Day 7: another year, another ride.

Route: Ocean Grove-Queenscliff-Sorrento-Cape Schanck-Point Leo-Crib Point-Stony Point-Clyde-Yannathan-Poowong-Korumburra-Foster

Distance covered: 275km (approx.)

I awoke after a surprisingly refreshing sleep, having completely missed the end of 2010 and the start of 2011 - and all of the celebrating carrying on around the campsite in which I was. Never accuse me of not being a heavy sleeper...

I departed at 8:00, but not before going for a walk along the Ocean Grove beach. There were a few people around who clearly hadn't overdone it the night prior.

First stop for the day was in Queenscliff for the ferry to Sorrento.

I had discovered the ferry completely by chance by accidentally clicking on the wrong spot whilst playing around with potential routes with Google Maps. The discovery knocked at least 120km off my trip, so well worth the $35.50 ferry fare.

Arriving in Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula, I followed along the main thoroughfare until I could turn off for Cape Schanck and the lighthouse. Another spectacular section of coastline, but with far fewer tourists along it. It being New Year's Day and poor weather may have also contributed to the lack of road users.

The section into Flinders was also pretty spectacular to ride along, with a few curves that wouldn't have been out of place on the old Nurburgring or Spa tracks. Great fun downhill, not so much on the way up.

Puling into Leo Point for something to eat, I realised that I hadn't been making decent time and as I wanted to get near Wilson's Promontory by the end of the day, I realised I needed to push on. Hard. What could have been a fortuitous fuel stop in Crib Point ended up wasting more time, as the woman in the service station told me that the ferry to Phillip Island would be departing soon. A ferry to Phillip Island would cut a massive chunk out of the day's trip, and I'd get to see the island as well.

Upon arriving at the ferry terminal in Stony Point I was informed that:

1. It wouldn't be departing until 17:00 (some 4 1/2 hours later); and
2. It is only a passenger ferry, with no provision for vehicles.

I crossed over the freeway north of Pearcedale and consulted my rapidly falling apart map, which has not taken well to the repeated unfolding and folding. Rather than heading down the coast via Bass, as had been my original plan for the day, I headed further inland so as to avoid having to work out how to avoid the freeway for the moment (on the way into Melbourne I'll deal with the issue). As I was about to leave, a person in his late teens approached me:

"Excuse me, have you got a spare $2?" As I was in a good mood, I said that I'd have a look.

"Cheers, mate. I had a really big night last night and really need some smokes." I informed him that as I was staunchly against smoking, he'd not be getting any money from me.

"How about a dollar, then?" I informed him that, as he'd already told me why he wanted the money, he wouldn't be getting even a dollar from me. He seemed to have missed the point, for he asked one more time, before giving up.

Setting off north for a few kilometres, I turned east, winding my way slowly southwards through the countryside, encountering almost no traffic at all. At one point I didn't see another motorist for perhaps thirty minutes.

I passed through Yarrabeen and Poowong, where I stopped off to admire the town's main tourist attraction, the sculpture garden, containing four or five sculptures (depending on whether the table and benches are counted as well):

I was almost forced to don the wet weather gear, but I held my nerve through the crossover point a little longer and the weather cleared, but judging by the roads, I must have missed a heavy downpour.

I continued on through South Gippsland, climbing up slowly. I bought provisions in Korumburra, then set off for Foster, but not before forgetting which country I was in when leaving the supermarket car park, promptly driving on the right hand side of the road for a while, puzzling at a sign telling me to keep left. And to think that the "Drive on the left in Australia" signs on the Great Ocean Road had amused me... I was clearly beginning to tire.

The last 50km into Foster was along a smooth, winding road upon which I made decent progress - at least until I hit the climb. Straining, my little scooter made it to the top, whereupon we were greeted with a magnificent view of tomorrow's destination, Wilson's Promontory:

I again was able to secure a campsite without issue for the night. Rain made the setting up more urgent, but since then, it's stayed dry.

All in all, it's been a tiring ride, but I'm approaching the point the most distant from Adelaide.