Travelling east away from the heatwave, it was quite remarkable to arrive in Bairnsdale and be greeted by a cool 22 degrees. A fairly stiff headwind in the direction I was to ride also aided in the cooling effect. Back in Melbourne, it was already 39 by this time so I had lucked into some good planning.
A basic history on the line exists on this site on the Gippsland Line Page.
I was still a bit sore from the Beechworth ride of a couple of days previously so the ride started off pretty cruisey. The first 9 km to Nicholson is sealed, but to a not very high standard. It could be said that the scenery lacks interest through here, but it might be different during wetter or cooler months should the agricultural land take on a more greenish appearance. After Nicholson, the country side gradually improves, and once past Bruthen, you are getting into some impressive tall timber regions. There is a good climb out from Bruthen to Colquhoun, but I had learned my lesson climbing up to Beechworth and dropped the font ring into granny and just easily spun up the hill. At the very top of the hill I repaired my fourth and final flat (was going to stop there anyway) then enjoyed the mostly downhill ride into Nowa Nowa. Mostly – because about 5 k out from Nowa is large bypassed trestle bridge with very steep approaches and departures from the rail formation to cross the valley. Made for impressive video and photography, but did my legs no favours climbing out.
Arrived in Nowa Nowa with the temperature barely exceeding 30 degrees (was still over 40 back in Melbourne) and rode down to the pub where I was staying, to book in and sample a couple of post ride beers – beer always tastes even better after a long ride!
In Nowa I was pleased with my decision to forego the remainder of the trail to Orbost. On the following day, this part of the state was due to receive the heatwave that was affecting Melbourne, and was to be followed by a blustery cool change featuring strong contrary winds for my return towards the west. A total fireban was also declared for the following day in my region, and a bad fire had broken out in Heyfield – plenty far enough away from where I was but illustrated what can happen in those parts fairly quickly.
I departed Nowa at around 0630 the following morning, and had a nice tail wind push me over the Colquhoun hill, followed by a roll down the hill to Bruthen for Breakfast. Although early, the sun had a real bit to it, so I was glad I was on the road early. The final 30 km to Bairnsdale was reached fairly easily and I was a good couple of hours early for my train back to Melbourne. Then I noticed a sign at the station informing me of that which I was dreading most – the service was to be bustituted. VLine staff were unsure whether the following service to Melbourne was running or not. Reasons for the cancellation of the down service which was to form my train were unclear, but there was speculation that it was due to the Heyfield fires. Anyway, problem was that bikes are not conveyed on replacement bus services and an unexpected night trapped in Bairnsdale was shaping up as a possibility. However a chat with the VLine staff, and the bus driver secured a space in the luggage bay for a partially stripped down bike. A big thanks here to the Dysons crew for using sensible discretion. As the replacement bus ran directly to Southern Cross, we arrived about 45 minutes ahead of when train would have arrived.
That ride completed this series of rail train trips during this break. The remainder of the time was spent exploring Melbourne’s cycle infrastructure, and taking in some local culture. I was left with a few loose ends to mop up on future visits however, and these include the Nowa Nowa – Orbost section, Cathkin to Mansfield, and from other trips, Linton to Skipton, Darlimurla to Boolarra, as well as dozens of others yet to be started.
In the video below, I have included a few road crossings that show what I think are poorly designed crossing safety barriers. I believe they would be difficult to navigate on something like a trike recumbent, or even a fully set up touring bike.
