Day Nine: Barham 0 kms Rest Day

Late start to the morning and did not get out of bed before 8 am. Very relaxing. Bill has taken a cabin again but this time in the caravan park for the 2 nights, the rest of us are camping. The campground is very serene and picturesque. We are all overlooking the murray and it is very treed. Nice camp kitchen and the amenities are very clean and plentiful. The people running the CP can't do enough for you- very pleasant.
Jen and Jim went down to the cafe for a cooked breakfast. I think Bill ended up there as well and then Jacquei walked past and joined them. The rest of us had breakfast in camp before heading off for walks and bike rides around the area. The town has a lovely feel to it as well and Collis & I went on the river gum walk looking at the sculptures and the old saw mill.

It was a relaxing day before we headed out to check the state of the unmade road we thought they may need to ride tomorrow. They can't ride it, it is far too rough and goes for 11 kms so we drove around looking for an alternative. Found a 3 km stretch of unmade road that was pretty good except for about 200 mts of it that they may have to walk the bikes through otherwise it looks good and this should add about 5- 10 kms onto the 60 kms for tomorrow.
The park lit the fire in the camp kitchen and we had a nice warm area to sit for dinner and chats. Collis and the girls went down to the servicemen's club for a drink and I had a go at the pokies and came away winning $25.00. So far I am in front so I better stop now.

Day Eight: Moama to Barham 93 kms

Drama will always follow us. Collis woke around 4.30 am and couldn't stay in bed so got up and went to the camp kitchen. A few caravans had set up right next to the kitchen and when he turned the light on there was a bit of an uproar so he quickly turned it off. As most of us know Collis is not the quietest person in town so I'm sure he kept disturbing them. It was a stupid place for them to park but they probably had no choice. Anyway as we were packing up the food out of the kitchen this women started going off about him and said she hoped we fell off our bikes. Her partner, both of which would not show their faces, told us to get in the car and get out. I would not be able to identify her by appearance but she had a very distinct high pitched voice and they had 2 ugly yappy sausage dogs with them. Charming!
The group left around 8.30 am and checked out the wharf of Echuca before getting on the road with the wind behind them. It was a lovely ride today and morning tea was at 33kms beside a lovely lake of some sort. Very relaxed. Lunch was at Cohuna by the irrigation channel- even more relaxed. Arrived at Barham by 3 pm to a very nice caravan park on the river murray. Happy chappies.
The girls went for a walk around town to check out the action for tomorrow, did some shopping and then most of us cooked in the lovely camp kitchen. Collis, Mark and I went to the pub and I played the pokies (winning a whole $4) until Collis decided I had to quit while I was ahead.

Day Seven: Barooga to Moama 110 kms

I can't believe it has been a week already although I should know by now that the time flies when you are out on the road. The day started with some very light drizzle that just tapped on the awning over my bed, just enough to wake me from a lovely snooze. I slowly wake, get dressed and gradually climb out of my little cocoon. I have put my rain jacket on but it is not required because the drizzle has already stopped. The sun isn't quite up as yet but it is close. It's nearly 7 am and the rest of the group have been up for a while now and I'm really surprised to see Mark at the camp kitchen eating his breakfast along with Robbo. My first thought was that we were going to have a bad day because Robbo must have woken Mark but this was not so. Mark had his own purpose for being up before the sun.
The team leader today was Jim, who was wanting monetary recompense for taking on this enormous responsibility. According to the group he excelled at the task and they are happy for him to be the leader on most days. The responsibility must be shared around and tomorrow I think Carmen may need to take her turn. If they are never aware of who may get the job then they may all listen more closely to the briefings.
The majority of the group left camp around 8 am and we all met up for morning tea at the 40 km mark. Jacquei and Carmen came bearing fruitful gifts. They had found peaches on the ground under a tree- a nice treat.

A couple of loaded up cyclists came along the road at the end of our break and they were cycling to Cairns- taking a similar route to the one we took last year. They had a little dog they were carting with them in a trolley at the back and they have done a lot of long distance cycling over the years, always with their little pup. Mark arrived late as he had a puncture from the bindi eyes or 4 corner jacks (they have quite a few different names). We must remember to warn everyone next year that they are prevalent on this route. There was a 56 km straight road today. Jen, Carmen and Jacquei had a close encounter with a large brown snake which they disturbed on the side of the road and fortunately lived to tell the story.
The wind was not kind to them today and it started to heat up after morning tea so we had hot northerly headwinds for most of the day. Lunch was at Barmah near the river. It was getting hotter but the locals were talking about a big storm that was supposed to come through with a big drop in temperature, lightening strikes, thunder and hail as big as golf balls. We looked to the heavens but couldn't see any sign of the threatening weather- maybe around the next bend. The bend and the storm never came and the relief from the headwinds did not appear until the last 10 kms into Moama. Disappointed with the chosen camping ground so we moved to the one across the road which wasn't a big improvement but reasonable.
Went up to the local hotel for a well deserved drink (or two) and then the girls walked into Echuca for a shop and dinner while myself and the boys had dinner at the pub. Not bad with bangers and mash for $9 and lambs fry $9. Collis was very pleased with himself and his lambs fry. A quick go at the pokies with an eventual lose of $10.

Day Six: Corowa to Barooga 73.3kms.

Up before the dawn today mainly because we had been in bed for 10 hours already. It's the country air that has you in bed for so long. Most riders, bar Robbo, stayed in their tents until the sunrise and headed off around about 8.30 am. Riding as a group again although Mark left later and did his own thing. They all arrived around the same time for morning tea and Mark about a half hour behind them. We skirted Lake Mulwala most of the morning and had morning tea on it's banks. Jacquei saved a ram who had got it's horns tangled up in some barbed wire.
Mark went off to look at Yarrawonga and Robbo went in search of an old friend who is a priest living in Yarrawonga.
 The remainder of the group got into camp at the resort before the real heat kicked in, even though it was still sitting slightly above 30 degrees. The girls had a go on the jumping pillow until Jacquei hit her head on the ground- it looked like it was going down.
Most of us went into Cobram for a stock up of bike parts and food items. Collis and I came back and braved the cold, cold waters of the swimming pool. All except Jim & Bill cooked their dinner in camp last night and it was lovely having freshly cooked meals with fresh ingredients. We had a few visitors over dinner- Robbo counted 27 kangaroos in one bunch. Lovely to see after the last trip we saw very few live kangaroos.

Day Five Corowa 0 kms

What a relaxing rest day. Up with the sunrise and the kookaburras. Relaxing breakfast and a walk along the river. In for a long shower before heading up the main drag for a morning of Op Shopping. First stop was Country Target where I managed to pick up some great bargains and a new pillow- mine was a bit flat. Then I caught up with Jacquei and eventually Carmen and Jen. We had a very enjoyable couple of hours scrounging through the second hand goods. Jacquei picked up some real bargains. I wanted the dumb waiter but even with a whisper in his ear, he wouldn't come with me. Then we discovered The Chocolate Factory. I had the thickest hot chocolate ever with melted marshmallows through it. The spoon was standing up straight. The girls had coffee and carrot cake and Jacquei had a stale scone(very disappointed). The chocolate was the BEST.
Back to camp for a sit in the river with Jacquei while the others went exploring around the wineries. Most of us had dinner over at Wahgunya - The Empire Hotel- The Fairies Bistro. It was the best food ever. The only one with a complaint was Mark, who's pork chop was slightly over cooked.
Very pleasant day!

Day Four Tallangatta to Corowa 100 kms.

Good sleep last night by most of us but Carmen actually woke up hungry after trying to eat the veal meal last night and then she was serenaded by Mark's snoring efforts and another mysterious snorer. Apparently they were not in sink with each other. Mark says the other snorer is Jacquei but she didn't think she snored so who knows!! I have my own personal snorer so I don't hear much else around the camp at night.

The group mostly rode the bike path to Wodonga today, coming off (onto the road)in parts where the path was pretty rough and not maintained. Apparently a lovely ride around the Hume Weir and across some old railway bridges. We, of course, stuck to the road and had a couple of log trucks up our bottom for some scary sections. A large wombat went to walk out in front of us at one stage, but quickly turned around and raced back into the bush. I hope it survived today. Morning tea at McDonalds.
Collis then elected Robbo as the ride leader to get the group out of Wodonga and not spend too much time on the Highway. He lasted 2 kms before he spied a Subway restaurant and he abandoned his followers for the taste of a roll. Mark had taken his own route and beat the group (of now 5) to the turnoff to Old Barnawatha Road, so he led them for a short while but then got a fair way ahead. We ended up stopping short for the lunch stop as the road was a little confusing. 6 of the group had a relaxing lunch in the shade of a big gum tree enjoying the infamous boston bun bought originally for morning tea. They headed off before there was any sign of their neglectful leader. Collis and I waited around for Robbo to arrive. A truck pulled up to inform us that one of our mob were down on the last corner asking directions to Corowa, so we knew he was still alive and hadn't been squashed by his foot long roll.
Robbo arrives in a little bit of distress as he was a little unsure of the directions. I saw him writing them down diligently when in McDonalds so I'm not too sure what he had done with them. Anyway he made it to lunch, although he had already eaten well. His blood sugars were low so he had the remaining pieces of the boston bun. We had to leave him with further directions whilst we drove up the road to see how Jim was going. Jen had rung to say Jim had a flat  tyre but was taking an awful long time to catch up with them. We found Jim who informs us that he had actually had 3 flats but all was good after using the big pump and was on his way. Mark was going to try a couple of wineries and then he rode in through Wahgunyah.
We are all in town by 4 pm but still no sign of Robbo. We found him, he was in Rutherglen, having missed the turnoff onto the Up River Road. He then visited a winery before heading back here with a beer in hand. His blood sugars were really low at this stage so we had to get some food into him pretty quickly. The girls stayed at camp and cooked. The boys went to the pub, Bill had a pizza and Collis & I went for Turkish. Rest day tomorrow.

Day Three Jingellic to Tallangatta 90 kms

It was a cold night last night getting down to 6 degrees overnight. Fancy forgetting my thermals especially after the trip across the Nullarbor. Anyway we all stayed warm and cosy in our beds. The rain seems to have left us, not that we got very much, and the farmers wouldn't have even noticed any effects from the little bit we got. It is pretty green still up around here in the Upper Murray region but I'm sure it will get browner as we go. There were quite a few possums around last night so all boxes were made secure.

Bill didn't enjoy his first night in the tent and is looking forward to getting back into his 'real' bed tonight- he's discussing the pro's & cons of camping with a wise old cow. The BBQ last night was very nice and we invited a couple of French cyclists, who arrived into camp late, to join us. They managed to clean up all plates. Their English wasn't great but they were able to get their messages across and we discovered they are cheese makers in France. Yummy.
The group had a few hills to climb today but the gradients were pretty even and not all that difficult. There were lots of lovely downhills along with the climbs. The scenery was fantastic again, lots of water views, lots of wild fruit trees to raid and even a big fat wombat crossed our paths. It is mainly cow country and we saw huge long horn cows with young very hairy calves.

Arrived into Tallangatta mid afternoon so most headed straight for the bakery with Mark checking out the 2 hotels. The local supermarket got plenty of business as well before we all headed down to The Victorian Hotel for our evening meal. The chicken schnitzel wasn't too bad (a little dry) but the veal apparently tasted like it had been cooked a couple of times. We shared the dining room with the local rotary club so gathered a bit of information about the local community while we ate dinner. New owner at the hotel (female) who according to Mark, has owned the pub for 5 months only. Good on her for giving it a go.
Early to bed by most of us although Mark wasn't back before I went to bed and I was the last to crawl in at around '9.30pm'. Warmer tonight.