“Its all downhill” – Australian for “Its mostly uphill”.

Fri Feb 27 – Bombala to Orbost – 106 mls. R/T 15324 mls. 216 mls to go.

Last night we camped down by the river.  There was a gas BBQ so we went into town and picked up two large (500g+) rump steaks, a 12 pack of beers and a bottle of red wine. We found some dryish wood and a container to have a fire – once the sun sets it cools off rapidly.  By 7pm we started the bbq. Unfortunately we realised that all we had was the steaks.We had forgotton to buy salad or any veg. We did have one onion. So dinner was steak and fried onion.  As night fell I lit the fire. The wood was not as dry as I hoped and it merely smouldered. I then spotted a wooden pallett leaning up against a wall – perfect. We ripped a few planks off and the fire burst into life. As we drank the wine ( the beer had been quickly drunk earlier) and ate some cheese we were joined by Stuart,  a Pom who had lived in Oz for 40 years and was caravaning with his wife ( she had gone to bed). It turned into another very pleasant evening.

In the morning it was very foggy as we packed up and went into the town for a coffee and pie. 3 Australian guys in the cafe all said once I got to Delegate it would be downhill all the way to Orbost.After saying goodbye and good luck to Simon I cycled out of Bombala along a very foggy, but luckily, quiet road. I reached Delegate and went into the only shop to buy a drink.  As I came  out another Aussie told me “No worries mate. Its all downhill to Orbost”.  With a cheery wave from me I set off looking forward to a nice downhill run. Now I dont know which part of ‘down’ and ‘hill’ Australians find difficult to understand because the road was far from downhill all the way! In fact there were several long climbs. After about ç50 mls I reached Bonang where I saw a general store. My plan was to buy some food and water etc and then find a camp spot further down the road. The shop had closed down some time ago. I cycled to the next place – Goongerah but there was no shop there. With no food and little water I decided I would have to cycle all the way to Orbost. It was now 3pm. The road did have some nice downhill stretches but it was also a gravel and rutted road in places and this slowed me down. By 5pm I had not eaten since the pie in Bombala and my water was running out. There had been very few cars pass me in the 9hrs I had been cycling.  Just then a small car went passed and stopped. A guy got out and asked if I wanted and food and drink. I accepted his kind offer even though it turned out he only had a small can of tuna and c100ml of water.  It was nice of him to stop though and it gave me a short break out of the saddle. I carried on and by 7pm was entering the town of Orbost. It was past Tinnie O’clock so in order of priority I stopped first at the local bar for a cool welcoming beer, then popped into a supermarket for some food and finally found the local camp site. I was shattered. Dinner, shower and Zzzzzz followed.

The forecast for Sat is warm c30º dropping to 19º on Sunday so will stay in Orbost today and cycle south tomorrow.

Video blog :-  http://youtu.be/qOpUIIIlvOY