Bairnsdale
Gunaikurnai Country
11-12 March 2025
There’s a gravel road on the map named Iguana Creek Road. I like the look of it on the map. It’s got some stacked topo lines in a few spots, but I’m still game. This would get us where we want to go on a hilly backroad rather than the main highway. The only problem is that I’m not quite sure if it is a through road or not.
Google streetview at the beginning of the road down in the floodplain doesn’t seem to have any signs saying NO THROUGH ROAD, but since I’m in town, I will go see if I can get some local advice.
So I head to the information centre and ask the woman at the counter if she would happen to know if Iguana Creek Road is a through road. She is serious about her job and says she can show it to me on a map. She pulls out two and brings them over to a large table. She shows me where it is and then says, “But really you would be best suited to take the highway to the national park. The entrance road is signed.”
I then tell her I’m on a bicycle. There is a moment of silence and then she says, “But Iguana Creek Road is gravel.”
I reply, “Yes, that’s fine. I’m on a mountain bike. I just want to know if it actually goes through, so I don’t get eight kms into it and then have to turn around.”
She says, “Oh yes, it goes through. But I don’t know what condition it would be in.”
I tell her it’s fine and that I ride 4WD tracks and that I once pushed my bike through a swamp following a public road reserve. She then is concerned about how I will get to that road. She tries to direct me along the Lindenow Road which I know from 2017 is NOT a road you want to ride a bike on. I tell her I was thinking about linking together some of the other secondary roads. She tells me none of them have bike lanes. I reassure her that I’m okay with that.
She then has a lightbulb moment. Her husband is from out that way and he would know what the Iguana Creek Road is like. She rings him. He answers and she tells him that she has a lady cyclist in the info centre who wants to ride that road and that it would be good to know the road condition. After a few moments of silence on our end, she says, “Oh, no, she’s like a… professional.”
She listens for a little bit and then hangs up. She says, “It should be in pretty good condition for a gravel road. But it is a gravel road so it might be a bit bumpy in places. It has one big dipper in it but otherwise is just gently hilly.”
Ok, great!! I thank her for going above and beyond to get me all of that information.
The rest of the day is spent wandering around town and going in all sorts of shops trying to find some little gifts to put together a little package to send my mom for her birthday, standing in line FOREVER at the post office to mail what I’ve gathered, talking to my parents on the phone, and talking to two other friends who asked me to ring once I got to town (they are getting in a birthday call before I disappear again).
I also eat a proper lunch and a proper dinner, getting in a bunch of nutrients and refueling my body. When I looked in the mirror in the cabin, I can tell I’ve lost weight. I don’t mind losing a bit, but I don’t want to lose much.
I contemplate going out somewhere for a meal for my birthday. But restaurant meals are not all that great for you – they are inevitably full of salt, even the ‘healthy’ stuff. And I can get so much more food for that price from the market and cook it in healthy ways. I am a good cook.
So I get a bunch of salad stuff and some broccolini from the veggie market, some chicken breast, a tin of black beans with corn, and some beetroot hummus from the supermarket. I gorge myself on goodness.
And, Happy Birthday to me a little early, I listen to Bob Mould’s new album “Here We Go Crazy” several times. It was released on Friday and what I have been looking forward to the most about getting to town (after that first shower to get rid of 9 days of grime).
There are some good songs on there, but I think most of them will sound better live. The one I like the most is below. It is quite catchy and will sound great live when he plays it faster.
On Wednesday, I do all the resupply chores. I go get food for another 8 days, more fuel for the stove, etc. I wash the bike which is a bit time-consuming with mud absolutely everywhere! I do laundry. I plot out my planned ride route. Etc. Etc.
And I snack. And snack a bit more. I feel like a new woman. Time to hit the road again tomorrow!
Good to see all those delicious salad ingredients weren’t “hard to get.” Happy Birthday!
Lol, that’s a good one, Greg.
Funny thing has happened Emily, I have had several dreams lately about being on the road with Brian as we nearly duplicate your adventures, only in the red pickup. Belly laugh right now is advisable. Despite the incongruities the dreams have been entertaining, Love, Dad
Which side of the road are you driving on in those dreams, Dad? I hope you guys are out riding around in the dreams having fun and it’s not like you are out looking for me on those roads because I disappeared.