We stayed in a campground last night in Wonthaggi.  We packed up leisurely this morning and rearranged a few things in the panniers to make it easier during the day.  Some panniers we want to remain closed all day as they are water-proof and other panniers need to have food, jackets etc easily at hand.  We wouldn’t want to open the computer gear pannier in the rain to get a jacket.

It was a beautiful morning and we cycled from Wonthaggi to Cape Patterson.  Again there was a nice wide cycle lane.  There was nobody on the beach and it was spectacular.  We had a snack and went for a walk on the beach and admired the view.  After Cape Patterson we biked along the coast to Inverloch which is a nice tourist town.  It’s easy to tell how nice a town might be by how many camp grounds there are.

Tonight we are staying in a Big4 holiday park which is very flash.  A bit like a NZ Top10 Holiday Park, it has a heated swimming pool, big kitchen and all the amenities we need.  It gets dark at 6pm so having a camp kitchen is good as it means we don’t have to cook early or cook in the dark.

Today was a short day biking but that sets us up nicely for 50km tomorrow, most on a rail trail.  Also Josh said Inverloch is a nice place and we’ve enjoyed having most of the afternoon off.

Highlight of the day:  Cape Paterson beach.

Jen at Cape Paterson

Cape Paterson

Sand

Cape Paterson

Cape Paterson

Downtown Inverloch

Camping in Inverloch

Inverloch beach at very high tide

What a great start to our cycling.  We got up early as we needed to leave the house in Somers by 6.45am to make sure we got to the ferry which was 12km away.  Better to leave plenty of time than be rushed and biking fast that early in the day.  It was a beautiful morning and we got to the ferry in plenty of time biking on paved cycle paths.  If there is a theme for today, it’s how good the cycle paths and rail trail are.  The only time we biked on a road there was a really large verge and plenty of room for everyone.

We caught the ferry from Stony Point across to Cowes on Phillip Island at 8am.  In Cowes we went to the post office and dispatched our extra stuff to Dave in Brisbane.  We then went to a café before we started biking.  Almost straight away we found a paved cycle path that ran near the road and went the full length of Phillip Island.  It was fantastic!!

After crossing the bridge to leave Phillip Island we cycled on the road through road works but with plenty of verge then met the rail trail.  The last 14km of the day was on the rail trail and we ended up in Wonthaggi, a mining town.  Wonthaggi has huge supermarkets, and a nice pub.  While on the rail trail we saw a rugged coast, with what we can only presume were wild kangaroos (no fence to keep them in).

Highlight of the day:  Starting our biking and the bike paths and trails.

Waiting for the Ferry

The perfect still morning

Great bike trails on Phillip Island

Having a break

The only road had a really wide verge

Starting the Bass Coast Rail Trail

Superb sea views from the trail

Nearly finished the first day biking

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