New Day Rising – Day 19

New Day Rising – Day 19

E Sharp

Bairnsdale to Mitchell River National Park

Gunaikurnai Country

13 March 2025

There is a certain thrill riding through traffic in an unknown town at peak hour. You’ve got to read the traffic and the road and navigate all at once. It is even more fun without a GPS, because you’ve got to be looking for street signs or businesses as you go, or glancing down at a map, or referring to the mental map in your head (this is what I’m doing after looking at google maps before setting out). 

Sometimes you’ve got to jump up a kerb, ride the edge of a roundabout and dart across exiting traffic, or figure out your own exit strategy when a bike path suddenly ends. I enjoy thinking quickly and riding at the same time.

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New Day Rising – Days 17-18

E Sharp

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.

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New Day Rising – Day 16

New Day Rising – Day 16

E Sharp

Tabberabbera Road to Bairnsdale

Gunaikurnai Country

9 March 2025

The panniers are packed up. The fork bags are rolled and clipped closed. I’m sitting in the tent ready to go. I’m just waiting for the rain to ease up just a tiny bit before I chuck the bags outside of the tent and pack the tent as quickly as possible.

I lean back against the bags watching the droplets of rain on the tent get heavier and heavier until gravity grabs them and pulls them down the side of the tent. They streak down like meteors grabbing smaller droplets in their path along the way. I listen to the pitter patter of drops, trying to detect any sign of a lessening in frequency.

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New Day Rising – Days 14-15

New Day Rising – Days 14-15

E Sharp

Tabberabbera Road

Gunaikurnai Country

7-8 March 2025

We’re down deep in the drainage. Slanted, crumbly cliffs of sedimentary shales stand above a bend in the creek downstream. Bushy undergrowth surrounds the campsite, twelve-foot tall scrubby vegetation hiding the floodplain and the impacts of logging. There is little perspective down here in the details, you need to get up above and look down to get any sense of how the landscape is structured and to get a bigger picture of how it all fits together.  Yes, we’re sitting down here in the “i’s” and “t’s” that the Type A’s always have to dot and cross. 

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New Day Rising – Day 13

New Day Rising – Day 13

E Sharp

Marthavale to Tabberabbera Rd

Gunaikurnai Country 

7 March 2025

We wind up the road, my legs pumping in a slow rhythmic churn. Low cloud rims the valley, clustered about the ridge where Baldhead Road runs. We’ve got a 4.5 km climb with about 275 metres of elevation to gain to get to that foggy ridge.

The bike tyres part the thicker gravel like a boat making bow waves. The tyres flick up sandy bits of quartz and ping them against my shins. I ride outside edge to outside edge up the many curves to avoid the corrugated inner parts. 

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New Day Rising – Day 10

New Day Rising – Day 10

E Sharp

Barmouth Creek to East Branch Nicholson River

Gunaikurnai Country

4 March 2025

It’s just a black or red line crossing a green background on a thick sheet of paper.  It’s 2D. A paper map. It represents reality, but is not necessarily accurate or true. You can make up wild ideas of what the reality is that the print represents. 

How many evenings have I sat under the soft glow of the lamp contemplating possible routes and what they might look like in person? I look at those black/red lines, seeking out the wiggly ones and trying to figure out how to connect them up to make a route. Then, in my head, I think about what the views might be like, what the track will be like, what the little purple triangle tents that represent informal camping sites might be like. 

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