Written by Lucie
To continue the Victorian Coast Line Challenge the Adventure Gang covered, not one of the big sections, but a ‘filler’ to link up Lakes Entrance with… something else further east.
After some confusion about whether to take food for dinner or go to a pub and a minor drama revolving around the quality of loaned camping mats we set off on a Friday evening for a 4.5 hour drive to Cape Conran. The journey unfortunately took longer because of heavy traffic and a stop at the bottle shop for the obligatory box (or two – it was on offer) of cask port.
The Camry arrived at Cape Conran and after a quick scout around to make sure that the X-Trail wasn’t already there we set up camp. Once everyone had arrived and set up their beds we followed the sounds of the ocean for a midnight walk on the beach and paddle in the water – it was beautiful.
Day one
Bemm River to Cape Conran
After a very long lie in and a very leisurely morning we had an hour car shuffle (with goannas abound) to complete so that the team could start at Bemm River. Jens, Simon and Lucie walked along the beach at Cape Conran while waiting for Jon to return and pick them up, and then the four caught up with group one who were hiking the four-wheel drive track west.
Some hikers were bored of the dirt road and chose to take the car to the beach, some kept walking, some of group two hit the road and some hit the beach at the end of Pearl Point Track. We all met up for lunch and then started barefoot along the sands.
It was great to be off the road but the sand was super soft and it got very tiring quite quickly. After about 4km the going was getting a bit tough and we decided to swap to a track just a tiny bit inland. Simon had left his shoes at the car so he and Jon continued along the beach and had an uneventful trip back to camp.
Off the beach the rest of the team enjoyed a beautiful leafy track and pulled on their shoes. As we got going, Jens stated that he needed to return to the car. Fortunately he wasn’t injured, but he’d left the keys to the Camry in the X-Trail, whoops!
We reached a lagoon with water that transitioned from colourless through to yellow, red and deep red-brown, took a quick swim and then parted ways, with Jens and Katka returning to the car and Vanessa, Julia, Caroline and Lucie continuing on the track.
It turns out that the track was exceptionally boring. The whole way it ran underneath a power line, but unlike Physio and Cashmere on the PCT, we really weren’t into it. Plus the ground was still sandy and soft! We walked in the scrub where we could, lamented the complete lack of views and got progressively more and more blinded by the sun as is sank down immediately in front of us. There was no shade.
We crossed a wide river and worried about Simon and Jon on the beach, however apparently this concern was unfounded and the river never actually joined the ocean – maybe it ended up in the lagoon?
Eventually we reached a gravel road and then a short distance further on we reached the camp site where the others were all waiting. We had time for a very quick beach shower and then went to the pub in Marlo for some food and the worst pizza any of us had ever had the misfortune of eating. There was also a really weird wedding party at the pub, the women were all dressed up nice and the guys were in singlets. On the way home we saw the bride walking along the road, without a groom. It was strange.
Back at camp we started a camp fire, opened up the second box of port (because we couldn’t find the first) and watched the stars.
Day two
Cape Conran to Marlo
We managed to get up slightly earlier on day two and had a rush to pack up as the rain started to move in. We also had a quick break to gawk at an enormous goanna up a tree before doing the car shuffle. Then, Katka started riding, Jens decided to drive and meet us in Marlo and then the rest of the team hopped on their bikes.
Julia and Vanessa played around with swapping saddles and bikes for a short distance and then the bolt for Julia’s saddle broke in half meaning that she couldn’t set her saddle to the right height, or even stop it from freely spinning around. We did some emergency work with a old bit of bike tube and started off again down the bumpiest bit of track ever – it was pretty fun.
We hit the tarmac and celebrated the smooth riding, but alas! Julia and Lucie had a slight collision, which resulted in Julia spread across the road! While we were patching up Julia a van stopped and offered her and her bike a lift into Marlo. In Marlo Julia could meet Jens at the pub so she accepted and the driver even found her a new bolt and fixed her bike!
The rest of the team continued riding, Simon disappeared into the distance and the remaining four stopped for a pretty view, a discussion about the see-through nature of Caroline’s bike shorts and a cycle along a leafy track before entering Marlo where the team was reunited for lunch and the long drive home.
Unfortunately our troubles didn’t quite stop there as we discovered that the bike rack on the Camry kept slipping but we just about made it home, ready to hike and ride another day.
Trip summary
Total distance hiked: 25km
Total distance cycled: 19km