Hey everyone, well today didn’t dissapoint….AGAIN…we had a day off and decided to do some sightseeing. We slept in, rode 150 meters to coffee and then went bloody sightseeing like two happy kids on bikes hooning around doing stupid shit ALL DAY…..It was the BEST. I’ll let the video speak for itself but … waterfalls, wicked river trails, hooning onto the boulevard for lunch, dives off the boardwalk, shopping, great food, great droning and just burning around the town enjoying the day off.
Tomorrow will be heading 80-90 km’s SOMEWHERE – we will head to catch the ferry to Sorento I think and see how far we wish to cycle. Let the day just unfold as it does but just CYCLE towards Melbourn’ish’ and stay in a random town and work out the day as it happens. How bloody good is that.
Today’s best Random conversation was Ben the Photographer – that’s your name now Ben…cheers for the refreshing worldly yarn and follow – you’re a good bloke. If you want to see his pics go so http://benjaminb.com.au/ they are pretty cool. Stay in touch if you’re ever down my way mate.
Thanks for tuning in today and watching the video. I’m really enjoying all your messages and comments so much.
I hope your day has either started or ended well as you read this. Today was a great example of having plans and then it just changes. THAT’S TOURING! -you never know what the day will bring or what country you feel like you’re cycling in…..or something amazing or terrible for that fact. Something is always around the corner to either test your endurance/mindset OR reward you – both are just as good as each other.
We set off from Winchelsea and decided to have a relaxed kinda day and woke up late. Alex was pakced up and good to go before me (as usual) so he went off to the amazing coffee place we found yesterday and picked us both up some liquid gold … loved it! Life was good. We are sooooo close to Melbourne and know that we will make it soon which is a great feeling so instead of getting back on that random dirt road we decided to be tourists for the next few days. Tourists on the bikes around Geelong and then head off PAST Melbourne for a couple days and see what little towns will suprise us like they have and then head back into Melbourne for the ‘official arrival’ LOL. Its good to be ahead of schedule and be able to plan more adventures! I think we are close to having a few more days of time than we expected. We allowed for a few days with injuries / technical problems so look at us winning! PS look at Alex go on his first tour!
Soooo anyway we head off and took all back roads towards Geelong and it was pretty quiet but not as amazing scenery as we’ve been used to/spoiled by hahahaha but we were talking smack the WHOLE WAY for hours we didn’t even notice. The shit get’s so Random that even i’m not understanding what we are saying but I’m still laughing. When Alex gets back home, I don’t know how he will acclimatise to not only getting back into life and not seeing 50 AMAZING different things each day and achieving new goals and new bests and highest climbs and longest distance and wonderful scenery, how the HELL is he going to not swear so much at everything and how is he going to reduce that ‘touring potty mouth’ that I think every town has heard along the way. Some of the things we have been shouting into what we thought was an un populated forrest (just to hear the echo) i’m sure someone has been listening hahahaah. We do unpack real things too ya know but that’s boring isn’t it 🙂 who wants to hear about what we really think about life right – I just like talking smack so deal with it 🙂
Although we have had rain most days it hasn’t been that bad that we don’t dry and it hasn’t pured down really but all in all it’s almost been shirt and shorts kind of day every day – It has made this journey even more fun then it should hahaha.
Ok so smack we were talking when Alex mentioned ‘Hey Adrian why don’t you drone the shit out of that abandoned factory’ (it did look amazing and I was picturing going through windows and machinery) when all of a sudden we heard this weird noise………
It was a Little Cute Joey. He looked a little injured and wanting help. How did he look like he wanted help you say. Well he didn’t actually say ‘help’ however, he was making these uncomfortable ‘where’s mum’ noises. Our hearts just sank. There were fences on either side for a LONG WAY and it was a very industrial area. My first thought was pick him up and release him over the fence to do what nature does best and ‘select the strongest’ – legit my first though i’d be honest however, there was nowhere for him to hop away as we were close to town and it was all industrial so Alex put his brain into action and we googled the closest vet and had a strategy. The strategy was……Capture this little mate (who looked in shock), take my little collapsable bag that would be amazingly just like a pouch lol, wack him in there as it’s on the front of my body, He will love it, then off we go to the closest vet in the hope that they help him’. So that was the plan. I don’t know how to rescue a joey hahaha never had to do it before sooooo the action plan was INITIATED.
Alex walked towards ‘Neil’ (his new name) to corral him to us and also to keep him from jumping to the road, he then hopped straight to me and into my arms. His little Joey arms were literally opening up to jump up to me. He drank a small amount of water but he was clawing at me to get into my shirt so Alex unpacked my bag, wacked it on me and holy shit, he popped in (with only a tad amount of encouragement). After that little push he totally just went into his happy place and rolled around in there, went upsidown and all pretzely with his feet in the air and made some cute slop slop noises and went STRAIGHT TO SLEEP. This made my heart melt to be honest because I knew we were doing something great for this little man….He must’ve been so exhausted. I could only cycle with no hands or 1-2 fingers as the bag wouldn’t go high enough so my legs were banging on him. He wasn’t phased though as I think he is used to being bumped around in his other home that will no longer be 😦 After only a few meters of cycling we saw mummy on the ground and was probably hit by some kind of vehicle so this made me feel a little better and why do you ask? well because I had a thought that we were taking a Joey out of it’s natural environment but this wasn’t the case after I gave it some thought. An industrial are with nowhere to go and the confirmation that mummy was no longer around so we pedalled on with a solid agenda.
Only once did he wake up, stick his head out, boop me in the nose, went straight back to sleep. I couldn’t cope with the cuteness hahahahaha
So Alex found a vet, ushered the way like a beast, yelled out instructions like the leader legend he is and after 30 minutes we made our way to the vet. Alicia at the Bellarine Vet was THE BEST. welcoming, explained everything in detail and let us know what the life of Neil will look like in the future and here it is…….
Neil will be taken to the Wildlife rescue and will be looked after until he grows old enough to be released…..
So Alex and I were chuffed and the emotional journey wasnt lost on either of us. We both said to each other in different ways ‘well, another day, another amazing adventure….will just one day be shit…….NO’ hahahahahah it hasn’t yet hahaha We then just walked our bikes to this lovely little coffee caravan around the corner and sat down to enjoy an amazing 9/10 coffee in Bellarine called ‘Interlude’ LOVELY COFFEE. My little animal loving side of me can rest tongiht – the world is just that little more balanced.
UPDATE ON NEIL – So Alicia called me some time after we dropped Niel off, as we were walking on the Pier with some good news…….She called and said ‘Hi Adrian I just wanted to give you an update on little Neil’ hahahah that alone was cool hehehe ‘Little Neil’ hahahahaha
They xrayed his foot and it was broken but he is in good spirits and eating and will have surgery soon. How cool is that. What a great story
So onwards and upwards we went to Geelong and the rest is BORING bwahahahahaha well, we got into our motel…….went for a walk, done some shopping for little things, ate some shit, walked some more and took some droney drone hahah see I told ya – zzzzzzzzzzz
We are having a day of touring around Geelong unloaded tomorrow and sightseeing some waterfalls and other places so I hope to get my drone out tomorrow – thanks for reading once again and sharing my stories with me – it means a lot. All your comments and messages spur me on that much more. I can’t wait to share more of Oz with you and i’m excited to see so much more. Who knows, maybe I might youtube some tutorials on videos for once hahaha it’s all been suck and see so far. I’m pumped to see what the north and west will uncover too……Goodnight all
Total Distance – 1,070 km’s yewww we hit the 1k mark
Yesterday we clocked over 1,500 mtrs of climbing (Bascially Norton Summit in Adelaide, 5 Times, Loaded, offroad and after 900km’s of touring) plus 6 hours in the saddle that day – good effort Redlegs.
Total k’s – 1010 KM’s WOOT WOOT – we made the Tonne
Well it’s been a knarly few days. We/ve been out of cell coverage for a few days now and i’ts been kind of nice actually. Just kicking it in nature (with my laptop haha) and winding up and down this awesome Ottway’s Forest. It really is hard work AND AWESOME. We left our GLAMPING site and were greeted with dirt roads and beutiful countryside straight away and then the hills started……..fuck. We had to stock up on about 8 litres of water each (and 1 litre of wine in a collapsable bottle – NECESSARY) and boy did we feel it. Climbing on dirt roads is hard because you lose traction and speed with every bump so ascending is more difficult than the road obviously however we still smashed the day though. The last two days felt like we were riding through the jungle in the movie ‘Predator’ and Arnie sayings were yelled out FREQUENTLY……’if it bleeds, we can kill it’ – ‘Dylonnnnnnnnnn’ – ‘agggghhhhhhh’ (in arnie voice’). Not only that, it felt also a tad like walking dead! For 50-60 km’s it felt like we were riding through abandoned farms, abanded vehicles and overgrown everything. It was eery, beautiful and very interesting. I would urge if anyone is in this area, Go check out the Ottways – it’s a great alternative to see not only the 12 Apostles but the countryside here. Weaving in and out of the towns and still seeing all the sites IT’S AWESOME. I come to my own out here. I’m in my happy place hitting the dirt trails and wondering what’s around the corner and just smiling all day feeling like i’m in a different world multiple times a day. Australia by bicycle is 100% the best way to see things. Especially if you want to see things you’ll never ever see. There’s no way we would’ve seen all these things by car and there’s salways a suprise around the corner…….to talk shit about for the rest of the day hahaha.
Yes the alternative route is way harder but so much more rewarding. Those steep climbs of the last two days were nuts and I could see Alex (who is new to offroad touring or touring in general for that fact) had his game face on and for the first time on this tour and was in ‘his endurance mindset’. It wasn’t all laughs and games especially yesterday with HUGE climbs however, he wasn’t giving up. Yesterday involved a 13km 4-15% climb to Lavers Hill and today had about 17 climbs so says my garmin. A few of them on 4wd tracks only that were closed and were complete sludge. We were pushing, groaning, laughing less and both had game faces on. I’ve noticed a lot of ‘dad noises’ on this tour. Groaning getting out of the tent, pushing the bike, getting on the bike….need I go on….we’ve created so many new dad noises it’s getting rediculous to the point that they are screamed into the forrest 🙂
At Lavers Hill just past the Apostles, we talked to a young Dutch lady (apologies if you’re reading this but I forgot your name) and she came to Oz, grabbed a bike and some gear and just took off on her own never having done this before – we had a good chat for half an hour and went our different ways. I always admire when people do this on their own – There’s so many unknowns so it takes some courage to get out there – you go girl! We hope you have had such a geat time on the road.
Last nights camp was pretty epic. After a hard day we had grass to pitch our tent on and a beach just down the road (you’ll see in the vid with the beaches). BOY that beach was breathtaking. The power of those rips and the waves coming in were on another level. Of course we had to get in for a swim but those rips were CRAZY. I tried to body surf and failed drastically as Alex laughed at me getting smashed under the water but he can laugh, at least I gave it a crack whilst you were wading in the KIDDIES POOL hahahahaah.
Everytime I bent down to put my tent up later tht night, seawater dripped out my nose hahahaha. It was so fun and good for the joints as well. Sunset was spectacular as we looked at each other and just laughed how awesome this trip has been and AGAIN, it delivered. As we watched the sunset about 6 people gathered around us and all wanted to know everything we were doing so Alex and I had two separate conversations going. It’s always so refreshing to have convos with travellers. You get to a different level when you’re on the road, and quickly. A lot of the wild campsites have like minded adventurers and their stories are always interesting. The wine that night was a little bit of well earned pleasure and every drop was savoured after that ride lol.
We woke up at 6 and packed up and away we went for another day of offroad fun and hills. Well more hills than fun can I say. Relentless today. It was 1,500 meters of climbing and boy were those climbs steep. Not so steep if you’re unloaded but those 4wd tracks were nuts. Alex did so well being his first offroad adventure. I felt like I came into my own today. I felt some power come into my legs and smashed it all day. Not being on the flats all day is where it’s at for me. I felt like I finally got my touring legs today and i’m ready for what else is to come. I had endless power and I was kicking myself because it’s been a while since I felt that way. I’m past the sore ass, cramps, sore knees etc…
So today was a double Tonne – over 1500 meters climbing and we hit over 1,000 km’s travelled today – great milestone….for me – only 19,000 to go (gulp)
This morning it was lovely to see some wild deers bounding across our path. I am not good enough (or too tired at the end of the day after making a video as well) to describe all the things we see. I feel like i’ve only touched on 40% (exactly 40%) of what we’ve experienced and I can’t explain myself well enough so I hope the videos do it justice.
Something I thought about today – Australia is really rough on your gear. When you’re outside most of the time, things scratch, drop, break, pierce so easily. The sun smashes down on your shirt and gear….the dust rubs marks on your bike, things are dirty easily and there’s just so many things to ‘care for’ along the way to make them last it’s nuts – Australia is a harsh mistress sometimes 🙂
After a hard slog today, The campsite tonight is pretty sweet. Huge trees, quiet surroundings, got a campfire going and we cooked pasta with an amazing home made sauce and a glass of red mmmmmmmm good rewards. I’m sitting in this pristine forrest on my laptop which feels weird so I will log off and go enjoy the sounds around me and the warmth of the fire with a mate…..a good mate (wink)……….
Sorry this post is a bit disjointed…..it’s been long days with no service and it’s hard to piece together a few days when you’re buggered hahahaha. Enjoy the video anyway – it’s a combination of the last few days.
If you’ve seen me along the way and are just reading my blog, gimme a shout out via my ‘contact page’ and let me know where you are and what you’re doing.
All in all peeps, Alex and I are ahead of schedule and tomorrow we will finish the Ottways tour and then see what other adventure we can have before we hit Melbourne so stay tuned. Before I left Adelaide one of my main concerns was if Alex would have a great time and would we be on the highway too much and be bored. The opposite has actually happened. We have had an amazing adventure and every day has been 15 aventures in one so that makes me happy that he will have good memories from this because I know I will.We are now sitting in a town called Winchelsea and have half a day to work out what the hell we are going to do now. What other type of adventure do we want? STAY TUNED.
Have a great night/day everyone…whether you’re reading this with your morning coffee or a cup of tea at night 🙂 Redman OUT
Vanderpants Oz Tour 