Victoria is a bit ahead of the rest of the States and Territories in converting old unused rail-lines into bike/trekking paths. Centred around the town of Wonthaggi, is the Bass Coast Rail Trail, apparently the only Rail Trail overlooking the ocean. For the nit-pickers, the trail between Geelong and Queenscliff, I guess is technically overlooking Port Phillip Bay. The beauty from a riding perspective is, all "ups" and "downs" are very gradual so how good is that?????
With the good lady galavanting around the other side of the globe, I took the opportunity for a quick blast down the Hume, on the Queen's Birthday Monday (Royalty does have its uses, I admit not many). Zipping through Melbourne mid afternoon on a public holiday, I was amazed at the amount of traffic on the roads.
I was staying at San Remo, the gateway to Phillip Island. I got up at Sparrows on the Tuesday and was a tad gob-smacked to discover a pea-souper covering the island. Well, you know what they say about pea-soupers ........ ....... ....... No, me neither! I drove to a suggested access point to the rail trail, pulled the bike out of the car and put on lots of layers of clothes. A powertrail of geocaches has been hidden along the trail which was part of my reason for the journey - more on that later.
I set off into the mist which slowly began to rise. In fact a glorious day unfolded so the layers of clothes began to come off. With frequent excursions into the vegetation on either side of the trail, I was glad that I wore gaiters but my shoes and legs did get very wet. There was a slight malfunction with my RunKeeper App (Ok, I forgot to unpause it) so Day 1's map cheats me of a few Kms.
Day 2 started with no fog but much colder temps. I drove to the town of Wonthaggi and started my journey. I loved the trail and began to get annoyed at the frequent stopping for geocaching hunts, many being unsuccessful so I decided to just enjoy the ride and only stop for a hunt every few Kms. Much better! The trail then approached the ocean and that was just plain old magic! I had been wondering about route to take for my return journey to Canberra and that settled my dilemna - it would be a coastal route via Eden.
I eventually got to where I had got to the day before so it was time to turn back. I didn't appreciate one of the bridges I had passed over earlier in the day but on the return leg, I could see it's true beauty. Must admit, by the time I got back to the car, I was tired but chuffed at the experience. I've decided that Geocaching Power Trails have their purpose in life but more so to be experienced in a group of friends. This PowerTrail is defienetly better quality toward the newer hides with many quality containers. The older bits .... Nah, just didn't do it for me. The best bit of the Rail Trail is between Wonthaggi and Kilcunda with the trestle bridge being very close to Kilcunda.
With the good lady galavanting around the other side of the globe, I took the opportunity for a quick blast down the Hume, on the Queen's Birthday Monday (Royalty does have its uses, I admit not many). Zipping through Melbourne mid afternoon on a public holiday, I was amazed at the amount of traffic on the roads.
I was staying at San Remo, the gateway to Phillip Island. I got up at Sparrows on the Tuesday and was a tad gob-smacked to discover a pea-souper covering the island. Well, you know what they say about pea-soupers ........ ....... ....... No, me neither! I drove to a suggested access point to the rail trail, pulled the bike out of the car and put on lots of layers of clothes. A powertrail of geocaches has been hidden along the trail which was part of my reason for the journey - more on that later.
I set off into the mist which slowly began to rise. In fact a glorious day unfolded so the layers of clothes began to come off. With frequent excursions into the vegetation on either side of the trail, I was glad that I wore gaiters but my shoes and legs did get very wet. There was a slight malfunction with my RunKeeper App (Ok, I forgot to unpause it) so Day 1's map cheats me of a few Kms.
Day 2 started with no fog but much colder temps. I drove to the town of Wonthaggi and started my journey. I loved the trail and began to get annoyed at the frequent stopping for geocaching hunts, many being unsuccessful so I decided to just enjoy the ride and only stop for a hunt every few Kms. Much better! The trail then approached the ocean and that was just plain old magic! I had been wondering about route to take for my return journey to Canberra and that settled my dilemna - it would be a coastal route via Eden.
I eventually got to where I had got to the day before so it was time to turn back. I didn't appreciate one of the bridges I had passed over earlier in the day but on the return leg, I could see it's true beauty. Must admit, by the time I got back to the car, I was tired but chuffed at the experience. I've decided that Geocaching Power Trails have their purpose in life but more so to be experienced in a group of friends. This PowerTrail is defienetly better quality toward the newer hides with many quality containers. The older bits .... Nah, just didn't do it for me. The best bit of the Rail Trail is between Wonthaggi and Kilcunda with the trestle bridge being very close to Kilcunda.
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