The route goes from Wangaratta to Bright, following a circuitous route along the flood plains of the Murray and Owens rivers, throught the historic gooldrush towns of Beechworth and Yackandandah in the foothills of Victoria's High Plains.
To arrive in Wangaratta, the start of the ride, Martyn drove down from Sydney with his bike in the car, and I took my bike on the Firefly bus service from Adelaide, a journey lasting 13 hours. We rendezvoused in Wangaratta at 9.30pm on Sunday 13th December, and checked into the Park View motel, ready to begin the ride the following morning.
Monday 14th December
It took a while to get the bikes reassembled and adjusted, and also for Martyn to have his morning coffee, so it was around 1030 by the time we left Wangaratta:
The first stop was at Milawa, after 18kms, where we enjoyed a visit to the cheese factory and were given tastings of 16 different cheeses:
Close by was Brown Bros winery, so we got down to some serious work sampling their excellent produce in the cool cellar:
Shortly after Milawa I was able to fit in a quick hunt for a geocache, easily found in a tree by the roadside:
After 28kms we reached Everton, a tiny place with just one store, where we had lunch, and also a very well-appointed bus shelter:
Soon after this the route joined a trail along a disused railway for the final 16kms into Beechworth. It was a very scenic part of the journey and made for enjoyable riding despite being uphill all the way:
On arrival at Beechworth we took a short ride around Lake Sambell, and had an abortive attempt to find another geocache:
Having checked into the Armour Motel, in the centre of this attractive historic town, we went for a ride around the Gorge scenc trail, a 5km loop around the town:
Back at the hotel there was time for a swim in the pool, before an excellent dinner at the Ox and Hound restaurant:
Distance today 60kms.
Tuesday 15th December
After a leisurely breakfast at the Beechworth Provender, we hit the road around 10am.
Before leaving Beechworth we had time to admire some of its historic buildings, including the old Telegraph Office:
Just outside the town we took a brief detour around the pioneer cemetery, where we saw these Chinese Burning Towers, used to burn messages to the dead:
5kms further on we made another detour to see Woolshed Falls, which cascade over exposed granite:
After 25kms, we arrived at Chiltern, another well-preserved historic town. We were fortunate to find the old Federal Standard printing works open, and were given a guided tour inside. It was fascinating to see hot metal type being produced by an original linotype macine dating from 1903, and newspaper sheets being printed on a printing machine dating from the 1850s:
This is a view of Conness St, the main street in Chiltern. It has often been used as a film set:
After a brief lunch at the Chiltern Bakery we rode on to Rutherglen, today's destination. As well as being a historic town it's also renowned as a wine-growing region with about 20 wineries nearby. We managed to enjoy tastings at 5 different wineries before the afternoon was through.
First was Rutherglen Estates:
Next was Chambers Wines, where unusually we were left to pour the wine ourselves:
Next, Stanton and Killeen:
Fourth was Campbells, and we finished the afternoon at Bullers. The wineries in the Rutherglen region specialise in producing fortified wines, Shiraz and Durif being well represented.
Then we rode back to Rutherglen and checked into the historic Victoria Hotel on the main street, noteworthy for being the only pub in Australia with its own mortuary in the grounds.
There was time before dinner for a walk around the town, then we had a good evening meal at the hotel, washed down with an excellent bottle of locally produced Shiraz.
Distance today 62kms, total 122kms
Wednesday 16th December
From Rutherglen the route follows alongside the Murray River before gradually climbing through farming country towards Yackandandah. We passed by some more wineries early on but they were all closed, possibly this was a blessing in disguise as we had a long way to ride and the temperature was well above 30C.
There were no faciiities until we reached Barnawartha, at 33kms, and this only had a petrol station and general store, no cafe, so the mid-ride snack consisted of just an ice cream.
Entering Barnawartha:
About 15kms further there was a tough 3km climb:
We arrived in Yackandandah, a quiet, picturesque town with a tree-lined main street, around 2pm and following lunch at the bakery, checked into the comfortable Yackandandah Motor Inn:
We took a walk along the nearby creek:
Dinner was at a good Thai restaurant very close to the hotel, and after this we visited the historic Star Hotel where there was a band of local musicians playing, it was good to see a pub staying lively until late in the evening.
Distance today 64kms, total 186kms
Thursday 17th December
Today's ride undulated through farming country, with great views towards the High Country and the Kiewa and Ovens valleys. There were some fairly steep climbs, and one good long straight downhill where we had a bit of a race; I reached a top speed of 70.6kms/hour which was quite exciting, especially as a van overtook me at the same time.
There were no services until we reached the Happy Valley Hotel at Ovens, 40 hot and sweaty kms into the ride. The food there, as correctly stated in the Lonely Planet guide, was very good and featured some unusual items on the menu; I couldn't resist trying the Gumbo.
From here the route followed the Alpine Rail trail all the way to Bright, our final destination. The trail follows the Alpine Way closely:
At Eurobin the former station building is still standing, and it was a good place to rest for a few minutes from the heat:
Soon after this we arrived at Feathertop Winery where we stopped to taste some good wines and also to enjoy the view over Mount Buffalo:
A short distance further was another winery, Ringer Reef, which also had a fantastic setting and pretty good wine:
Arriving at Bright around 3.30pm we checked into the Riverview motel, pleasantly situated on the banks of the Ovens River, and went for a walk along the riverside:
Right on the river is the Bright Brewery where I had a refreshing schooner of lager, then we set off on a steep walk of about 2kms up to Huggins Lookout:
Close by the lookout we found another geocache hidden in a tree, after a scramble up a sheer rock face:
Although it's in a beautiful setting, surrounded by stunning mountain scenery, Bright is a bit disappointing as far as decent buildings go, there are very few buildings of any merit, most being modern and rather characterless. Nonetheless it's a great place to visit, with lots of good cycling and walking tracks within easy reach. It would have been great to stay longer but we have to be back in Sydney tomorrow, which will require an early start. So, after returning to the brewery for dinner, we took another walk along the riverbank back to the hotel, and retired early.
Distance today 75kms, total 261kms
Friday 18th December
We wanted to get back to Sydney by the end of the day as Martyn had a big party to attend the next day. So we got an early start and were on our way back down the rail trail by 8.45am. The rail trail that we'd joined the previous day at Ovens goes all the way back to Wangaratta, where the car was parked.
We covered the 87 kms in just under 4 hours, which was quite good going. Hardly any stops, only 2 very brief water breaks. So we arrived in Wangaratta around 1230 pm and after a good lunch were in the car for the 650km drive back to Sydney.
Bikes loaded onto Martyn's car
Distance cycled today 87kms, total for the trip 348kms.
