For those who have followed my blog may have picked up the theme that I like riding my bike and I like riding a long way.  Well that is very true.  However, I also really love sharing my rides with Deb.  These rides aren’t measured in 1,000’s of kilometers but in the number of coffee shops, craft shops, and sight seeing opportunities we take.  Generally they are limited to approximately 400km per day.

So with a couple of free days we planned a quick overnighter down to Mallacoota on the Victorian coast with a couple of friends.

But before I go any further I want to apologise for the photos – they are crap low resolution photos! I forgot to check the settings before I set off.  Lesson learnt.

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So with record rainfall over the last month and a lot of the north west of the State under flood waters it was nice to see blue sky as we headed south out of Canberra.

The beauty of these types of rides is that there is no real time constraints.  So the unwritten rule if you are in the lead is that you set the direction, the stops, and the side roads to explore.

It is really easy to just keep riding, to rush to the destination.  It can be much harder to stop.  This is a lesson I’ve had to learn. Stopping. Just sitting and gazing out over the mountains, taking it all in.

Besides with less than 400km to ride there’s really no need to rush.

Popping into Eden for fish ‘n’ chips by the ocean

By early afternoon we arrive at our accommodation, ditch our luggage and head out to explore. After a bit of aimless wandering around we came upon a nice walkway by the ocean so for the next hour or so we just wandered, sat and took in the calmness. A very nice way to just while away the time. No place to be. And no hurry to get there.

Our accommodation for the night

Being a public holiday on Monday the roads were always going to be a bit hectic so we decided to keep off the main thoroughfares as much as possible and rather than going up the coast before heading inland back to Canberra we popped across to Cann River for breakfast at the ‘Relics Cafe’ before travelling north on the quieter Monaro highway.

On our way home we made a detour back towards Cathcart to have a look at Black Lake. And we are glad we made the effort, it’s such a beautiful little spot.

I was fascinated by this gum tree.  It looks like it had fallen over some years ago but with some roots still grounded just refused to die. A bit of lesson there – often we get knocked around and only focus on what happened or what we lost.  Not on what we have, adapt and move on.

Then before long we rolled into Canberra only to be treated to a rainbow.  Welcome home.