On the way down, I did have to take a double and triple take at the nearby park. I saw some standing figures by a massive tree, completely motionless.
Now, my first thought was that this was some sort of art display, with fully dressed mannequins. But I couldn't tell for sure.
So, I sidled up closer and closer, as I headed through the park. No luck. Clearly, the only thing to do was take a page out of Rommel's book. I pulled a little misdirection and feinted like I was just walking straight on. Once out of these still quite possibly real peoples' peripheral vision, I slowly ambled around and still around them. Finally, at 20 meters, I could see one take a breath – but my, that was uncanny... they were completely and utterly lost in their meditation...
I got to the station without further incidents, and I was off to Lilyvale – a charming small town about 30km outside the city. Once there, I rented a bike and got excellent directions from Yarra Cycles, and then I was off on the 38km ride, centered around an abandoned train line to Warburton.
Ouch. Ouch, ouch, ouch. My cycling legs were very out of shape... shamefully, within 15 minutes, I was already feeling it. Needless to say, 'twas not a good sign for my successful completion of the ride!
But, back to the trail, it was a great ride – through rolling hills and dotted with tiny towns. It used to be the major holiday destination for Melbourne's population, and even saw Queen Elizabeth come out in the 50's. But, now it's just a nice, gradual ride that just happens to take you by some good wineries.
I stopped in at Whispering Hills, where I had a good chat with Marie, the extremely gregarious (even by Aussie standards!) co-owner, plus some tastes of their yummy shiraz that unfortunately, they don't export. I thought very briefly about buying a bottle, but figured the combination of mountain bike trail and glass bottle really didn't go together.
Killara was another vineyard that was highly recommended, but alas, it was closed, so no more wine for me. Great views though...
… plus the bonus of discovering where Budweiser's famous horses go on holiday...
… and my first sighting of one heck of a lot of kangaroos.
The funny thing was – to quote Elmer Fudd, you have to be “werrry, werrry qwiet”. I took a few shots, and looked down to adjust my camera. I looked up, and it was like they were never there. Fast, very very fast!
I made a bit of a 3km wrong turn and ended up talking a bemused farmer as I cycled 'cross his land, but got that sorted by tossing my bike over the fence he pointed to, and kept heading on.
The rest of the ride? Man, I chickened out at around kilometer 28. I came across the Launch Hotel, and after two beers and a huge egg-topped burger (oh, yes... the Aussies love not only beetroot, but eggs on pretty much everything), I decided to call it a day.
The bike renting process is pretty informal here; I just dropped the bike at the hotel and called the shop to tell them where it was. “Sure, mate, no worries... we'll pick it up.” Sweet. Then a bus/train ride back into town
Coming back a bit early, I had a chance to check out Melbourne's south bank – a redeveloped complex of theaters and cafes:
… before heading back to the hostel for some serious lounging and way overdue blog updates...
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