May 21, 2023
Day 11: Piangil to Swan Hill
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Another fairly short day to Swan Hill ahead but some travelling on the dreaded Murray Valley Highway. It was a Sunday, so hopefully less traffic. I had heard that the highway was not good for cycling, but then again, I'd heard all sorts of things that weren't quite true. Anyway, Komoot (the navigation App that I was mostly using) found a route on bitumen roads mostly away from the highway. The route we took was very good, just a little bit of highway around Nyah.
We stopped for Annette to get a cup of coffee at the roadhouse at Nyah and got chatting to a guy who was trying to camp on a block of land he bought by the river but was getting grief from the council after a neighbour dobbed him in. A cautionary tale for us. We weren't on the highway for long, the highway didn't seem too bad but it was a Sunday. One thing I noticed about some of these busy roads in Victoria was that the shoulder was intermittent, it could lure you into thinking that there was a good shoulder and then disappear at a crucial moment like going up a winding hill. I learnt not to trust them. The wind was mostly favourable throughout the day making for a pleasant ride. We stopped for lunch at a small town called Woorinen South, not far out of Swan Hill. Needless to say, another small place with no shops, few people and excellent public facilities. We followed a sign to the BBQ area which was part of a primary school and playground boasting all of the usual facilities we'd come to expect. Free electric BBQ, shelter and toilets. I won't accept anything less now.
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The ride into Swan Hill was uneventful and pleasant. Using the quieter roads to enter a town have a familiar feel and you can guage the distance to go. Firstly you see things like a shooting club and kart track. Get a bit closer and there will be the town dump followed closely by the cemetery. Houses on acreages with a few horses start to appear, bearing silly or pretentious names, the power lines start to converge and infrastructure starts to appear. Eventually your in suburbia.
It's a very long time since I'd been to Swan Hill, in the 70's, it's certainly grown. I think it's fair to call it a city now boasting Woolworths, Coles and Aldi. Large towns have a major supermarket, very large towns have two and cities score the trifecta. The riverside area is nice but the town/city has lost the charm that it once had. We had considered staying here for a couple of days but we prefer the smaller places, one small supermarket. Also rain had been forecast for Thursday so we decided to save up the rest day for then.
We stayed on the Big 4 caravan Park right on the river, it wasn't as expensive as I feared and had the usual very good facilities. Being in such a large town with access to supermarkets and a camp kitchen, we walked into town and bought food to cook up a decent meal. What a treat, the best meal we'd had since setting off.
Today's ride: 47 km (29 miles)
Total: 646 km (401 miles)
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