Day 2- Orbost to Bruthen 68 kms

Lady night we had a great meal at the Orbost hotel which was washed down with some good Pinot noir and some good conversation.

We awoke early and were ready for breakfast at around 8.00 am. The weather looked ok with no rain at this stage!

We made our way to the local bakery for breakfast and I enjoyed an egg and bacon roll and a coffee. As we were enjoying our breakfast it started to rain! Bugger!

Looking at the weather forecast and the radar it looked good for us to start the ride at 10.00am … so we waited!

We made our way to the start of the Gippsland Rail Trail. The weather was drizzly rain but the riding surface was very good thankfully.

After about 15 kms we were met by a group of people who were the members of the Gippsland Rail Trail association who were opening a newly renovated section of the trail…. It was on for the Wheeliebinners as we were the star attraction for the opening. We were photographed and interviewed by the press gathered at the opening and enjoyed the notoriety. Seems we might be the featured story in the local newspaper!

This group are responsible for the operation and maintenance of the trail and receive no financial support from government. They rely entirely on donations and fund raising for all they do…

After this it was on further for the ride which was again in light rain or drizzle with some times of no rain fortunately.

Along the way we saw these magnificent trestle bridges which crossed the rivers on the trail. The engineering of these bridges was truly remarkable and all the wood was cut from local trees in the area. For us though each bridge could not be crossed as they were either burned in bushfires or we’re in a bad state of repair. We had to navigate the creek/ river crossings by a short sharp descent and climb!!

After this it was on to Nowa Nowa for lunch which was good as we all needed a break after 40 kms in the rain and after some longer steady climbing…

Lunch was a pie and milkshake for me. Unfortunately the rain started and we waited for it to ease!

After resuming the ride we then made another(!!!) steady climb of about 10 kms … a real bugger after the milkshake really! It seem d to me that the steady climbing was never going to end!

Finally it did and we made it to the top of the climb to enjoy a great downhill to Bruthen…

We arrived at about 4.30 pm in what seemed to be warmer sunny weather.

The pub at Bruthen was very good and after enjoying a lovely warm shower we had a cleansing ale and pub meal. I had a reasonable lamb shank with some red wine.

We had some good chatter over dinner about the days ride and about the enjoyment of the day despite the weather.

A great day of riding with good company.

I will sleep well tonight!

The pictures will be sent on a separate blog as I lost my first go at today’s blog!