DAY 38 - GOORNONG to BENDIGO

We began the last day of our cycle tour on  foot, with a walk down to a dam on our farmstay to take some early morning photos. 
Taking a photo at the dam
Taking more photos at the dam
More dam photos 
Back from our walk, we were joined by our friends Simon and Judy (see days 1,6,10 and 36). Judy was dropping Simon off, and Simon was joining us for the day. We had a celebratory photo for the beginning of the final day's ride. 
Ready to set off on the last day of our tour
And then we were off, cycling on tarred roads (we like tarred roads) through the village of Goornong and down to Axedale.
On the road to Axedale
The weather was a bit dreary, and the traffic was fairly steady, so we didn't stop much during this early part of the ride. 
Although we did stop to take a photo of this church
And this boot
Upon arrival in Axedale, we headed for the Axedale Tavern for a morning coffee and cakes. 
Axedale Tavern - the last of many local establishments we supported during our cycle tour
We then joined the O'Keefe Rail Trail, which we followed to its end in Bendigo. It was a well-surfaced trail, with little gradient, which made for a very enjoyable ride. 
Enjoyable riding on the O'Keefe Rail Trail
There were plenty of opportunities to stop and admire the many sites of interest on the way. 
Like the Campaspe River and the Platypus Compass at Axedale
And the many mementos of the history of the railway and rail trail
And the kangaroos. 
The kangaroos
We even stopped to smell the flowers.
Not roses though.  Hakeas. 
And of course there were a few birds. The rail trails have all been good for bird-spotting.
Birds from today's rail trail
While we did take our time on the rail trail, we eventually arrived at its Bendigo end near Lake Weeroona. 
Cycle tourist waiting - not for the train, but for her husband to take some photos. 
In Bendigo, we followed our local guide to Lake Weeroona, and then on a scenic off-road route to our destination. 
We followed our guide to the lake
Where we took a few photos
Cycle tourist enjoying one last lakeside rest stop
Simon led us off-road through Bendigo
In the middle of the afternoon, we arrived back at the place we had set out from, 38 days and 1841 kilometres ago. We celebrated in traditional fashion. 
With a selfie
We have enjoyed a wonderful cycle tour, and would like to thank our friends and family for sharing it with us. A few final photos from today, but typical of every day of the tour:
Some more of today's birds
Bird-spotting at Axedale
The morning routine - for the last time this trip, all packed up and ready to go
And the final statistics:

Day:  38 (and final)
Distance: 57.7 km
Cycling time: 3 hrs 10 mins
Elevation gain: 695 metres
Cumulative Distance: 1841.53 km

Day 38 - Elevation profile 
Day 38 - Route

Comments

  1. Anonymous4 June 2022 at 23:46

    🎊 👏

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous7 June 2022 at 10:21

    Nice birds on this day's post: Southern Whiteface, Shelduck, Dusky Woodswallow and Musk Lorikeets (amongst others) ..well done and very, very, very well done for completing the journey. Murray and Sandra

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kath and Russell7 June 2022 at 16:11

    Thanks for the bird identification... we think we have photos of 67 different types. Certainly have learnt more about birds and country Victoria. Thanks for following along!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous7 June 2022 at 20:02

    CONGRATULATIONS

    ReplyDelete

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