24th Nov - Bike from Melbourne to South Drouin

Up early in order to pack up everything and say good bye to Mike and Liesel. Biked from theirs to downtown Melbourne to have another look round and get a couple of bits and bobs. I bought a water proof video camera that I can attach to my helmet to easily take video :-) I will play with it and see how it works.

I like this sign that I saw for the first time on the way today :-)

Caught the train to get out of the suburbs of Melbourne and up North so that I could take the scenic route through the mountains. Biked from Lilydale south through the hills down to Pakenham (really beautiful route) and then East along the flat valley to get to South Drouin (approx 120km - hilly).








The countryside really reminded me of the UK! Look at these photos of the area!!





When I had arrived at South Drouin I called the guy (Jon Cope) that I was going to be staying with from couch surfing to ask for directions and he said that the house is actually 6km away from main town point and then another 2km along a dirt track. I am not used to staying in farm land so far from anywhere...

Anyway it turned out that the house and family are absolutely lovely and very interesting. I was staying in a bedroom and en-suite in a converted garage. A spot all to myself :-) It was Jon's mums house. Jon's mum (Anne) cooked us a great meal of steak and salad, cheese and biscuits and ice-cream and fruit salad. Ummmm. Jon's friend (Matt - I think - sorry if this is wrong) joined us.

It turned out that the whole family are adventurers. Jon has biked from Norway to Turkey and around Mongolia. Matt had also done loads of bike touring with his girlfriend. Jon's brother had ridden for 3 years around Mongolia by horse and starred in a documentary about it!

It was really great to stay with fellow cyclists. I can't believe that I have managed to met a person that has biked in Mongolia. Jon showed me where he traveled and gave me pointers on what to expect when I go there. We chatted till late and drank Vodka to prepare me for Russia!

Apparently the Trans-Siberian railway is not that great and is really touristy and I would be better off just catching the cheaper Russian trains instead. We will see.

Really great and interesting people to stay with. I AM NOT ALONE IN MY ADVENTURES!