Day 14 - Prickly to Bright

-

Myrtleford - Bright - Tawonga Gap Road (bush camp)  44km

After waking up, we do a quick round robin of the various sound effects that impacted our sleep, from a family party that lasted until midnight, crying children at o'dark hundred, to the town rubbish bin collection. And I thought that the campsite right behind the baseline of court 3 of the Myrtleford Lawn Tennis Club would have me dreaming of Ash Barty winning another Wimbledon title... a bit of "quiet please" would have helped. 

No 'quiet please' at this campsite

Cycling together can occasionally be a prickly affair. And being on two individual bikes,  you are hardly ever in perfect sync. Different mindsets and different physical experiences can lead to misinterpretation. On one day 33km can be a ride in the park, on another day it can feel like a slog. Communication is key and so is reading between between the pedal strokes. So when we both realise that for the next days we are adding a whole other meaning to 'cycling together', we are on high alert for those prickly moments.

We find ourselves back on the Murray to Mountains Rail Trail and its final stage to Bright. The scenery is definitely taking a more Alpine shape. But we also see a few new features in the landscape. Between Mount Buffalo and the trail are acres of hopfields and dormant tobacco kilns. 




The trail takes us right into the heart of Bright, where we head straight to the library... because the SA Electoral Commission needs the proper form for a postal vote printed out, and posted back.  Of course, Louise can't just walk past a books of sale table, and at 50c 'B is for Burglar' is sure to be an excellent Bright souvenir.  In sync again, we decide that lunch is overrated, and ice cream is the far better option. 

It always takes a bit of courage to ignore every sign to an official campground or caravan park and head for the 'wild' format. Maybe the very pricy caravan parks in Bright were encouragement enough? We found a lovely spot not far off the road we are going to climb tomorrow, heading for Mount Beauty. It also comes with a natural 'en suite' in the form of German Creek, in which, you guessed it, we went all 'German' (in English full monty, in German FKK). We picked blackberries for tomorrow's breakfast, which will go well with our latest foraging addition: peaches. 



Surely, when you just pitch your tent in the middle of nowhere, you are guaranteed a quiet night?


Location: Tawonga Gap Rd, Victoria, Australia

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for sharing! We read all the comments, replies depend on internet connection and energy levels.

Popular posts from this blog

Accidents happen

-
Image
It's slow going writing this particular blog post as I am doing it with only one functional hand.  After almost 7000kms on the bikes, injury found me while running.   I wish I had a fantastic story to tell, but I simply tripped on a rocky trail and fell over.  You know that meme that goes "If you want to know if you're old fall over.   If people laugh you're still young,  if people panic then you're old!"  I can confirm, I am definitely old! It probably didn't help that two of my fingers were quite obviously either dislocated, broken or both.   I begged Kerstin to remove my wedding ring before the finger started swelling, being three hours from the hospital I was imagining the worst case scenario of the ring tourniqueting my finger and its subsequent death and amputation.  Poor Kerstin, this kind of thing makes her faint, but she gritted her teeth and pulled off the ring.  I then gritted my teeth and asked the ex-army maintenance guy to try and relocate my
Read more

Learning a new language

-
Image
There's plenty of things I anticipated learning when we accepted the positions at Avon Downs.  I thought I'd learn a lot about cooking for groups, about different cuts of beef and how to prepare them.  Maybe some stuff around the logistics of running a community which is 260km from the closest centre, and even then, its still Mt Isa... But I didn't really expect to learn a new language.  To be fair, I haven't spent a lot of time in the Territory.  But they really do speak their own dialect here.  Much different from costal Queensland, which is a slower, relaxed kind of Australian drawl.  Here it's fast, brief and usually mumbled.  I think I spent the first month constantly asking people to repeat themselves, answering the phone is always a diabolical risk.  And trying to understand the radio chat, impossible! Then there is all the slang and local shorthand.  To be fair some of the slang I suspect has been created by the Ringers themselves, as they are on their own l
Read more

Generation Z's perspective

-
Image
Q:  "Which is more important, the journey or the destination?' A:  "The company." Introducing the team at Avon Downs Station.  This video was made as part of a competition between AACo Stations for the Employee Challenge.  It's a great way to show the outside world what life on Avon looks like.  It will change your perspective on who works on Cattle Stations. There is a lot to be said for keeping company with Generation Z.  The stockcamp (the staff who do all the stock work) are all aged between 16-23 years old.  We feel pretty privileged to be given access and insight into their world.  They are generous when asked for explanations of everything from the work they do, to how the social system between them as individuals, as a team and as a Station works.  I'm pretty sure the education is going both ways!  If you want to be reassured about the future, then I recommend spending some quality time with it.
Read more