Around Australia: Day 36, Ararat to Sunshine

Summary: Day 36 of my trip Around Australia on my Burgman 650 Executive was one of the wetter days o tis journey. Standard gear though was sufficient to keep me dry. I collected a few I've Been Everywhere locations and arrived in Melbourne for the night.

Diary Entry for May 29, 2010

My initial, short entry in my "Around Australia" diary for the day read as follows:

Day 36: Ararat to Melbourne
When I checked into the motel last evening, the host recommended one thing I must do: go to the One Tree Hill and see the Grampians. It was a great trip as I found out in the morning. Yes rain and fog, but the bits you could see: simply stunning. Looking in the other directions and the Pyrenees were visible too.
Off to a few more Bear Rides (#150, 42, and 149). As usual I chose a few country roads to connect the rides. These country roads — more often than not — turn out to be the real marvels, and sometimes turn into adventures too 
The GPS annoyed the heck out of me today; I have set it to "prompt for recalculation" and it decides to recalculate anyway, stuffing up the route. It also seems to get confused when doing loops; e.g. I was approaching Castlemaine four times, each time from a different direction. At least I sorted out the missing favourites in my routes: I need to download them to the GPS too. I though it is smart enouhg to include the favourites (waypoints) it needs in a route: obviously not. At least a win today.
The Bear route 149 is a real gem. There was one vantage point where I could see the Melbourne skyline — I reckon — from 50 km away! No, the real reason the route is a gem: nice corners through forest roads. Very enjoyable, indeed.
Considering it was dark by the time I got to Melbourne, I settled in Sunshine for the night. The plan was to take some photos of Big Things along the way — no good in darkness.

Photo of the Day

"The Grampians" as seen from One Tree Hill near Ararat, Victoria

Ararat to Sunshine

I had a good night's sleep; woke up at 07:04 and was gone at 07:46. When I checked into the motel last evening, the host recommended one thing I must do: go to the One Tree Hill and see the Grampians. It was a great little trip, as I found out this morning. Yes rain and fog, but the bits you could see: simply stunning. Looking in the other directions and the Pyrenees were visible too.

View of Ararat from One Tree Hill, Victoria, Australia

First cab of the rank was Bear Ride #150 from Ararat to Castlemaine, via Avoca, and Maryborough, a.k.a. the Pyrenees Highway. And yes, I passed these mountains too. The locals refer to these as little Grampians. In Castlemaine I turned north to Bridgewater; this was Bear Ride #42. Next was Bendigo, another IBEM = I've Been Everywhere Man location.

Bendigo

From Bendigo to Castlemaine; yes, I was there before; now to continue Bear Ride #42 to Elphinstone, then to Kyneton, followed by a loop via Seymour and Kilmore. The latter are two IBEM towns.

Seymour

Kilmore

It had been raining on and off, or more so drizzled all day, hence my photo stops are rather sparse. I had to take the photo below, which shows the Melbourne sky line from 50 km west-north-west of Melbourne, between Myrniong and Bacchus Marsh. It looked more impressive on location than the image could capture. — City views of Melbourne, just 50 km away; how is that for a sale spin for local real estate. 

Melbourne Skyline as seen near Bacchus Marsh, Victoria, Australia

I had a pit stop in Bacchus Marsh; bought an ice cream for dinner  and tried to find the Big Apple. Well, it was on the ground, decommissioned, and replaced with a new sculpture; nowhere near as big as it used to be, but still a Big Apple.

Big Apple, Bacchus Marsh, Victoria, Australia

Considering it was dark by the time I got to Melbourne, I settled in Sunshine (yes, name of the suburb) for the night. The plan was to take some photos of Big Things along the way — no good in darkness. Sunshine, not too far in, and not too far out of Melbourne, so that I could quickly skim the town for some of photos Big Things and Parliament House, before leaving town in a flash tomorrow.

Trip Data for the Day

627 km over the elapsed time of 11 hours.

Accommodation for the Night

My room at the Sunshine Motor Inn, Sunshine, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

I stayed at the  Sunshine Motor Inn in Sunshine for the night. Cost: 130 AUD.

My comment: Lovely room, nice, clean, warm, cosy, secure. Would definitely stay there again. Huh, now I know why: 130 AUD per night. We are in Melbourne after all  Well, honestly, for the quality and location a fair price.

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