Day 172: Princetown to Apollo Bay

November 16, 2022

Start: 8am
Distance: 91km
Ride time: 6:03hours
Average: 15km/hr
Max: 60km/hr
Finish: 3:10pm

For the first 15kms, I rode along the dirt Old Ocean Road.

There was pasture land on my left with free roaming cattle.

Then I returned to the main road and started climbing for about 15kms.

I would climb about 1,000m total today in 2 big hills.

There was forest on both sides of the road. I enjoyed the climbing. It meant that I was going slow and it gave me a chance to listen to all of the birds tweeting about.

I stopped in Lavers Hill for a pie and a hot coffee. The weather was windy and cold. Luckily the trees sheltered me from most of the wind.

Then it was time to start the second big hill of the day.

Near the top of the hill I stopped at the pretty Maits Rest rainforest walk.

This is a eucalyptus regnans. The tallest flowering tree in the world. The tallest tree is 100metres in Tasmania.

It rained briefly and didn't bother me. It seemed appropriate to be raining in the rainforest.

I had a long descent to Apollo Bay. When I arrived, the apparent temperature was 2 degrees.

There was a small amount of traffic today. The road was winding which didn't allow the traffic to observe me from a great distance. I wore my bright orange jacket most of the day due to the rain and cold.

Most of the cars were driving slowly and they all gave me plenty of room when overtaking me.

In Apollo Bay I went to the caravan park and was rejected because the camping area "was too wet."

I made camp in the town's recreation reserve on the edge of town. I had yummy fish and chips for dinner at the fisherman's co-op.

Opposite my campsite is a river and cattle grazing.

Today's ride: 91 km (57 miles)
Total: 9,944 km (6,175 miles)

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