Not Travelling in the time of Coronavirus- Melbourne lock down clips my wings

The second Melbourne, Australia lock down has just been implemented

After being in and out of lock downs in Spain and England and quarantine in a Melbourne Hotel, this second lockdown in Melbourne has finally anchored me.

Famous landmarks of the usually bustling city cast with an almost ghostly quietness

Even the usually bustling Victoria Market with its colourful displays of produce, like the life has been sucked out of its ancient stalls and sheds

No queuing four deep at my favourite stall

Chance meeting with someone I hadn’t seen for a while

Little is left to chance in the time of coronavirus

At the eastern end of the city

The Monuments, the Shrine of Remembrance and the Old Observatory along with Gardens and the floral clock stand alone

In the lanes and alleyways of the inner city

Usually vibrant

The graffiti almost mocks the quiet desolation

The next 6 weeks (the length of this lockdown) will be a time and thought of what has been and what will be.

Something different to share over the coming weeks.

The Great Ocean Road and this time the 12 Apostles

The 12 Apostles are a group of sandstone islets of the coast of Victoria near Port Campbell

They are one of the highlight scenes along the Great Ocean Road, in Victoria, Australia

In my blog back in May I wrote of my last trip down this road. It was the first days of the Covid 19 lockdown easing of restrictions in Australia

I had just been released from Quarantine and keen to spreat my wings

The Great Ocean Road called but the lookouts to the 12 Apostles were closed

oi000571

Its deeper into winter now and the Great Ocean Road and the sea is battered by the winter storms

As restrictions have relaxed one has to pick a way through the traffic not just get lost in the road as it snakes along the cliff face

But the lookout is open and the majesty of this piece of coastline can be admired again

Just inland from here

There is the remnants of the logging history of the Otway Ranges

oi000575 oi000572

oi000574

An old wooden trestle bridge at Timboon

Timboon once a a logging village now a dairy area

Famous for Timboon Cheese and Ice Cream

The Mighty Breva meets the Mighty Murray in North East Victoria

I had approached the Upper Murray from the long way around

Starting from Yarram in South Gippsland

20200621_170333-collage

A small town famous for its street murals.

Its winter and the high roads over Mt Hotham and Falls Creek are closed so it was the low road

Bruthen to eskdale

A pearler of a ride from Bruthen north to the little Village of Eskdale 223 km of curves and into the Upper Murray Region.

Has to be the greatest unrecognised rides in the world.

It was damp cold and at a pass through the Alpine National Park it was 1c and my mind turned to thoughts of black ice on the road.

A cabin waited for me at the Eskdale Caravan Park

oi000495

Welcome refuge after a long wet ride

A good night sleep and onto my next destination

The Great River Road starts at the bridge that connects Victoria and NSW at Hume Weir and follows the winding course of the Murray upstream to Khancoban at the base of the Kosciusko National Park.

The Road is around 180km of scenic windy road along the Murray River.

The views of the Murray are special especially if you take a bit of time and pull off into some of the river side reserves and camp grounds.

oi000509

The weather was cold but clear and not too bad for riding if you have the right gear.

But the joy of winter camping is campfires

20200626_143937-collage

As the Great River Road is developed as a tourist road the is are well layed out scenic stops with interpretation on the river and pieces of sculpture

20200702_225004-collage

The camp facilities along the road are great quality. Especially at Walwa where you can camp with great facilities and a campfire right on the banks of the river.

The road finishes at Lake Khancoban in NSW

oi000559-effects

The scars of the recent bushfires are there, both on the landscape and in the stories of the locals

But the land and the people are resilient and signs of renewal abound

oi000510

And of course there is something very special about a winter sunset inland

oi000534

Maldon in the Central Goldfields of Victoria, Australia

oi000387

In many ways Maldon is the little town that stood still

Built in the 1860’s during the height of the Victorian Gold Rush

It remains largely unchanged

There is a lovely 2 hour ride to Maldon through the Central Highlands of Victoria

Past the farming and old logging towns of Greendale and Trentham

To the Spa centres of Daylesford and Hepburn Springs

The Hepburn – Newstead road is a little ripper

From Newstead perched on the Loddon River its a gentle curves and sweepers through scrubby bush to Maldon

And its Gold mining history of diggings and old gold processing building ruins

And like all good old country towns there is the little quirk

The little Triumph motorcycle shop.

Looking as old as the town and the Triumph Motorcycle itself

Not surprising as Maldon host the a major highlight of the annual All British Motorcycle rally

The ride from the Newstead Racecourse camp ground to Maldon

All-British-Rally-2014-11

One of my most memorable visits to Maldon was to see a round of the 2013 World Motorcycle Trials World Championships

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Held on a specially designed course on the side of Mount Tarrengower

Which provides a beautiful view over Maldon

What a beautiful ride on a crisp winters day!

Apollo Bay to Port Campbell on the Great Ocean Road

To get to Apollo Bay there is the route along the eastern part of the Great Ocean Road or

The Road over the Otway Ranges from Forest

After travelling via Anglesea and Lorne last week this time it was over the Otways.

oi000358 oi000355

Tucked between the Otway Ranges and the sea Apollo Bay remains one of my favourite places to visit and to stay.

From Apollo Bay heading west along the Great Ocean Road in the midst of the Otway National Park is the turn off to Cape Otway and its impressive light house proud upon the steep cliffs of the Cape.

oi000367

A beacon for shipping on Victoria’s Shipwreck Coast

Past Cape Otway the landscape and the road changes.

East of Cape Otway the road is narrower often clinging to the cliff face and the corners tighter, with patches of dense rainforest.

The sandy surf beaches nestled between rocky headlands like Lorne, Wye River and Apollo Bay

West of the Cape the road evens out more sweeping curves than tight corners, the land an open plateau across the top or the windblown cliffs with offshore the rocky monuments carved by the prevailing wind and sea.

From Port Campbell the view back along the sandstone cliffs toward Cape Otway in the late afternoon light is a sight one never tires of.

oi000371

The Great Ocean Road continues onto Warrnambool from Port Campbell, but my route took me north through the coastal hills and farming land to historic Camperdown

And its famous clock tower.

Then road back to Melbourne.

It is so wonderful to be able to do this ride again free of traffic like it used to be 40 years ago, when sections of the road through the forest was still gravel and tourist coaches had not been invented.

The lockdown provisions in Victoria still preclude staying away overnight. All the hotels and camping grounds are still closed. It was nearly a 10 hour trip by the time I got home in the cold and the dark but what a ride and how good to be free!