Day 12: on the road again... or am I?

Route taken: Melbourne-Sunbury-Mount Macedon-Woodend-Melton-Rockbank
Distance covered: TBC

Starting the day by catching up with a friend, I set off from Melbourne, unsure as to the destination for the day. First stop, however, was for food on Sydney Road as I headed in the direction of Mount Macedon. Avoiding the freeway, I wound my way through the outer suburbs of Melbourne, refueling in Pascoe Vale, then passing through Sunbury, birthplace of the Ashes (the pinnacle of Australian and English rivalry in cricket, for non-Commonwealth country readers). Appropriate, given that England was demolishing Australia as I passed through.

The next stretch of road developed a bridge-flavoured theme. Not just any bridge, but older bridges with far more character than their modern equivalents. I stopped frequently to take photos.

The road to nowhere: on top of a disused bridge

Whilst my sense of direction was working fine today, it did take me down a few narrow dirt tracks on the way to Mount Macedon. Once back on sealed roads, I was faced with the steep climb through the town (13% gradient), which came on for far too long.

Mount Macedon is a beautiful area, replete with leafy, expansive gardens and densely forested slopes. As the day was warming, being in this environment was more pleasant than down on the plain.

Despite it already being 13:00, I had yet to decide on a direction or goal for the day. As I descended from Mount Macedon towards Hanging Rock, I pulled over the consider where I should head. On the one hand, I had made enough progress in departing Melbourne that going back seemed silly, but on the other, there were still people I hadn't been able to catch up with yet. Without a decision, I pushed on further, either completely bypassing Hanging Rock or being completely underwhelmed as to why it is considered such a wonderful area.

Stopping for a break in Woodend, I sampled a couple of the local beer varieties from the Holgate brewery whilst I pondered the direction in which I should head some more. Suitably refreshed (and not drunk), I found something to eat, then chose to head southwards towards Werribee, rather than onwards to Castlemaine.

The brewery - stopping to sample all brews would have been wonderful

Descending out of the hills, the plain was considerably warmer and less visually appealing as the area I was leaving.

Setting my sights on Melton to locate a campsie for the night, I have ended up in a small town called Rockbank, only a few kilometres from Werribee. Tomorrow's first destination: the open plains zoo.