GVBR Day 6 - REST DAY

Time to catch up with the blog, time to catch up with the drying, time to catch up with the charging .. a welcome day.  A day off the bike, and no matter how much you enjoy riding after a couple of days in the wind it is good to get off and give your body a rest.

So glad I brought this along.  Very handy.

No more pictures today, taking a day off from that too.  Going to the library to use the computers and read emails, newspapers.

It is a beautiful day in Bendigo and I find a new place for morning tea, The Good Loaf sourdough bakery. Good fruit bun and coffee.  Next stop a wander through town a bit checking nothing much out before heading up to the gallery to meet up with Lesley, Lauren and Ian for lunch in the gallery cafe.  The waitress placed us at our request near a power outlet so we took advantage of that and charged up a few phones.  Never miss that sort of opportunity.

Back to the computer, because I can.  And shortly I shall head back to camp for a restful lie down before dinner.  Warm weather forecast from here on, so I am grateful that we have already done the longest day's ride.  

(Yawning) 1530

BTW  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROB

GVBR Day 5

Rest day tomorrow and you can feel it in the air - everyone heading out keenly to get to Bendigo and do the washing or get to the motel they have booked or just get there.   Again a roundabout route to get us in through back roads, and to make sure that we don't take the shortest route.
We have been tipped off about the Bridgewater Bakehouse not very far along the route so that's the first stop. Pizza for breakfast with good coffee.

Then along a long flat closed road where several riders stretch out and go for it.  Sadly we passed a rider who had come down, a reminder that you need to keep your wits about you at all times with so many on the road together. Again the laps tell the story, slowing down as the wind turned to face us throughout the day.  The last part was hardest, until we turned into the OD (overdimension) route into town via Eaglehawk. Some lovely rollers protected by the houses a bit.

The destination is a welcome sight and we have given our number tags to Ian, who always arrives hours ahead of us, to pick out a couple of tents for us and he does well.  We have adjacent tents with two side windows each.  The big advantage there is tying up the window awnings to the next tent to create air and shade simultaneously.  There's a tip for all the future sleep easy Great Vic riders.
Lauren and I are in a tent each for a couple of days as Lesley has booked herself into a motel for the next couple of nights so now we talk to each other through the awning canopies.  We also take our washing into the machine at Lesley's motel - it is always who you know.

Areeba areeba - encouraging?

GBVR Day 4

100Km/60miles plus today and again warm weather - not as hot as yesterday.  Out early with a tail wind.  The map of the route shows us that we are again taking a circuitous route to get the 100Km in. We are also provided with a couple of extra stops today for water and we need it.  The winds start out favourable again, and either they move around during the day or we do and so it varies as we go along.  If you look at the Strava link, and the laps therein it is clear where the headwinds are according to the average speed.

The morning tea stop looked wonderfully colourful and I took advantage of a woman already standing on a fence post to take a shot for me.

 Top up with water, move on. Another text from Ian advising delicious scones to be had at afternoon tea stop - won't make the same mistake twice. Taking his advice this time I have to agree - delicious.
Today was not too bad, bit of a slog at times but the distance not too hard and we came into Inglewood in good time on a good downhill run.  Rest, then off to a pop up restaurant at the local Ecualyptus Mill and Museum of aged beef or pork.  I had the pork and it was good, I also tasted the beef which was cooked a bit more than I like.  I prefer my beef walking around the plate.  The beef is aged in carcass for 28 days then cut and aged further for up to 20 days.  Interesting, usual method is to cut it then age it.

Love a bus back to camp and a good night's sleep.  The mats in the sleep easy tents are dreadful, there is no other word for it. They are neither deep nor firm so my hips hit the ground all night. Rob is posting up the good sleeping mats to Bendigo so can hardly wait to get there.  Onwards...

...  This wide brown land for me

GVBR Day 3

Forecast for warm weather so we got out at a reasonable time, and cruised along with a bit of a tail wind.  The countryside is dry as dust and pretty flat so any winds seem to come straight at us. Coming from behind is always good, not so good the other way round of course.
I keep an eye out for kangaroos as my travelling companion, Lauren, has not seen one yet.  Well, there was on by the side of the road .....  The absence of the usual road kill is perhaps an indication of the state of the region.  Road kill is the sign of a healthy ecosystem I have been told by a reliable source in the past.  We see dams, rivers, creeks, etc well down or dry everywhere.   The crops have been harvested and so there is plenty of dusty chaff blowing around.
Lunch today is at the Maryborough Harness Racing track and we get there around 10, a bit early for lunch even after a good ride.  Deciding to take our rolls with us after a rest we press on.  Ian did let me know by text that there was a delicious chicken pie to be had from the locals but still not hungry enough for that.  Lesley later confirmed this so we did miss out there.
It is hot when we arrive in Dunolly so what else would one do but head for the swimming pool - when I say one I mean 1000 as it seemed to be that number there when we arrived.  Having arrived without my bathing costume I returned to the campsite and really warmed up by the time I hit the pool.  Very nice in the water surrounded by school children so headed for the juniors pool and sat in that for a while.

Girls who saw the camera and invited me to take their picture

Dried out on the walk home, a good shower and off to the bowling club for a beer. Two pubs in town - one permanently closed, one closed for renovations (poor timing).  However, we enjoyed watching the barefoot bowlers and it turns out I knew enough to explain to Lauren what it was all about. Played twice in my life so of course I'm an expert.
Round the back of the club the local service and community groups have a range of food carts - potatoes, woodfired pizza, local lamb sausages (good choice) - and in the bandstand are some musos playing home made instruments.  They are tuned stomp boxes with bells and chimes, a bass percussion instrument with plumbing tubes and a very interesting pedal powered instrument with wind chimes.

And speaking of wind it came up suddenly even stronger than it had for the afternoon and looked black in the middle distance. So straight back to camp, bring in the washing, batten down the tent hatches and off to dinner before all the seats under cover are gone.  Made it in time before the thunderstorm hit heavy and hard wind. People running in all directions, tents damaged, dinners awash. It's easy to watch. It passes, wind drops, no more rain to speak of and a clear starry sky overnight.
When you are out of town you realise how all the stars disappear over the cities.

GVBR day 2

My word it's cold this morning and cloudy.  Lucky I slept with my clothes for today as my pillow and they are a little warmed up.  Breakfast calls.  And a cup of tea.

Lots of people heading out as early as they can but we just get going at our own pace.The ride today is very pleasant, good riding weather, but of a tail wind , few hills. Just what a cyclist enjoys.

We sat on the cricket pitch in the middle of the oval for lunch as it seemed the least dusty place.  How could such a lovely day turn on us with a headwind and a hill in the afternoon? Ah well, that's the bike riding person's lot.

Avoca seems to be holding its own and we are treated to a riverside market with wine tasting,  sausage sizzle and other local treats.  The small supermarket seems a bit overwhelmed or it might have been that we arrived at the same time as just about every school child filling up on lollies and other snacks.

I am now lying in my tent listening to birds,  the dialogue from the film The Cup and a local musician with his bass stomp box turned up way too high and finally the phone conversation the man in the next tent is having. Think I'll put my earphones in.

GVBR day 1

Thanks Rob for dropping us of with bags and bikes before heading home.  We had a great night with Dinah and Karl,  and the last sleep in a comfortable bed for a while.

Settled into our tents (doing sleep easy this time which means someone else puts them up).  On our bikes of course for a ride around part of Lake Wendouree where there are corporate Dragon Boat races happening and I want a look at the fountain I have seen being restored on my last couple of visits. 

We head over to meet a few others at the Eureka Stockade Museum Cafe.  If you are in Ballarat I recommend you visit both, good Cafe food and coffee.

Emerged to find Lauren's flat tyre. Replaced it, pumped out up, broke the valve, flat again.  Replaced it with new tube, pumped it up and headed down to the local bike shop to replace damaged tubes.

Back to the site for a beer and dinner. The vegetarian option left a little to be desired. Boiled potatoes, boiled frozen carrots and mushrooms in sauce.  Hmmmmm. Dessert of frozen berries still frozen.  Hmmmmm again.

Cold night expected so going to bed early....  Sleep....

GVBR minus 2

I think I am not bad at packing,  right up until I start to do it.  In my head everything fits in less space, neat and tidy. Why is the reality different? I just don't understand it.

Lauren arrived today from the States and Lesley from Brisbane. It is good to be together again, another ride to look forward to.

Melbourne lived up to its reputation, rain followed by sun followed by rain followed by... you get the picture.  The cold wind is forecast to abate overnight. We all hope so.

Final bike check tomorrow, final packing, leaving town.   Ballarat here we come. Just one more run to the shops, one more load of washing,  one more repack, must be something else.  If only I could remember what it is.... It will come back to me probably about an hour after we set out. Oh well,  whatever it is I can either replace it or do without it.

Adelaide

A very enjoyable drive over with Joanne and Naomi, heading towards warmer weather and a week of riding round wine regions with BikeSA.

Ahead of that I have spent a couple of days around town catching up with people and places. Morning tea at Abbots and Kinney after seeing Kym and Helen ' s daily posts of delicious looking pastries.  I am happy to report that the pear danish lived up to expectations.

A walk around the Market, lunch in the sun and off to the Art Gallery.  There I had the delight of a one person guided tour as I was the only person who showed up for the regular volunteer guided tour. Christobel led me through the colonial collection and we enjoyed an amusing and very informative hour. She was wonderful, and I recommend it to all.

Dinner over pizza was great. Caught up with friends from all over the place ahead of the ride. Delicious pizza at Erica and lots and lots of good talking about what we have all been up to and expect from the next week or so. A fun start to our trip.  No surprise that conversation naturally turned to the hill we'll all be climbing on the first day up Gorge Road.

Friday dawned sunny with the promise of warmth. Where to go - of course the beach. Swedish Tarts is the Cafe of choice this morning with Deborah, Martha, Ray and Sue. More pastry. I think I should be more careful about carb loading. Maybe after the ride. In the meanwhile I'll ride it off, or so I tell myself. It was so pleasant along the Beach, especially after riding down a main road to get there, that I extended the experience by heading to Glenelg for a look before returning to town along the linear park.  The park path travels alongside the River Torrens from the beach right through town to Gorge Road. Half today,  half tomorrow then.

The day starts to fly, quick lunch, back to finish packing up and deliver the bags to BikeSA and register early for the tour. Diane has arrived and we drive over to Ian's place where I am a surprise guest for dinner. He generously stretches the meal, and I earn my keep by whipping up a ginger self saucing pudding for dessert.  It is a newspaper recipe that caught his eye,  and in what is a very fine tradition in my kitchen we ignore any missing ingredients or replace them with something similar and suitable. It works well.

Back home to watch a bit of football then retire for the night and sleep soundly I hope.

Bike hanging round town

Hope the wind holds that direction

The things you see along the linear path

DEAR MARLO IV

Hello, Marlo,

I have finished my big bike ride and am going to be home in a week.  I cannot wait to see how much you have grown and get a big hug from you.

I thought you might like to see some of the animals I saw while I was riding.  We went a long way, through lots of towns, past mountains with farms and over rivers. I was riding with quite a few other people who were good fun to travel with and now I miss them too.

 These beautiful horses passed us on the road and because we weren't going as fast as cars we called out hello to the farmer who told us he had seen our lunch being got ready down the road and we'd better hurry along to it. So we waved goodbye and headed to lunch.

  .

I know this isn't a real swan and it is just one of lots of swan statues that were around the town.  I liked the colour of this one, the crown and the necklace and it looks like it has a seat too.

We saw a lot of cattle, but these cows seemed to be more interested in seeing us.

 There were also quite a few horses and ponies, this one looked as though it might be hiding from something. Maybe it was just keeping out of the wind.

Sheep were all sorts of colours,  some shaggy, some not. Quite often they were in the road as they had lots and lots of space to roam around.  They didn't seem to mind people on bikes, but some of the lambs ran up next to their mothers when they heard us.

My favourite is this shaggy haired cow, a highland cow.  They need to have all this hair to keep them warm I think as they live in a very cold part of the country. The people in Scotland say it differently, when they talk about them it sounds like "heeland cooos".  

LEJOG D21 LAST RIDING DAY

Three weeks ago we set out from the other end of the island, on my part with some trepidation. I had never ridden so many touring days with only a single day off. Have I brought the right gear, did I make a mistake only bringing riding sandals not shoes, I should have done a little more hill training, etc etc.  The usual concerns. Yes, I brought the right gear, only bought a heavier rain jacket and a pair of waterproof socks (neither of which I have at home). In hindsight I might have been better with shoes, but on the other hand I wore the waterproof socks on only one freezing cold rainy day and my feet were fine every other day. Frankly, who doesn't think they should have prepared more for hills, distance, putting yourself back on your saddle every day or something ..no point thinking about it, these things work themselves out on the road.

Anne is dancing with delight this morning

Today everyone is ready to go, excited at the prospect of actually arriving at our destination and having attained our goal.  So, give us the navigation and we are off, pretty well straight into the first hill. Sailing along I pause briefly to pick up the £40 I saw drop from another cyclist's pocket, going I can catch up at morning tea so he can buy lunch when the time comes. (I do)

Peter has set up the van where he has heard there might be puffins but they leave in the morning to return in the evening so it is not very likely we'll see any (we don't).  There are a couple of peat cutters going out which is interesting. 

More rolling hills and to our great delight, and contrary to the forecast,  the sun comes out and patches of blue spread around the sky. Lunch in a very good harbourside cafe in Thurso with a great view of the Castle then as the day continues fine and sunny away we go.  The riding today gas been up and down, not as strenuous as other says but up and over headlands to see the next cove.  A very enjoyable ride.

Lauren and I detour slightly  confident that we won't be holding the others up to go and have a look at Castle Mey, home of the late Queen Mother. The entrance to the driveway is a beautiful grove of trees. This is repeated further in and put to good use. 

Then the last few miles into our hotel for the night, where we wait in the bar for everyone to arrive.  We set out together and are going to finish together. Thanks, Skedaddle,  for the sparkling drop at the very end which we manage to down just ahead of some rain. We hear it's good weather down South.

Photo by Richard. tku

LEJOG D20

Penultimate day - wow. I can hardly believe it is so close to the end of the ride. True to the tradition of Scottish summer that I have experienced the day dawned cool and cloudy, but a little warmer than the last few days. In fact ,it is a good day for riding as the wind is very light. 

Everyone is cheered by the prospect of some flatter elevations and good scenery and points of interest along the way.  We take off past Loch Shin and head up to ride through timber country before emerging onto open moors.

We stopped for morning tea at an old inn, Crask Inn, which has a peat burning stove, a small cosy bar and a very old school feeling about it.  It is very isolated and gets snowed in frequently in winter.

Peter, our guide,  leads us out after this as he knows a quarry where carnivorous plants can be seen. One is in flower which he has not seen before. He warns Sue to take care as they would have her leg off if they catch it. She believes him,  right up until she sees how small the plants are.  I don't think she will believe him so readily in the future.

We have all had good briefings from Peter about the points of interest we will ride past each day, so we know to look out for reminders of The Clearances - a time when landowners forcibly removed Crofters from their homes, usually destroying the buildings, leaving them to fend for themselves  as part of an "improvement" plan which included grazing sheep. The descriptions of this are very moving. We follow the Stratham et Trail alongside the beautiful Loch Naver stopping to read plaques and explore sites, with lunch alongside a church made from corrugated iron.

On through more rolling hills to our destination, Bettyhill.  I can hardly credit what I am about to say, but on arrival at Bettyhill some of us,  myself included,  CHOSE to ride an extra mile downhill to get a cheese or fruit scone on the recommendation of a very pleasant woman we met at the lunch stop. Of course you realise that what I am saying is really that we chose to ride an extra uphill after the scone.  Our brains are perhaps not functioning correctly. It was a very good scone. 

LEJOG D19

Got a little behind so am trying to remember what it was like two days ago, and now I remember coming into lunch wet and deciding to change into my heavier raincoat. I dried out during the rest of the ride as the rain had pretty well passed by then.

It is Murray's birthday so we have cake by the trailer in the car park at tesco' s in Dingwall. Murray doesn't mind it being his birthday, just that everyone knows it is. Murray and Sue are known affectionately as 'the Kiwis' for the obvious reason they hail from Christchurch and are great fun.  Murray is a mountain biker whom I couldn't say has taken to road riding with a vengeance but they are both damned good at it, frequently leading the charge. Happy Birthday, Murray.

While the weather may be a bit dreary the countryside is not. It is another very scenic day through the highlands which continues to delight us all. Pictures don't really do it justice but I won't stop taking them.

On again with the promise of leaping Salmon at the foot of Shin Falls. It is still very early in the season but we are assured of a sighting if we remain still and patient. That is easier said than done.  No matter how much warning I had I am still surprised by the number of biting midges attacking at every available opportunity. I look like my legs have measles or hives at the moment. However, we are rewarded .. I definitely saw one attempt and am pretty certain I saw another.  That done .. time to move on.

Site of the great salmon hunt

LEJOG D18

One of the funniest things about yesterday was at lunchtime hearing from a friend asking if I would recommend the ride. Great day to ask. I refrained from screaming no, it is a terrible mistake, don't do it. .. I wouldn't have meant that for more than five minutes anyway.

IT is amazing what a good night's sleep and a better forecast can do for everyone. We were all ready on time to set out on another day's adventure.All the remaining days are less than 60m/100km and have no very steep hills. Today is expected to be a cruisy day.

My goal, along with some others is to take advantage of this and fit in a bit of sightseeing along the way.  Unfortunately Lauren had to get off her bike at morning tea so I am steaming along alone.

Quick lunch at the Dulsie bridge picnic site and off, leaving the midges behind.

 First stop Castle Cawdor, of Macbeth fame.  I decided to go into the castle and have to admit to being a little disappointed.  Cawdor looks wonderful from the  outside but is in a way quite ordinary inside. The current Lady Cawdor lives there for more than half the year, and we are advised that the rooms we see are all used by her. It is a collection of rooms which seemed to me to be cluttered with family memorabilia and paintings.  Just not my cup of tea I suppose. I didn't have enough time to see the extensive gardens as I have other plans.

I rode off the route a little to see the Clava Cairns that our senior leader, Peter, had recommended. When I got there he was there with 'The Kiwis", Sue and Murray, and I got a bit more information from him on the spot.

Passage cairn

The my final stop, using my National Trust membership to gain entry. The site of the battle at Culloden. Coffee first in their rather excellent cafe, then on to the museum exhibition which gave a very good two sided explanation of the lead up to this battle between the Jacobites and the British government troops. It is an excellent museum with memorabilia and multimedia displays before going out onto the site itself with a self guided audio tour.  It is moving and I highly recommend a visit. I particularly enjoyed walking on the moor site in sunshine as we haven't had as much of that as we would like.

Culloden moor

LEJOG D17

I said already I think that we got a lift in a bus this morning past the uphill climb of 13 miles didn't I?  It was just as well we did.

Before I go on I should say that I am having a great time e on this ride, when it's tough I am glad to get to the end of the day and catch up with everyone and try and have a quick look around wherever we are and I enjoy having ridden that day. When it's not tough I enjoy the ride, and getting I  at the end of the day and catching up with everyone. I have great travelling companions, have met some very good people and really delighted that I embarked on the trip.

Now, today was horrendous.  If you look at the profile you will see why .. climbing pretty well all day. The rain held off for most of the day, got wet towards the end with misty drizzly rain in low cloud, and the temperature was low - didn't go above 10C and at the top of one hill it was 2C.  The WORST thing was the wind, straight off the Arctic and into our faces strongly blowing all damned day. Very disheartening.

When I got to the first tea stop I advised Peter that he might as well cancel my dinner reservation as I had just  worked out that I wouldn't arrive before 8.30 at this speed. The wind was bound to improve as we went down lower over the hill, like I believe that. Shortly travelling  uphill at 2.2 miles per hour I got off and walked for a while at 2.8 mph.  It was right that the wind abated a little lower down, but not enough to really benefit from  the downhill run. Still had to pedal.

The whole day was like that, with the weather closing in on the last,  worst hill. When I finally reached the top of it I was worn out, cold and damp. The downhill run into Tomintoul was not good, rainy, windy and I was relieved beyond belief to arrive at around 6.1 5pm and get into a hot bath to recover.

Then a single malt local whiskey helped further.  We had been asked by tonight's restaurant to pre-order a couple of days ahead and I had no idea what I'd ordered. . I just hoped it would be something I wanted. Looking at the list didn't help. I'd ordered "Fresh and wild" entree and "One eyed Jocks".  Turned out very well, goat cheese and caramelized onion tart followed by cod atop a bean and chorizo cassoulet.

I fell into bed and was almost willing to get up and do it all again  in the morning as the forecast held no wind, no rain and the profile of the hills was more friendly. As Anna pointed out we were at the highest village in the Highlands so it really had to be downhill from here.

Just after lunch I saw Lauren fall heavily onto the verge in front of me landing on her knee and shoulder so she had to stop and get into the van. I rode most  of the afternoon alone and missed her company on the road.

All that said I knew it would have been a beautiful ride in better weather. Perhaps we should have come in the middle of summer - oh, wait ... we did. Melbourne had a better forecast on this day. We rode through some spectacular countryside and I began to think that Heathcliff might come riding by at any minute, or the Hound of the Baskervilles. ...

LEJOG D16

Well, we were all I think relieved to get to the pickup point this afternoon, put our bikes in the shed and go into the pub to have a coffee,  beer, hot chocolate, whatever took our fancy .. and wait for the bus to take us to the hotel. The headwind over the last few miles did pretty well everyone in. With the prospect of  more tomorrow we were glad to stop today.

The morning had started out well with very little rain, if any. More wonderful landscapes.

The miles went by happily and we made the tea stop in Perth with time to plan a slight detour to have a look at the Scone Palace, where the Kings of Scotland had been crowned.  Tried to use our National Trust membership to get in to no avail, this is not part of the National Trust. I am not sure that we really had tice for a good look round anyway so on we went.

To Blairgowrie for lunch, checking out the recommended eating spot and rejecting it in favor of a local sandwich bar and a seat in the park. On leaving that town we came across a roadside stall selling g berries at the farm gate so stopped to buy a pun net of raspberries.   They were delicious and I managed to carry half of them inside my vest to share and finish off at the end of the ride. I was concerned that they might have got a bit knocked around, but I need not have worried. The uphill and the headwind meant that I did not go so fast as to put them at risk.

Saw another hare today, just one, bounding across a field and looked up at one point to see a flash of red disappearing at the edge of the road.  That was a red squirrel, said Lauren who got a much better view of it. Red squirrels are no longer common so was good to see one alive. Sadly I have seen many dead hedgehogs and one dead badger in the road.

The funniest thing  today was a  circle of stones that we rode through as the road has been built through the middle.  No druids in sight even if it is the summer solstice.

LEJOG D15

What? No more rest? That wasn't quite long enough my legs think. Today is a shorter day so all should be well.  Peebles is preparing for the big Festival day as we head out in light drizzle. Damn, little tired of being wet. Fortunately not very wet, and today it stopped early and held off for the very cruisy ride.

Beautiful countryside as usual - and Edinburgh, which we rode straight through along a number of cycle paths,  all of which reminded me of home. The were like the Ai inversely trail,  the Port Melbourne rail trail, the Main Yarra trail, etc. I loved it, and am glad Lauren and I are coming back for a couple of days after the ride as it would be dreadful to think that was all I saw of it.

We lunched at an excellent cafe under the Forth Railway Bridge before riding across the newer road bridge with a view of a third bridge under construction. We rode straight into the roadworks for this as we came off the bridge but worked round them and on we went, only stopping briefly at a bike shop. How can we ride past one of those, and why would we. I don't think anyone bought anything, but we had a good look.

Over a few rolling hills, up and down and onto our destination, Kinross. We all made very good time so enjoyed more rest and a walk through the park to visit the loch and see the castle on the island where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned for a time. Poor Mary, there are a few of those.

Good news, tomorrow's ride has been cut by 13km. The hotel we were to stay at burnt down so we are booked into another further along. However we would have ridden the 13km downhill to get there and had the same 13km UPHILL first thing in the morning.  Grrr.  So we are to be ferried each way instead. Oh joy, oh rapture. I love riding the bike but there are times when adjusting the route mean I will enjoy it more. Not a hill free day, but an easier start. Hip hip hooray.

LEJOG D14. .DAY OF REST

What a welcome relief it is to have a day off after so many days in a row on the  bike.  Never done so many strenuous days in a row before and might not again of course.  We are in Peebles, a Scottish border town and it is festival time .. Beltane Festival,  their annual celebration of the town. Everyone is involved and a great time obviously had by all.

On Thursday  night we heard a marching band,  which turned out to be accompanying the Beltane Queen home, ending up returning just below our hotel.

Friday morning dawned cool, or really cold, and after breakfast we delivered the washing to the service was laundry and wandered around town, ending the , owning with a walk alongside the River Tweed past the castle. Then followed Richard's directions to cross the now disused railway bridge and follow the old track line back to town. We would come across so, e thing very special, and would need our phones with us. This turned out to be a tunnel that you can walk through.  We started through it, but before long were completely disoriented in the very very dark with insufficient light from our phones. We couldn't see the end at all and could only hear dripping water.  So we abandoned that and started back along the river. We asked some locals about the tunnel and heard that we couldn't see the other end as there is a turn in the tunnel and the trick is to carry a stick and keep it on the wall alongside you so you know where you are in the tunnel.  We decided not to go back anyway but next time ......

Award winning bakery with flapjacks/pancakes/griddle scones in the window

Lunch, a fair bit of doing nothing and an early dinner so we were free to watch the parade go by.  It seemed the whole town was massing at the back of the hotel in fancy dress, some on floats, but it also seemed the whole town was in the road waiting for the parade. A stage just outside the hotel was ready and wiring for the heavily costumed Rugby team to perform routines from Disney films (Aladdin, Mary Poppins, Toy Story,  and more. They were not good, but very enthusiastic. Men do like getting dressed up as women.

Then the parade led by the marching band, many participants on foot, three bagpipe bands, floats from a range of local organisations and then it was gone.   The rugby boys started to repeat their show and we escaped to our nice quiet room at the rear of the hotel for another good night's sleep.  A relaxing day, refreshed, rested and ready to start again tomorrow ..