April 24th, 2011
Port Fairy to Portland
Distance: 76km
Total distance: 1794km
Had an interesting morning today. My morning begun with a chat with the camper next door and he kindly shared with me his experience of camping in Nullarbor (with 4WD). As usual, talks on recumbent touring too. Soon, a young fellow came with a curious look on his face and ask about my trike. His name was Jake, and his first question was, “Is that a bike or a car?”. He kept wanting to test ride it, despite my failed attempt to convince him that he wouldn’t be able to since he’s only less than a metre tall. In the end, I gave up and just let him sat on the trike and I pushes the trike while he steer. People were watching us but it was great to see Jake really enjoying it. Before leaving the caravan park, Jake returned a favour by giving me a good push! The whole thing was hillarious but that really made my day! Thanks Jake! Found out that a good push was all I needed to start my day in a positive tone!
My ride today was quite relaxing. Before hitting the Princes Hwy, I rode to the beach at Port Fairy to have a look and then dropped by at the local IGA store for an iced chocolate milk. Found myself cruising along the town and residential road to enjoy the historic architecture before leaving to the highway. On the highway, the shoulder was just wide enough to fit my trike with the occasional right wheel overlapping into the driving lanes. According to the weather forecast, I should be facing a direct headwind today but there was almost no wind at all. Later in my ride, I passed by a wind farm and that was probably the only place where I experienced a significant amount of wind (headwind). Rode passed two small towns, Yambuk and Narrawong but didn’t bother stopping for lunch since they don’t have any restaurants, only a general store and petrol kiosk.
Ate some biscuits for lunch and cruised into Portland rather early, at a little passed 3pm. When entering Portland, I noticed many vehicles trailing boats. I wanted to go to the visitor info centre to ask for the cheapest caravan park around here but as I was riding down into town, I came across a caravan park. The park operator gave me a generous discount for my unpowered site. I think I learnt the trick by now, always bring my bike helmet in with me when making enquiries at the reception. Pitched my tent and laid it under the sunlight to dry. Took a good look at the park and surprised to find so many boats here. Boat fishing must be huge in Portland. A stroll to the town centre later proves this, with almost 1 in 2 vehicles trailing boats. There were many shops selling fishing and boating equipments too. Had a hamburger meal and shopped for provisions at Woolies. This town is pretty big considering they have Woolies, Maccas, KFC, and even Dominos Pizza. Heck, they even have a tram service but I think it’s meant for tourist rather than commuting.
Back at the caravan park, I checked on the weather and elevation profile for my destination tomorrow which is Mount Gambier. Seems sunny and not much climbing at all despite its name. Only thing is it’s going to be at least a 110km ride, hope I’ll be able to reach before dark!