discovered that the rest of our ride was going to be tough.  The gravel roads were more exposed and surprisingly busy. Vehicles would pass at speed resulting in an inescapable wall of billowing dust.  The heavy corrugations made for slow riding and we no longer had river views.

We pulled into the National Park for lunch, finding the requisite log and shade, but the flies were bad so we didn’t linger.  Finally we reached a sealed road which was a massive improvement, despite the Rough Surface sign.  We ignored the road closed sign without incident and were soon approaching Echuca.  

We were hot and dusty and very relieved to check into our Airbnb for a shower and a cup of tea before hopping back on the bikes to cycle three kilometres for dinner at Opa, a nice Greek restaurant.

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