The Great Ocean Road

In article <[email hidden]>,

AnyDave said:

Day 2 Port Campbell - Apollo Bay; 101 km Av 14.6

=======================================

Very pleasant morning along the cliffs passed Loch Ard Gorge, 12 Apostles
and London Bridge. Long climb in the afternoon over Lavers Hill and then
again up through the Otway National Park. Nearly 1000 metres up altogether,
but fun coming down. Camped at Apollo bay by 5 pm. (A bit wearying for unfit
58 yr old)

Oh - the memories of that section: torretial rain, howling winds, on
the back of Dave's Kat. Nowhere to stay (we ended up going inland to a
very godforsken place that I have managed to expunge the name of from
memory - for anyone from the UK it was a bit like Slough, but worse).

Very, very, very rainy. Cold. Scary. But good memories nonetheless.

--
Sara

I'm smaller than people think

Sara Kirk said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

AnyDave said:

Day 2 Port Campbell - Apollo Bay; 101 km Av 14.6

=======================================

Very pleasant morning along the cliffs passed Loch Ard Gorge, 12 Apostles
and London Bridge. Long climb in the afternoon over Lavers Hill and then
again up through the Otway National Park. Nearly 1000 metres up altogether,
but fun coming down. Camped at Apollo bay by 5 pm. (A bit wearying for unfit
58 yr old)

Oh - the memories of that section: torretial rain, howling winds, on
the back of Dave's Kat. Nowhere to stay (we ended up going inland to a
very godforsken place that I have managed to expunge the name of from
memory - for anyone from the UK it was a bit like Slough, but worse).

Very, very, very rainy. Cold. Scary. But good memories nonetheless.

Yeah I remember. And their was an axe murder at whatever that place was
that night from memory. 🙂

Fun

"Sara Kirk" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

AnyDave said:

Day 2 Port Campbell - Apollo Bay; 101 km Av 14.6

=======================================

Very pleasant morning along the cliffs passed Loch Ard Gorge, 12 Apostles
and London Bridge. Long climb in the afternoon over Lavers Hill and then
again up through the Otway National Park. Nearly 1000 metres up
altogether,
but fun coming down. Camped at Apollo bay by 5 pm. (A bit wearying for
unfit
58 yr old)

Oh - the memories of that section: torretial rain, howling winds, on
the back of Dave's Kat. Nowhere to stay (we ended up going inland to a
very godforsken place that I have managed to expunge the name of from
memory - for anyone from the UK it was a bit like Slough, but worse).

Beech Forest? Gellibrand? Or maybe even Colac?

Quoted message said:

Very, very, very rainy. Cold. Scary. But good memories nonetheless.

Sounds more like Beech Forest then. The pub is a bit of a classic - small,
very country style and rough around the edges. But they're down to earth
people there.
--
Cheers
Peter

~~~ ~ _@
~~ ~ _- \,
~~ (*)/ (*)

Peter Signorini said:

"Sara Kirk" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

AnyDave said:

Day 2 Port Campbell - Apollo Bay; 101 km Av 14.6

=======================================

Very pleasant morning along the cliffs passed Loch Ard Gorge, 12 Apostles
and London Bridge. Long climb in the afternoon over Lavers Hill and then
again up through the Otway National Park. Nearly 1000 metres up
altogether,
but fun coming down. Camped at Apollo bay by 5 pm. (A bit wearying for
unfit
58 yr old)

Oh - the memories of that section: torretial rain, howling winds, on
the back of Dave's Kat. Nowhere to stay (we ended up going inland to a
very godforsken place that I have managed to expunge the name of from
memory - for anyone from the UK it was a bit like Slough, but worse).

Beech Forest? Gellibrand? Or maybe even Colac?

It was Colac.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Very, very, very rainy. Cold. Scary. But good memories nonetheless.

Sounds more like Beech Forest then. The pub is a bit of a classic - small,
very country style and rough around the edges. But they're down to earth
people there.

Sadly Colac is something of a pit.

Dave

On 17/03/06 at 22:29:57 Peter Signorini somehow managed to type:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Sounds more like Beech Forest then. The pub is a bit of a classic -
small, very country style and rough around the edges. But they're
down to earth people there.

Beech Forest is a great place. I once asked the cop (in the pub) if
it'd be OK to camp in the park at the tourist picnic shelter thingy. He
just said that if I didn't tell anyone, neither would he. He came back
later bearing gifts of goodwill ( beer ) and proceeded to tell me more
about the history of the area than I could possibly soak up in an
evening.

--
Humbug aka VK3ZMF
BE A LOOF! (There has been a recent population explosion of lerts.)

Humbug said:

Beech Forest is a great place. I once asked the cop (in the pub) if
it'd be OK to camp in the park at the tourist picnic shelter thingy. He
just said that if I didn't tell anyone, neither would he.

Oh yes, 'tis still a favourite spot to camp when in Beechy. Glenno took us
there on a trip a year or so back.

Quoted message said:

He came back later bearing gifts of goodwill ( beer ) and proceeded
to tell me more about the history of the area than I could possibly
soak up in an evening.

Do tell more, I'd love to here some of the local goss. The most dazzling
event for Beech Forest recently would be the opening of the Otway Fly
http://www.otwayfly.com/

And the fact that surrounding state forests are now becoming a new expanded
National Park. I here that disgruntled local timber firms have taken out all
the forest road signs to confuse tourists. Cads!

--
Cheers
Peter

~~~ ~ _@
~~ ~ _- \,
~~ (*)/ (*)

On 17/03/06 at 23:42:32 Peter Signorini somehow managed to type:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Oh yes, 'tis still a favourite spot to camp when in Beechy. Glenno
took us there on a trip a year or so back.

See if he can remember a trip that he and I led. He led a mountaing
bike option and I led a road option. Of course it all went wrong with
the mountain bike crew getting well and truly cold, wet and muddy and
not making Beechy. The road option mob just got wet and cold but that
was OK there was a nice fire in the pub to dry out in front of. Just
mention Otways, lost computer and broken rear derailleur and stand
back...:-)

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

He came back later bearing gifts of goodwill ( beer ) and proceeded
to tell me more about the history of the area than I could possibly
soak up in an evening.

Do tell more, I'd love to here some of the local goss. The most

It was a long time ago and either my first or second solo camping trip.
Mostly what he was talking about were the loggers and the building of
the timber tramway. A lot of what told me about is now depicted in the
photos on the wall in the shelter. Those Myrtle Beech trees were BIG as
illustrated by the pic of the 10 (or something like that, I can't
remember) horse stable built into the stump of one of 'em.

My first trip to the Otways was with Action Unlimited in '76 and was
led, I _think_, by either Ruurd S or Tony K. I can remember that it was
bloody wet with the only dry place being Weeaproinah. The trip was from
Colac to Camperdown via Forest, Beech Forest, Lavers Hill, Lower
Gellibrand, Simpson and Cobden. We stayed in the youth hostel at Lavers
Hill which is long gone.

My all time favourite (pretty slack) weekend ride is Winchelsea to
Colac via Deans Marsh, Forest, along Turtons to Beechy overnight,
Charleys Creek, and Gellibrand.

Quoted message said:

dazzling event for Beech Forest recently would be the opening of the
Otway Fly http://www.otwayfly.com/

And the fact that surrounding state forests are now becoming a new
expanded National Park. I here that disgruntled local timber firms
have taken out all the forest road signs to confuse tourists. Cads!

Looks like I'll have to venture down that way again soon, when it gets
cold and wet. Turtons is really special in the rain and fog...:-) I
haven't been down there for near on ten years.

--
Humbug
BE A LOOF! (There has been a recent population explosion of lerts.)

Humbug said:

On 17/03/06 at 23:42:32 Peter Signorini somehow managed to type:

Quoted message said:

See if he can remember a trip that he and I led. He led a mountaing
bike option and I led a road option. Of course it all went wrong with
the mountain bike crew getting well and truly cold, wet and muddy and
not making Beechy. The road option mob just got wet and cold but that
was OK there was a nice fire in the pub to dry out in front of. Just
mention Otways, lost computer and broken rear derailleur and stand
back...:-)

I'll ask him for his tale of it.

<snip>

Quoted message said:

My first trip to the Otways was with Action Unlimited in '76 and was
led, I _think_, by either Ruurd S or Tony K.

Ah, that was a good year, when I first began my cycling as serious
transport. And I well remember Ruurd and Tony. Have you heard from them
recently?

<sip>

Quoted message said:

Looks like I'll have to venture down that way again soon, when it gets
cold and wet. Turtons is really special in the rain and fog...:-) I
haven't been down there for near on ten years.

And you know that Turtons Track is now a fully sealed bitumen road now?
Haven't seen it myself but it sounds like a super-highway compared to what
it was. Bit of a shame really, but the rain, fog and treeferns will still be
there.

--
Cheers
Peter

~~~ ~ _@
~~ ~ _- \,
~~ (*)/ (*)

AnyDave said:

I recently cycled along the Great Ocean Road and would recommend this trip,
although it's probably not suitable for younger riders due to the road and
traffic conditions.

I met a German cycle-tourist wheeling his bike in Town Hall station
(Sydney CBD). I chatted to him about where he'd been. He said the
Great Ocean Road was "terrible" by bicycle, because of the car
traffic.

*shrug* never been there myself.

-kt

--
Kingsley Turner,
(mailto: [email hidden])
http://MadDogsBreakfast.com/ABFAQ - news:aus.bicycle Frequenly Asked Questions

I'm sure it can be challanging on a bad day, I went in March which is
slightly out of season, mid week, and travelled W-E and can only say it was
good for me although I would not take a 12 year old for example.

Some pics (which are mostly well known to Aussies) at
http://tinyurl.com/npaxu

Dave

"Kingsley" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

AnyDave said:

I recently cycled along the Great Ocean Road and would recommend this
trip,
although it's probably not suitable for younger riders due to the road
and
traffic conditions.

I met a German cycle-tourist wheeling his bike in Town Hall station
(Sydney CBD). I chatted to him about where he'd been. He said the
Great Ocean Road was "terrible" by bicycle, because of the car
traffic.

*shrug* never been there myself.

-kt

--
Kingsley Turner,
(mailto: [email hidden])
http://MadDogsBreakfast.com/ABFAQ - news:aus.bicycle Frequenly Asked
Questions

On 18/03/06 at 12:24:05 Peter Signorini somehow managed to type:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Ah, that was a good year, when I first began my cycling as serious
transport. And I well remember Ruurd and Tony. Have you heard from
them recently?

The last I saw of TK was at the 25th bash and I spoke to RS very
briefly three or perhaps four years ago in the ACT. He expressed some
surprise that the MBTC was still going after I mentioned that it's what
became of Action Unlimited. "Is that thing still going" is pretty close
to what he said...:-)

There was also another bloke on the ride with the initials RS who was
showing off his (and Frank Berto's) invention. The "half-step plus
granny". As soon as I could I gave it a try and I've been using it ever
since. The original was 16,19,23,28,34 - 44,40,26 although I now use a
24 tooth granny and it's a six speed with the smallest sprocket being a
13.

<snip>

Quoted message said:

And you know that Turtons Track is now a fully sealed bitumen road

Just shows how long it's been since I've been down that way, I didn't
know they were even thinking about it.

Quoted message said:

now? Haven't seen it myself but it sounds like a super-highway

I don't like the sound of that, there'll probably be cars using it. I
s'pose they've taken those signs down at the ends warning of dodgy road
conditions. Those signs were probably a key factor in keeping traffic
down.

For anyone thinking of doing the GOR - you'll have light traffic if you
make sure you go near the middle of the week around the middle of a
school term.

--
Humbug
BE A LOOF! (There has been a recent population explosion of lerts.)

Kingsley said:

I met a German cycle-tourist wheeling his bike in Town Hall station
(Sydney CBD). I chatted to him about where he'd been. He said the
Great Ocean Road was "terrible" by bicycle, because of the car
traffic.

He was probably cycling Lorne to Geelong on a summer weekend, the worst time
to do this bit. Traffic can be heavy along this section on summer 'beach
days', but now at least there is a sealed shoulder virtually all the way,
and apparently much of the distance the speed limit has been lowered to
80kmh. The Geelong to Torquay section will have fast traffic most weekends
and even carry commuter traffic to Geelong, however you can easily avoid
this by taking alternative roads to Geelong (Forest Rd from Anglesea to Mt
Moriac) or riding to Queenscliff to take the ferry to Sorrento and ride up
the Mornington Peninsular.

Most of the Great Ocean Road has relatively slow moving tourist traffic,
especially Anglesea to Apollo Bay where it is to winding for cars to do more
than 60 kmh most of the time, and everyone is enjoying the scenery. Beyond
Apollo Bay te traffic volume drops off greatly as the road becomes like many
country roads - fairly quiet and scenic.

Quoted message said:

*shrug* never been there myself.

Set aside some time to do it. Summer time E to W is good as long as you
leave Geelong mid-week. Prevailing winds in summer are actually SE so you're
more likely to get tail winds heading W. I found this out in my first GOR
tour in 1979; despite evreyone suggesting we should start from Mt Gambier
because of winds we rode west with tail winds for 7 days, then, while
returning inland, had headwinds riding east. This has been my experience
most of the time ever since, in summer. Spring or winter would be a
different thing entirely, although why you'd choose to ride it at this time
defies me, there's _lots_ of rain down that way then.

--
Cheers
Peter

~~~ ~ _@
~~ ~ _- \,
~~ (*)/ (*)

Humbug said:

On 17/03/06 at 23:42:32 Peter Signorini somehow managed to type:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Oh yes, 'tis still a favourite spot to camp when in Beechy. Glenno
took us there on a trip a year or so back.

See if he can remember a trip that he and I led. He led a mountaing
bike option and I led a road option. Of course it all went wrong with
the mountain bike crew getting well and truly cold, wet and muddy and
not making Beechy. The road option mob just got wet and cold but that
was OK there was a nice fire in the pub to dry out in front of. Just
mention Otways, lost computer and broken rear derailleur and stand
back...:-)

I was on the MTB option of that ride. I do remember some cold wet conditions, getting a leach on my eyelid and camping in a picnic area because we didn't make it to Beech Forest to meet up with everyone else as planned. It bucketed down on us, but we weren't near any creeks for water! There was a big hole there that was filling up and we didn't have much in the way of tarps for collecting the rain.

Still, we survived the night and in the morning found a very nice Devonshire tea place to dry out on the outside and rehyrdate on the inside a bit before the long downhill back to Colac, where I have some vague memories of a long rehydration session in a pub before getting the train home.

The screams when Glenno broke his derailleur and lost his computer still echo around the forests to this day.

Quoted post said:

My first trip to the Otways was with Action Unlimited in '76 and was
led, I _think_, by either Ruurd S or Tony K. I can remember that it was
bloody wet with the only dry place being Weeaproinah. The trip was from
Colac to Camperdown via Forest, Beech Forest, Lavers Hill, Lower
Gellibrand, Simpson and Cobden. We stayed in the youth hostel at Lavers
Hill which is long gone.

My all time favourite (pretty slack) weekend ride is Winchelsea to
Colac via Deans Marsh, Forest, along Turtons to Beechy overnight,
Charleys Creek, and Gellibrand.

Quoted message said:

dazzling event for Beech Forest recently would be the opening of the
Otway Fly otwayfly.comotwayfly.comOpen ↗

And the fact that surrounding state forests are now becoming a new
expanded National Park. I here that disgruntled local timber firms
have taken out all the forest road signs to confuse tourists. Cads!

Looks like I'll have to venture down that way again soon, when it gets
cold and wet. Turtons is really special in the rain and fog...:-) I
haven't been down there for near on ten years.

--
Humbug
BE A LOOF! (There has been a recent population explosion of lerts.)

I remember an earlier I trip that I did there with MBTC, probably early 80s when it was raining on us (surprise, surprise) at Beech Forest. Somehow we managed to get about a dozen people into a room at that pub. That was one of the first tours I did on an MTB. No one else had one on that ride so I did bit some backroads riding on my own. Later - might have been on Turton's Tk - I came across another group of cycle tourists (Alan Walker and co) who commented that they were amazed at the speed that I was whizzing along this dirt road while they were gingerly crawling along on their touring bikes. The start of things to come.