Melbourne to Hobart Tasmania

I spent a couple days in Melbourne doing mostly nothing but eating. Then this morning I flew to Hobart on Tiger Air. I made it and survived but the entire ordeal of getting on the plane sucked.

I have a very difficult time walking more than about 100 yards a day. Airports require much more than that amount. Therefore I am required to use wheelchair assistance to get around in an airport. I called the airline and informed them like I am supposed to do in advance. They told me they would transport me but not until I checked in. I took an airporter van to the airport and it dropped me off about 8 or 900 yards from the checkin counter. I asked the driver to try to get me closer but he told me they are only allowed to drop passengers in this designated area. How was I supposed to get to the checkin counter? The airport building itself was almost 500 yards away and then another 3 to 400 yards to the counter????? There were no options at all for mobility impaired passengers like myself. I struggled and it took me a long time but I made it to the counter without having a seizure or falling down and hurting myself both of which are common things that happen to me when I walk too far. The other thing that happens when I walk too far is I get outrageously high pain later that night when I go to bed. That pain is kicking in right now. They did transport me to the plane after big arguments with each other about who had to take me. The dispute was right in front of me like I did not matter. Sure they were talking calmly and with smiles on their faces but they were all making it clear that none of them wanted to have to do the chair. In the end one of the females agreed to transport me to the plane. She assured me on the way out that when I got to Hobart there would be a chair waiting for me at the plane because I was the only person that requested a chair. Well when I arrived in Hobart and got off the plane out on the runway there was no chair waiting for me but I did see a person being transported from our plane in a chair way up ahead of me. I asked about my transport and was told there is none because only one chair was requested and that was gone. So I was forced to again walk way more than I am able to to get to the curb and get in my airporter to get to my hostel. It was a horrible day for me and I doubt if I will be able to sleep at all tonight because my pain level is going to be very high. Such is life. The lesson here is do not fly Tiger Air again. I did file a complaint with the airport about the shoddy way mobility impaired people are treated but I doubt if anything will come of that. Here are some pics from the flight...you can see the snow on the ground in the first pic

Lazy day in Melbourne

I took today off almost all day. I tried to find a bike shop in the morning but quickly gave up since it is a national holiday and everything was closed. Then I sat around talking to other travelers about Tasmania and the West coast. I am still trying to work out my plans. In the morning I will take my bike to a shop to get it fixed and boxed. I think I will then go to Tassie and when I get back to Melbourne I may take a bus from here to Adelaide with my bike boxed up. I will then fly from Adelaide to Perth and ride the West coast before flying back to Sydney. Nothing is a sure bet right now. More later. I did not even get my camera out today.

Bairnsdale to Melbourne Australia

I again had a lot of pain problems last night. I haven’t had any substantial sleep for several days. I still packed up my bags and left early. I figured sitting around in the damp cold weather would only make me worse. I stopped for breakfast after riding about 50K. I was feeling better as I rode along. I also stopped at the library to check my wifi junk after breakfast. I rode on after the 20 minute break. A headwind was blowing gently as I left early this morning and it was slowing increasing in intensity as I rode along. The last 20K the wind picked up big time and had me pedaling like I was going up a huge grade instead of the nice flat rural road I was riding on. Still made it to Rosedale for a 120K day of riding.

I was tired and sore so went to the grocery store and bought a bunch of food before I checked into a campground. There is a free camp here but I wanted a hot shower after my sweaty day of riding. Today I will move over to the free camp and stay here in town until Tuesday. This weekend is a big three day holiday for the Queen’s birthday. The Aussies don’t give a rats ass for the Queen but they enjoy their three day weekends just like anyone else and any excuse to get one is fine by them. The roads are too busy though so I will stay here and leave when the traffic gets back down to normal levels.

I got some sleep last night after a long hot shower. Later in the night I woke up again with high pain and my back was very sore as well. All I need now is for my back to go out on me. I have enough issues to deal with.

I am still rethinking my plans. My body is telling me loudly and clearly that it does not like this cold moist weather. It wants me to go somewhere warm right now. I have two days to ponder whether or not I will listen to my decrepit old body or not. More later...

I ended up riding today after all. I rode along mostly flat rural roads with a light headwind. I was having major back pain issues but only when I stopped riding, so I just didn't stop. When I got to the edge of Melbourne, my chain broke. I was near a train station so I jumped on the train and went into the central business district. I am in the hostel right now. I am looking forward to a couple days of good rest in a warm bedroom. If my pain gives me some respite then I will move on to Tasmania if not then I may head North instead to try to get some relief from this relentless pain problem.

There was a beautiful foggy sunrise this morning. And this farm is a typical one in this part of Aussieland. The smoking ad is also a typical graphical direct approach the Aussies like to use. Otherwise I just was not in the mood to see the beauty in life the last few days.

Cann River to Bairnsdale Australia

I rode from Cann River early in the morning with thick frost covering everything. I started to slip around on my bike along the road so I turned around and went to have some coffee and wait for the ice to clear from the road a bit. The fog was also an issue because vehicles would not be able to see me. After about an hour the fog thinned and the roads were not as slippery so I took off. It seemed like I rode uphill all day long but I did about 120K to get me to Nowa Nowa where I stopped for the night in anther pub/hotel. In the morning it was again slippery and foggy so I had to wait a while. I finally got going around 8am. I rode to Lakes entrance and then on through to Bairnsdale. I had wanted to ride further but when I arrived in Bairnsdale I threw in the towel.

My clothes were really stinky from sweating up all the hills for the last few days so I did laundry first thing in Bairnsdale. Then I went to the campground and ate a ton of pasta and salad with some fruit and some juice to wash it all down. I am set for the night now.

Tomorrow I want to ride to Rosedale which is just over 100K according to the information place here in town. Rosedale is a Melbourne suburb for all practical definitions. I will book my Tasmania trip from there if I am able to and may rest up a few days first because the campground there is free. My budget is getting hammered with all the beds I have ended up needing due to rain and cold weather. Australia is not cheap for food either. I will post some menus soon so you can see how high the food prices are. I can not post pics because the wifi is really slow. You could just picture a tunnel in your mind with gum trees lining the sides and that has been my view for the last 4 days. I did see and hear some lyrebirds which are amazing birds but I could not get a pic of one. Enjoy your day. These signs kind of reinforce just how boring the road has been lately.

Genoa to Cann River

I woke up to frost all over everything this morning. I was not cold during the night but getting up in the morning to go take a leak I found out how cold it really was. My tent was dry so I packed up quickly after a quick bowl of oatmeal and a cup of coffee.

Last night I went to bed early and at 10:30 I heard snorting and heavy breathing outside my tent. It sounded like a bear. I unzipped and looked outside and it was just a cute little possum sniffing around. I have never heard one breathing like this guy was. Maybe he had just been running or something. It was not afraid of me but obviously wanted me to give it some food. I don’t do that. I went looking for my camera to take some pics of it but it ran off before I found the camera. No food no pics.

I am still having pain problems and last night I was fighting off seizures several times. I am starting to think that this cold weather is messing up my health. I am seriously thinking about not riding to Adelaide but instead just flying right to Perth from Melbourne. Perth is warmer but not hot at this time of year. I am still thinking it over and hoping my body just comes around and lets me continue with my original plans. Time will tell.

The ride today was almost all uphill. I could not believe the way I would climb up a big hill and then after a short flattish stretch it would go up again. It went on like this all morning with no downhills just constant uphill riding. Finally about 5K or 3 miles from Cann River there was a long downhill into town. I was alternating between freezing and sweating all morning with the low temps outside. I think that may be what is causing my pain issues. Such is life. Tonight, after my short ride, I am sleeping at the pub in a barebones room for $32, and it is all I need. No pics til I find wifi

Eden to Genoa Australia

I finally got some dry weather today so I packed up and hit the road by 7:30 this morning. Within the first kilometer the hills started with a long steep grade leaving the town of Eden. It had me sweating right from the get go today. It was 4C or upper 30sF so it was cold and the sweating and cold can be a dangerous mix. Hypothermia is a possibility so I had to be careful. I tried to slow down to reduce the sweating and I took off some layers but then I got cold and had to put some clothes back on. It was like that all day cold and hot at the same time. My body must have been getting confused by all the contradicting info being sent to my brain.

I counted the grades today. There were 24 grades that made me go all the way down to first gear. The longest was about a half hour to spin to the top. There were a lot of 10-15 minute climbs and some longer and some shorter ones too. There was no flat section. The wind was blowing at about 20mph and as I climbed the grades the wind increased. Then going down the grades the wind was slowing me so much I had to pedal sometimes to keep going.

As I sit here in a free campground right now my face and lips feel like they are wind burned. I stopped here in this campground because it suddenly clouded over and looked like it was going to rain so I dashed here for protection. The camp has toilets and tables and BBQs but no drinking water. The town of Genoa looks like it is a ghost town with two closed hotels, closed pub, closed cafe and lots of abandoned buildings around. There was a woman sitting on her porch and I was going to ask her if there was any drinking water available in town but she ran into her house and closed the door when she saw me approaching. Seems kind of like a Hitchcock town to me. There are some other RVers here so I will try to get some drinking water from them. The next place to get water is 50 km or 30 miles away. Not much for pics today. and wifi is too slow to post em.

Rain and Headwind Delay

I expected to ride south today but after a night of rain I woke up to more cold rain and high winds out of the south. Needless to say I bailed on the plans to ride this morning. I went over to the cafe across the street and had breakfast and coffee instead. It may be a good thing that the weather delayed me because I had another bad night of pain last night. Maybe one more day of rest will help me get past this little health problem.

I enjoyed talking with the locals at the cafe. They are all very friendly in these small Aussie towns. At one point while we were talking the rain turned into snow flurries and then into sleet. They all looked at me like I was crazy as that was coming down and asked me what I would do if I was caught out in weather like this. I pointed out that I have been caught out in way worse weather like up on Mount Cook in New Zealand or on Big Sur in California both places where I got caught in freezing sleet and high wind with much colder temps than what the city of Eden has. I have my wet weather gear and a tent to hole up in if need be. My bags are all watertight also so I am prepared. I am also not opposed to stopping and asking for shelter at a farm or where ever I happen to be near. But being prepared for bad weather is different from leaving in bad, cold, wet weather. I will not intentionally ride in this crapola if I am able to avoid it.

More later...