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    • The World on Two WheelsCanada, Cuba and Covid 19
      Day 58

      Sunshine Before the Storms

      April 28, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

      We awoke to a sunny, but very cold, morning. The Weather Bureau has warned us that this will be the last time we will see the sun for the next week. That meant it would be our last chance to finish the painting we have been doing for the past few days. So that's how we spent the morning.

      By noon the painting was finished and we could stand back to admire our handiwork. It might not have been perfect, but I had to admit that it looked pretty good.

      "Now can we get on our bikes ?", I asked.

      My plan was to have a picnic by the ocean and then ride to Cape Paterson to explore the huge development we had discovered yesterday. We packed the bikes onto the car, filled the thermos, and then drove to the bakery to buy some pies and cakes. Since Maggie did not take a breath the entire time we were inside the bakery, I was a little concerned that she might suffocate herself.

      Once back in the car, she proceeded to cover herself with sanitizer. She even demanded that I sterilize my credit card, just in case a rogue virus might have jumped from the EFTPOS machine. Then we were finally on our way.

      A few minutes later we were enjoying our picnic. Well I enjoyed it. Maggie was worried about viruses floating in the window. Then we unloaded the bikes and rode the Bunurong Coast road to Cape Paterson.

      The bikes allowed us to explore a lot more of the huge environmental development we had discovered yesterday. The houses were certainly intriguing and came in a huge range of very individual styles. While some of them were quite lovely, I told Maggie that I thought that others were "butt ugly". She disagreed. She usually does that when I say something. I still thought that some were ugly.

      After riding around the development and exploring some surrounding roads, we rode back to the centre of Cape Paterson. Since the weather was still being kind, we decided to continue to ride back along the highway towards Wonthaggi. We made it about half way, before turning back and returning to Cape Paterson. Finally, we returned back along the Burnurong Coast back to our car. It had been a lovely ride, but it will probably be our last chance to get on the bikes for some time.

      Even though the weather is about to go to the dogs, at least we have an exciting thing happening tomorrow. Well two exciting things actually. Firstly we will have a visit from the garbage collector. That's exciting. Then we have a delivery from Woolworths on line. That's even more exciting. I don't think I will be able to sleep tonight.      Read more

    • The World on Two WheelsCanada, Cuba and Covid 19
      Day 57

      A Rather Grey Day on the Coast

      April 27, 2020 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

      The last couple of days have seen us involved in a frenzy of home improvement projects. Well, perhaps frenzy might be a little bit of an exaggeration, but we did pick up our paint brushes and slap a lot of paint about the place. Some of it actually went where it was supposed to.

      Although the sun was far too shy to make an appearance, at least there was no rain. The painting was finished before lunchtime so we had the afternoon free to have some fun. But what could we do ?

      After a short time for thinking, we decided to go to Cape Paterson for a walk. The dog seemed pleased with our decision and decided to come alomg also.

      Although Cape Paterson is only a short drive from Inverloch, it is an entirely different type of town in that it has virtually no shops or other facilities. It is home to a huge new environmental housing development called "The Cape". That is where we chose to do our walk.

      I must admit that I was surprised by the size of the development and the unique styles of the homes that had been built there. These are all apparently designed to be highly environmentally sensitive and many claim to have energy ratings or 9 or even 10 stars.

      The dog discovered that it also had a large dog park, complete with off lead area and all sorts of canine activity stations. It was a doggy heaven and she obviously found the multitude of scents absolutely intoxicating. We enjoyed the place so much that we decided to come back tomorrow and explore the place some more on our bikes.      Read more

    • The World on Two WheelsCanada, Cuba and Covid 19
      Day 52

      Oh No, Not 2020

      April 22, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

      January 2020 seems a lifetime ago. At that time the share market was setting new records almost every day, our retirement savings seemed safe, we were able to see our families any time we wanted, we could dine out and share bike rides with our friends.

      We also had the Olympic Games to look forward, along with the AFL premiership season, the Tour de France and lots of rides with the Ghostriders. What could possibly go wrong ?

      Meanwhile, somewhere in China, a tiny organism made the leap from animal to human and a dreadful chain of events was set in motion. Over the space of just a few weeks, this evil little bugger had spread all over the planet and affected billions of lives.

      In the course of our lives there are certain days that become etched in our memories. All of those that are old enough can remember what we were doing when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. We can remember what we did on Ash Wednesday or Black Saturday. Such events burn themselves into our memories. I think that 2020 will be similarly remembered as the year that wasn't.

      At least the news isn't all bad. Australia is faring better than most other countries, with the infection rate steadily dropping over the past couple of weeks. We are all hoping that this may mean that we can start to conservatively wind back some of the harshest restrictions in the not too distant future. For Maggie and me, we are most hoping that we will be able to see our latest grandson on his first birthday in 6 weeks time. It is such a significant milestone in his life that we would hate to not be able to share it with him.

      The highlight of our day was the weekly delivery of groceries from the Woolworths on line service. We even got a new pack of toilet paper, so things are really looking up.

      Unfortunately, the day ended with an almost indescribable tragedy when four police officers were killed on the Eastern Freeway. They had stopped a speeding Porsche driver and were killed by a huge truck driving up the emergency lane. When faced with such events, our hardships seem pretty minor by comparison.      Read more

    • The World on Two WheelsCanada, Cuba and Covid 19
      Day 51

      Cycling by the Seaside

      April 21, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

      I know how important it can be to take advantage of opportunities when they arise. That is why you should never pass a toilet without making use of it, especially when you are of more mature years.

      When we awoke to a perfectly blue sky, I knew that it was going to one of those glorious autumn days. It is this sort of day that makes this one of my favourite times of the year. It was just too good an opportunity not to take full advantage of.

      We packed the bikes onto the car and drove to the outskirts of Wonthaggi. It is still very ambiguous whether such activity is allowed under our current restrictions, and Maggie spent the whole time looking behind us expecting a police car in hot pursuit. Fortunately we made the short drive without being thrown into the back of the paddy wagon and were soon enjoying the Bass Coast Rail Trail.

      The trail itself extends from the Mitre 10 store in Wonthaggi to the Anderson roundabout, about 3 km past Kilcunda. More recently it has been extended from Anderson to Woolamai. There is also another bike path that joins at Anderson and runs to San Remo and finally all the way to Cowes.

      We were not the only ones making use of the lovely weather. Quite a few other walkers and riders were enjoying the conditions. Each time we rode past any of these, we tried to leave as wide a gap as possible. This virus scare has made us see every other human being as a potential source of travelling contagion.

      The most spectacular part of the Bass Coast Trail is the section near Kilcunda. Here the path follows the oceanfront clifftops and the views are amazing. We discovered that recent storms had severely eroded the cliffs, in some places causing part of the path to collapse down onto the beach. These damaged areas had been fenced off by new security fencing.

      We kept on riding up the hill to Anderson and then decided to explore some of the new trail towards Woolamai. Since the weather was starting to show signs of deteriorating, we did not have time to ride the full distance and stopped to have our picnic lunch at a high point, with a panoramic view down over Westernport and Philip Island.

      The return ride was a little easier as we had a brisk tail wind for most of the way. By the time we had arrived back at the car we had ridden around 43km. It was not a long ride, but it did a lot to improve our morale. The forecast for the next few days is not as promising, so it might be our last ride for a little while.      Read more

    • The World on Two WheelsCanada, Cuba and Covid 19
      Day 55

      Anzac Day in Isolation

      April 25, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

      With the normal Anzac Day services not possible because of the restrictions currently in place banning gatherings of people, everyone had been encouraged to conduct their own service before sunrise outside their own house. Maggie and I decided to set the alarm for 5.45 am and conduct our own small service.

      It certainly was cold outside and there was still no sign of the sunrise when we donned some warm clothes and walked to the end of the drive. Although the street was still deserted, I could hear someone playing the "Last Post", somewhere in the distance. We appeared to be the only ones in our street who had risen early, but it seemed to be the right thing to do. It brought back memories of my grandfather, so I thought I would take some time to include some of his story here.

      My grandfather, Horace Dawson, embarked for Gallipoli on July 16th 1915 on the HMAT Demosthenes. He was a 2nd Lt with the 23rd Infantry Battalion reinforcements. He had recently been married and left for Turkey only a few days after the wedding. My father was born nine months later. My grandfather did not get to meet his first son until he returned from the war in 1919.

      After the debacle at Gallipoli, Horace went to Egypt to play an important role as adjutant and second in charge of the Bicycle Battalion which saw extensive action in France and Belgium. This is something I only found out in 2012, as my grandfather would never talk about his war experiences. I do remember his eyes being permanently bloodshot, apparently as a result of being badly affected by mustard gas.

       In July 1919 he was Mentioned in Despatches for his exemplary work in the formation of the Bicycle Battalion and his commendation bears the famous signature of Winston Churchill, who at that time was the Secretary of State for War.

      My grandfather never got to see his son until he returned to Australia in 1919. After his return he had another 5 children and lived a long and productive life, living to over 100. His later years were mostly spent in Sorrento, close to where his grandparents had first landed in Australia on the famous plague ship The Ticonderoga in 1852. He passed away in 1989.

      I just wished I had the privilege to know him better. RIP Horace Dawson.

      The main picture shows my grandfather on the left. The other images show some of the other members of the Bicycle Battalion.      Read more

    • The World on Two WheelsCanada, Cuba and Covid 19
      Day 44

      It's Not Easy

      April 14, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

      It's not easy. No, it's not easy. After three and a half weeks of lockdown, it is starting to sink in that this might be our lifestyle for some time to come. Although the effectiveness of this strategy is being shown in the latest statistics, it is not easy to be separated from our family and friends for such an extended time.

      I think it is also the complete uncertainty of the whole thing that makes it harder. If we knew just how long it was going to last for, we would have something to look forward to. As it is we don't know whether it will be for just a few more weeks, or maybe to the end of the year or longer. Maybe the only way to approach this is to take each day at a time. Each day that we get through is another day closer to that day when we will all be free to return to our normal lives and relationships.

      I know another thing that is not easy. Adjusting derailleur gears has always been a black art, but for some unknown reason I decided to give it a go this morning. On the past couple of rides I had been conscious of the fact that my gears were not engaging as precisely as they should. Since it was a pretty good day as far as the weather was concerned, I had promised Maggie that we would go on another ride.

      Just as we were about to leave, I called out to Maggie.

      "Hang on a moment, I need to adjust my gears", I said, as if I actually knew what I was doing. It did not take me long to upend the bike, spilling the entire contents from my pannier in the process. I had forgotten to close the zipper.

      Then I attacked the gear cable, succeeding in almost immediately ripping off the cable cover on the end. It was not going well and I hadn't even started. Very soon I could not engage any gears at all. That was not the result I was planning.

      "How long will you be ?", Maggie asked.

      "Not long now", I lied.

      About 30 minutes later I had managed to repair most of the damage I had inflicted on my bike. The gears might have been marginally better, but then again they might have been even worse. I washed my hands and announced that the job was done.

      When we finally got underway the weather had deteriorated a little. At least it was not raining (yet). We first headed up the main road to Korrumburra, before turning left into Lynnes Rd and heading towards Wonthaggi. The traffic was still light, but was substantially heavier than it had been in the Easter break. Fortunately none of them managed to knock us off our bikes.

      We eventually reached the road to Wonthaggi and that is when the rain started. The pace quickened in an attempt to find somewhere to shelter. Unfortunately we never did find shelter, but fortunately the rain stopped after about 15 minutes.

      The final section of the ride took us along the Bass Highway from Wonthaggi to Inverloch. Although there is a generous shoulder for cycling, it was a little unnerving when large trucks flew past at 100 kph. We did make it home in one piece and decided that overall it had been a successful ride.      Read more

    • TravelerNovember 2019 NSW South Coast
      Day 1

      Inverloch, VIC

      November 5, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

      We arrived here on Melbourne Cup day & watched the race on the big screen in the camp kitchen. We stayed here in the cold, wet & VERY windy weather as a base for 3 nights, to catch up with Pete's parents in n earby Mirboo NorthRead more

    • The World on Two WheelsCanada, Cuba and Covid 19
      Day 41

      Hello NBN

      April 11, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

      If yesterday had been a perfect Autumn day, today was anything but. Sometime during the evening the predicted storms arrived with a vengeance. The rain poured heavily all night and the wind steadily built up to a real crescendo. I recently learned that Melbourne has received as much rain in the first three months of 2020 than it had in the whole of 2019. That is quite a statistic, especially as it was only a couple of months ago that it seemed that the entire state of Victoria was engulfed in bushfires. Another example of how quickly things can change.

      When the sun rose this morning the storm was still raging. It was very obvious that there would be no bike riding today. This was a reminder that winter was surely drawing closer and that we would have many cold days indoors in the months ahead. Since our main connection with the outside world is the Internet, we will become increasingly dependent on having a reliable connection with a generous bandwidth.

      At that stage I had an idea. Since, for the foreseeable future, we will no longer be living in Pakenham, I wondered if it would be possible to transfer our NBN service from Pakenham to Inverloch. I suspected that there would be a hundred reasons why it could not be done, but I have learned that you never know unless you ask.

      I wasn't even sure if our Internet company Aussie Broadband would be open during Easter, but I decided to call them anyway. One thing I really appreciate about Aussie Broadband is that they are situated nearby in Morwell and that their support staff all speak Australian English. Soon I was chatting to a friendly young man who knew exactly where Inverloch was (something you would never get with those call centres in Manilla). I explained what I would like to do with my Internet connection. To my surprise he said that it "should not be a problem". After a few minutes I had begun the transfer process. It was simple and painless. What I didn't know was how long it would take for the NBN to be connected to our house in Inverloch. I suspected that it would be a couple of weeks at least.

      You could therefore imagine my surprise when my phone chirped with an incoming SMS about an hour later. It told me that my new service was now "ready for use". I connected the router and was delighted when the Internet was up and running just a few minutes later. The NBN often gets bad publicity when things go wrong, but I could not believe how quick the whole process had been . There was no charge for the transfer and I did not have to enter a contract. How good was that ?

      The rest of the afternoon was spent experimenting with our new and improved Internet connection and trying to learn how to use Skype. It might help to maintain our sanity over the next few months.      Read more

    • The World on Two WheelsCanada, Cuba and Covid 19
      Day 38

      Goodbye Melbourne, Hello Inverloch

      April 8, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

      Today I finally left my solitary existence and reunited with Maggie and Laila (the dog). It was a day that I had been looking forward to eagerly ever since I returned from Cuba. What I was not so eagerly looking forward to was tidying and cleaning the house before I left. After two and a half weeks of living as a bachelor, it was starting to show the collateral damage from missing a woman's touch.

      The first step was to pack about everything I own into the car. I guess I should be glad that the Skoda has such a large boot. Believe me, I needed every cubic centimetre of the space. After packing clothes, tools, computers and cycling gear, I started packing all the food from the fridge and pantry. The car sunk a little further on its suspension.

      Then I started the housework. Vacuuming really is exhausting work, especially when you are just not really into it. It was somewhere during all this activity that I made a shocking discovery - one of the car keys was missing. From bitter personal experience I already know that a replacement costs about $600. Considering the massive hit that our finances had taken over the past few weeks, that was enough to send me into a tailspin.

      I searched high, I searched low. I even unpacked all the stuff that I had already packed, just in case it had accidentally got caught up in other things. There was no sign of it. I did what any other elderly lunatic would do under the circumstances - I started to panic. The problem was the more I panicked, the less logical my searching became. I needed to reset.

      I decided to return to the vacuuming, hoping that it might also suck some of the cobwebs from my addled brain. My strategy worked. After a short time of cleaning, my mind started to clear and I thought of some other very logical places to look. Within a couple of minutes the lost key was found. I almost jumped for joy.

      The final step was to put the bike carrier on the car and load our bikes. Then it was a final look around, not knowing how long it will be before we can return home. By 3 pm I was backing out the driveway and on my way.

      I had heard about police stopping people in their cars and hitting them with monstrous fines. With the bikes on the back and the car packed to the roof, I guess I looked exactly like someone heading off for an (illegal) Easter holiday. I would not have been surprised if I had been pulled over and interrogated, however the entire journey was achieved without incident.

      Maggie and I will now be settling into a new lifestyle, until the isolation period is officially over. The hardest part is being separated from our family and friends. It will also be interesting to see if our marriage survives being trapped together in such small quarters for an extended period of time.      Read more

    • The World on Two WheelsCanada, Cuba and Covid 19
      Day 84

      A Surprise Announcement

      May 24, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

      I have to admit that it came as something of a surprise. After ten weeks of being warned about the dangers of venturing outside our front doors, now Dan Andrews has decided that it is something we should all do. It was only a few days ago that he reluctantly allowed us to have a maximum of five visitors to our homes. Now we will soon be free to have a party with 20 guests. We will also be free to resume travel within the state and stay overnight wherever and whenever we wish.

      I think it would be fair to say that we were not expecting such rapid changes. It was the Premier who had been saying over and over that any changes would only be introuduced slowly and carefully. His favourite mantra is "we only have one chance to do this right". I don't know what brought on such a drastic change of mind. Perhaps he watched some of Donald Trump's announcements and was inspired to follow suit.

      Although things that were formally regarded as extremely risky are now apparently quite safe, I still think that there is no real imperative to drastically change our behaviour. Of course the freedom to travel, without worrying whether or not you were going to be pulled over by the next Highway Patrol, will be a great relief.

      This also means that we will no longer be restricted to a maximum of ten riders on Ghostrider rides, although personally we feel that the time is not yet right for unrestricted rides. I think that June will be a transition period and maybe we will be ready to return to something resembling our previous ride schedule at the beginning of July. I guess time will tell how effective the state's new strategy will turn out to be.

      In the meantime, we are getting close to returning to Melbourne. It has been a wonderful time to relax, think, write, ride and also do some much-needed maintenance, but it was never going to be permanent. At this stage our plan is to return home sometime in the next few days.      Read more

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    Inverloch

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