Cycling The Globe

A Cycle Touring Expedition Around The World

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Day 815: Portland – Peterborough

Posted by Thomas Andersen Posted on Jan - 07 - 2013

Distance: 150.66 km
Ridetime: 6:56:32
Average: 21.7 km/h
Max speed: 47.8 km/h
Total distance: 16658 km

Merry Christmas 2012! Well, Australians actually celebrate on the 25th, but the 24th is still Christmas for me. And this year a rather unusual one. Having spent the month of December in the Outback with temperatures around 40 degrees has never felt like Christmas. Today I woke up in my tent at the beach and started cycling as usual.

My gift this year was turning into the Great Ocean Road. A moment I had been looking forward to. A friend had told me he thought it was the most beautiful stretch of road in the world (some Australians like to exaggerate). Now I was about to find out if it could be true. After 40 km I riding I got the first taste.

As I took photos a group of french backpackers said merry Christmas. The other tourists around seemed to be Asians.

I usually don’t pay for accommodation these days. I either wild camp, stay with friends, or use Couchsurfing or Warmshowers. Today I would make an exception and pay for a camp site because I needed power to turn on my laptop and call my family. It costs 18$ to put your tent in a camp ground in Australia. You get nice toilets, showers and kitchen facilities, but still, very expensive.

As I was finishing my skype calls the french backpackers I had met a little earlier had also arrived at the camp site. They were preparing a nice Christmas dinner and invited me to join. Sharing food and travel stories in great company – a perfect way to spend the 24th of December if you are about 15.000 km away from your family at home.

Categories: Australia
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2 Responses so far.

  1. Did you make any kind of stop in Warrnambool? I used to live there!

  2. Hmm, I seem to remember I cycled through Warrnambool and had a quick stop in McDonald’s for a 50 cent icecream cone 🙂 Beautiful place down there next to the Great Ocean Road!