We had a late afternoon flight to Tullamarine and stayed overnight in the nearby Formula 1 Motel.  We left early the next morning and rode to Sunshine railway station along Route 2 of Tullamarine to City and Suburbs.  From there we caught the morning train to Ballarat.  After buying supplies at the local supermarket and pitching camp at the well appointed Ballarat Goldfields Holiday Park - 300m NE of Sovereign Hill, we spent the afternoon wandering around Sovereign Hill - a tourist park built to represent Ballarat during the period of the goldrush during the 1800's.

The first real day of the tour is relatively short to allow for some settling in and visiting some of the historical areas along the way.  There are limited supplies along the way.  The pub at Blampied has typical country pub hours, and nothing happens until around lunch time - by which time we were well ensconced at Daylesford.

Daylesford is a reasonably sized town popular for its lakes and spas.  If travelling in a holiday period, it would be wise to book beforehand.  It had all types of accommodation.  If you plan to camp at the Daylesford Victoria Caravan Park - Ballan Rd - 1.7k S of PO, it is wise to do any shopping before you travel to the Park, as it is up a few steep hills.  The park is also on the side of a hill, so a flat bed for the night may be more good luck than good management.

If time permits, a soiree to the spas at Hepburn Springs will ease any aching muscles that may have developed from that first night of sleeping on the ground.  The first major town along the route is Castlemaine.  It is not necessary to go into the town to go to Maldon, but, having been there before, I can say that it was an interesting town with many of its old buildings still standing.

Maldon's history as a mining town is evident around its outskirts.  The walks around the town take you past its historic sites.  For those interested in the days of steam trains, the Victorian Goldfields Railway operates between Maldon and Castlemaine, mainly on Wednesdays and weekends, but check their website for timetables.  Much of Maldon's charm has been that it has been able to retain many of its old buildings.  This has enabled it to be used for movies of the 1800's and early 1900's.

Maldon has a variety of accommodation.  We stayed at Maldon Caravan & Camping Park - Hospital St - 600m NW of PO.

We had an easy ride through to the town of Dunolly, where we visited their bakery for morning tea.  Dunolly is trying to centre itself as a place for cyclists to visit for a short stay in the goldfields.  We found our short sojourn there to be quite pleasant.  On the way through to Inglewood, we had a few kangaroos pacing us in the paddocks beside the road for a few kilometres.

Inglewood is a small town with a couple of pubs, and a motel at the caravan park for accommodation.  We stayed at Inglewood Motel & Caravan Park - 196 Calder Hwy - 1k N of PO after having replenished our supplies at the local supermarket.

The forecast for the day ahead of us was for 40^oC+ so we left at first light to try to avoid as much as possible of the unusual high temperatures .  Unfortunately, in trying to beat the heat to St Arnaud, we did not have time to visit the historic Melville Caves on the way.  These are claimed to be the hideout of the bushranger Captain Melville.

We arrived at St Arnaud before the day's temperature peaked, and we spent the afternoon in one of the local pubs to keep cool.  We camped at the unattended St Arnaud Caravan Park - on the hill at Alma St.  The caretaker arrived later in the day to book us in.  St Arnaud is a larger town and carries most supplies, but there was no bike shop.  The pubs served good meals, and there were a number of other eating houses around the place.

This was generally an unmemorable day with limited supplies available at Navarre.

Avoca is a rural centre with all types of food and accommodation available.  We camped at Avoca Caravan Park - Liebig St - 1.2k W of PO.

After having endured heatwave conditions a few days earlier, we were off into a very cold early morning.  It was the first day of any serious climbing over about 18kms of good gravel to the top of Mt Cole and down to the campsite at Victoria Mill.  It had a stone shelter with fire and tables and chairs, as well as enviro toilets.  Boil the water available from the nearby stream.

It seems to be a popular area for bushwalking, and provides some scenic views of the flatlands around it.

The gravel road continued down the mountain until about Warrak, and we were on the bitumen for a few kilometres before travelling over another batch of gravel to Crowlands.

Stawell has all facilities as a major town in the region and is famous for its Stawell Gift annual footraces.  It was interesting to walk around the town, and visit the Visitor Information Centre.  From there, you will be able to get information about conditions and things to do in the Grampians.  As it is a popular tourist area, it is wise to book if travelling in holiday periods.  The closest caravan park to the town was Stawells Grampian Gate Caravan Park - Burgh St - 400m S of Western Hwy - which was several kilometres out of town.  That being the case, we stayed at one of the many motels nearer the town.  It is wise to buy supplies for a couple of days here, as prices at Halls Gap are top tourist dollar.

This is along some of the roads less travelled, in fact, one was just a track between Lake Londsdale and Ledcourt.  We were on gravel for about half of the day's ride, but it was generally OK.  Between Roses Gap and Halls Gap, there are a number of campsites used by visitors to the area.  They have varying degrees of facilities.  Check with the Parks Victoria on Links to obtain maps of facilities in the area.

Halls Gap is a tourist village with all businesses wanting to put their hand in your pocket.  Prices were high.  There is a supermarket, pub, and other varieties of accommodation.  We camped at Halls Gap Caravan Park - Dunkeld Rd - 100m S of PO.  As this is a very popular tourist area, it is best to book if travelling on weekends or holiday periods.

At the time that we were there, the locals were still recovering from the fires that had almost destroyed to village, and many of the attractions were unavailable or off limits.  However, it was returning to normal.

We rode towards Dunkeld flanked by blackened trees and scorched hillsides.  Even though it was not up to its usual green panorama, the backdrop of the ranges was still grand.  The narrow roads, although there was some traffic, did not create any situations of concern.  There were numerous campsites along the way, and the dam across Lake Bellfield had plenty of spare capacity.

Dunkeld is a small town with a couple of general stores, eating places, pub and caravan park.  We stayed at the council operated caravan park on the way into the town.

This country was mainly sheep grazing.  We passed a number of shearing sheds where the clip was in progress.  Penshurst is a larger town and food and drink is readily available.

Macarthur is another larger town, but there is no camping area.  We were fortunate enough to have been directed to the caretaker of the local football club.  He was kind enough to open their shower and toilets and turn on the hot water for us at their oval on the southern side of town.

It was a long slog into a headwind to Port Fairy.  We stayed there for a few hours and had a look around, particularly along the wharf area.  This is also a popular tourist area.  From there we deviated to have a look at the extinct volcanic crater at Koroit.  It has a number of lookouts placed strategically around its rim.

Warrnambool is a large city with all of the expected attractions and distractions.  We chose to camp at Warrnambool Surfside Holiday Park - Pertobe Rd - 900m S of PO.  The off-road cycleway alongside the beach was worth using.  The Visitor Information Centre has quite a bit on display about the shipwreck coast to the east, and is worth a visit.

We set out along the gravel back roads to the roadhouse at Nullawarre.  Peterborough was a larger village and had a couple of general stores as well as the obligatory pub.  It was between Peterborough and Port Campbell where the sandstone pillars off the coastline began to appear.  The fallen London Bridge was probably one of the most widely known.

Port Campbell is a popular tourist town, with prices to match.  It has eateries, all types of accommodation and a nice beach.  We camped at Port Campbell Caravan Park - Morris St - 100m N of PO where bookings are strongly recommended at holiday times.

After having wandered along the cliff tops viewing the Twelve Apostles from different vantage points we ambled along to the village of Princetown.  It is necessary to go off the road to take advantage of the great views afforded from the coffee shop on the top of the hill.  We chose to take the gravel Old Great Ocean Road from Princetown to Lower Gellibrand alongside the Gellibrand River.  It comes off the GOR at the same point as the road to the coffee shop.  It was about 12 kms of good gravel, but if it has rained, it would be wise to check with the locals at Princetown to determine whether it is flooded or not.  It saved an unnecessary climb and then descent to Lower Gellibrand.  The gravel road crosses the GOR where the GOR bridges Gellibrand River, so this is the start of the day's climb - about 19 kms from Lavers Hill.

This is a hard day's climbing from Lower Gellibrand to the top of Lavers Hill.  I found it to be about 18 kms of mostly bottom gear climbing before being able to use other cogs.  The road is windy and narrow, but we found the moderate traffic to be considerate.  It passes through a variety of bushland settings and is quite pretty.  It would probably be more so in spring.

Lavers Hill is a village with all types of accommodation available and a general store with a limited range of supplies.  We stayed at the motel/caravan park/roadhouse on the right hand side of the road on the way up the hill about a kilometre or so before the T junction turning down the hill towards Apollo Bay.

Some people ride on to Apollo Bay, but I think that this would be a tough ride for one day.

Having enjoyed the descent from Lavers Hill, look for the Old Great Ocean Road turn to the left after about 10 kms.  It saves another unnecessary climb and descent.  It was a good gravel road passing through a lovely canopy of trees with occasional vistas of open farmland.  We saw deer and other wildlife along this road.  After about 5 kms it rejoins the GOR at the locality of Glenaire.

From Apollo Bay eastwards, there are regular food supplies, however, it would be wise to collect major supplies from there to take you through to Lorne or Anglesea.  The traffic also takes a change for the worse.  We travelled this section of road on a weekend - don't do it if you can avoid it.  Grey nomads in their mobile homes; or 4WD's towing oversized caravans abound; along with motorbike riders tearing around corners; and other motorists whose minds are on the view rather than the road ahead.

Kennett River is a small settlement with a general store having limited supplies and the Kennett River Caravan Park opposite the beach.  If my memory serves me correctly, it was also a koala habitat.

As the road wound its way towards Melbourne, the traffic became heavier.  The views from the road as you wind around the faces of the headlands are spectacular, particularly looking back at the road itself snaking around the coastline.

Lorne and Aireys Inlet are larger and have the usual facilities of a town their size.  They are also tourist towns, so prices are fixed accordingly, and accommodation will be at a premium during holiday periods.

We stayed at Anglesea Family Holiday Park - Cameron Rd - 800m SE of PO on the bank of the river and adjoining the beach.  It was a popular well appointed park with a camp kitchen/dining room/entertainment area and it was convenient to the shopping centre.

This day was an easy day's riding, but it did need some navigation to get out of Torquay the way that we had chosen.  The world renowned Bells Beach and Jan Juc are side trips that could be made before reaching Torquay.

From Barwon Heads it was mostly riding through suburbia.  We found Queenscliff to be a good lunch stop while we waited for the next ferry.  The ferries from Queenscliff to Sorrento leave every hour.  Check their details on Links.  The trip across the mouth of Port Phillip Bay was good and reasonably priced.

From Sorrento to Rosebud, we were on a busy main road, which generally had a reasonable shoulder.  There were also sections of off road cycleways that we were able to use.  We eventually made camp at the park along the Bay foreshore at Rosebud after squaring fees up with the nearby Ranger.  This is a popular place during long weekends and holiday periods, so be prepared.

We found the ride through to Mornington along the coast to be varied, interesting and scenic.  There were some sections of the route that we used cycleways, but usually it was on road.  After about 11 kms at the northern end of Dromana Bay we had to take a lift down to pass under the canal for boat access to the substantial marina developments.

The road from Frankston to Cranbourne was a mix of reasonable shoulder to nothing at all, with maniacs in all types of vehicles travelling at 80+ kph trying to go as close to us as possible.  Cranbourne was a welcome stop to sooth jaded nerves and have lunch.

It would be wise to purchase provisions at Cranbourne, unless you intend to ride through Beaconsfield.  We camped at the Blue Gum Residential Park on Brunt Road, which was about 2 kms from the town.  We were able to phone and get pizza's delivered, which we ate in the camp kitchen.

The first 7 kms to Pakenham were horrendous.  We had to ride in the gravel at the side of the road for our own safety.  Everyone travels fast and shares the road with no-one!  From there for about another 10 kms to the Gembrook turn, there seemed to be numerous gravel trucks on the secondary road.  I don't recall any problems with them, but they were present.  The rest of the ride to Cockatoo was through beautiful bushland.

Cockatoo is a lovely little town on the side of a hill and one of the stations for the tourist Puffing Billy Railway that operates between Belgrave and Gembrook.  Check their website for timetables and days of operation.

At Woori Yallock, ride along the Healesville-Koo Wee Rup Road through the town for about 1.5 kms and there the Lilydale-Warburton Rail Trail crosses the road.  The rail trail is fine white hard packed gravel, that will leave your bike looking ghost-like at the end of your ride if the weather has been fine, and caked in mud if it has been wet.  It is a great ride along the rail trail through farmlands and through some of the towns along the way.  For more information visit the Rail Trails Australia website on the Links page.  The profiles show some saw tooth sections along the rail trail.  These are an aberration due to the heights being used as those of the surrounding area rather than the actual track.  As with all rail trails, the gradient is gentle - probably a maximum of 1:40 - so when I travel this way again, I'll record the actual heights and update this site.

Warburton is a long town, stretched alongside the Yarra River and the hills just to its south.  We stayed at the Warburton Caravan and Camping Park - 30 Woods Point Rd - 1.5 kms E of PO.  The town has a number of pubs, motels and supermarkets, as well as eating houses catering for all tastes.

We were surprised by the number of walkers and horse riders using the track near the towns.  We forced ourselves to have morning tea at Wandin.  The trail comes to an abrupt end at Lilydale.  To get to the railway station, turn left onto the Maroondah Highway and the Lilydale railway station is a little over a kilometre away.  Our overnight stop was at Lilydale due to a family reunion that evening.  It is easily possible to travel home on the same day after finishing the rail trail.

We caught the train to the city and then to Sunshine where we retraced our path from the railway station to Tullamarine.  It would have been a quicker and more interesting trip to have travelled from Spencer St Station to Tullamarine, but it requires a bit more navigation.  Visit Metlink or Skybus for train and bus times on the Links page.  As we had a very early morning flight to Newcastle, we stayed overnight at the Formula 1 Motel near the airport.  This enabled us to get bike boxes early to pack them at the airport and then check in.  It is wise to check the availability of bike boxes on the day before you're due to fly out, otherwise you might miss out on your flight, as bikes must be boxed before they are allowed on the plane.