Day 8: Melbourne Port to Mitta Mitta
4 February 2020
From sporadic contact with Aussieflyer, I knew he had been working behind the scenes to engineer a day away from work on Tuesday 4 February so he could come riding again. The fates conspired against him and he could not escape, leaving me with a dilemma: should I ride north out of Melbourne to get home as quickly as possible, or head east and try to catch up with NoRoomtoMove again?
Heading north would mean getting into some excellent roads more quickly than heading east, but the advisories were showing the Omeo Valley Road as being open. As it's one of my favourite roads and it would give me an opportunity to see the aftermath of some of the fires, I was tempted. It's a dilemma I had to think about: would it be rubbernecking plain and simple, or would spending a little money with businesses adversely affected by the effect of the fires on their trade be a good thing? On balance, I reckon if you keep moving, keep out of the way and help the cafés, hotels and petrol stations, it's a good thing to do.
A generous offer of lunch with Mr and Mrs NoRoomtoMove clinched the deal and I took to the freeway east from Melbourne.
I'd been tempted to ride north of the highway into some country I'd not seen that looked interesting, but I wasn't sure of the road condition and I did have a deadline, so I took the highway to Pakenham and then turned south towards Phillip Island. Before arriving to empty pits and a deserted track, I turned east onto the A440 and made my way through Forster to Sale and thence to the NoRoomtoMoves' rural retreat where, ironically, there's plenty of room.
A milestone on the way
Looking from the A440 to Wilson's Promontory. Had we sailed another half a day or so from Deal Island we would have arrived there.
Mrs NoRoomtoMove made us a splendid lunch and we talked for too long before NoRoomtoMove and I headed out towards Omeo where I was thinking to stay the night. He was going to ride as far as he could before turning for home.
Trying to keep up with NoRoomtoMove a little east of his home
We passed through Sarsfield and saw at first hand the edges of the fires that had ravaged Gippsland. I hadn't realised there was a locality called Sarsfield; for no reason it surprised me a little as there are Sarsfields way back in my ancestry. It was a curious thing though, that some of the damage already looked out of context. The remains of this house had been bulldozed and a little rain had already made it look as if there'd never really been a fire.
Leaving Bruthen at the start of the Great Alpine Road
I expected the Omeo Valley to have been devastated by the fire and to be equally devastated by it. Aside from being a wonderful riding road, it is also very pretty, with fine examples of Australian bush on display for the majority of the way. Happily, it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected, although there was serious damage and an airborne water bucket attested to the fact that fires were still being fought.
Is the chopper in the next picture after whatever's causing that smoke?
Checking out a lookout
At around 5.15 we stopped at the Swifts Creek Hotel to have a soft drink and a final chat. The pub was advertising accommodation and meals and I realised I'd had enough riding for the day. They were happy to feed me; but had no accommodation. There was none to be had elsewhere in the town; nor was there any in Omeo, 15 minutes or so up the road. Firefighters and other people helping with fires and recovery rightly had priority.
The next pub was Mitta Mitta at the northern end of the Omeo Valley, 130 kms and at least 2 hours serious riding away. They had a room and I booked it.
NoRoomtoMove and I said our farewells around 6.15 pm and I climbed on to the bike to do my best to get to Mitta Mitta before too many kangaroos came out to play. I was not altogether happy about having to ride so far so late in the day but needs must.
It is a brilliant road. After the first 20 kms to Omeo, it twists and turns seriously for better than 100 kms. I promised myself I wouldn't be a fool, but I did need to make good time.
The first of two stops occurred when the people at the pub rang to say the trip would take me getting on for 2.5 hours and that they may not be there when I arrived. I paid them in advance over the phone and made arrangements to get in if they were not about.
The second occurred when nature insisted.
The road was deserted. I think I saw a motorbike and three cars, all early on. Leaf litter, fallen branches and four fallen trees were a problem, but all were visible in time not to be too inconvenient. In the dusk as I approached Mitta Mitta I passed one lone wallaby.
In spite of my promise, I did have one pucker moment when I nearly overshot a corner, but, as usual the CB1100's front brakes did what they were meant to.
Just after 8.15 I pulled up at the Mitta Pub. Luckily for me they'd had an influx of visitors and were still there. Even better the kitchen was open so I got a beer and some food. I slept very well having ridden a good deal further than I had intended.
