Day 5. Rest day at Mitta Mitta

Today was very relaxing. The Laurel Hotel is a very quiet hotel in a very quiet town. I spent most of the day at the back of the hotel, where breakfast merged into lunch which merged into afternoon tea. It was a perfect environment for our rest day, and with a combination of good 3G internet reception... ("Thankyou Telstra!" two words I thought I'd never use in the same sentence) and some real people passing through, we were able to gather pieces of information about tomorrow's ride.

Here's what we knew:
1. It is a big day: 75km
2. There's some dirt road (maybe 35km)
3. With our loads and the uphill (900m total ascent) it will take a long time

Here's what we discovered, and from whom:
1. The dirt section is 12.8 km (from Tom, the pub owner who for some reason knew this to one decimal place precision!)
2. The dirt is sandy in some parts and was challenging for motorbikes (from two motorcyclists who Belinda chatted with)
3. The gradient isn't too bad on the way up (from multiple sources including two potential cattle buyers from Omeo heading home after an unfruitful cattle auction in Albury).
Typing the last sentence gave me images of two potential fruit buyers heading home after an uncattleful fruit auction.
4. It's a big day (Google Earth)
5. It's used as a training ride by cyclists (inference..the gravel part can't be too bad)
6. I'll keep you in suspense about point 6, as this vital information came late in the evening.

Were we apprehensive? Yes! Excited? Yes! Daunted? A little? The adrenaline coursed through our systems like the flow of traffic through the Mitta Mitta General Store.

The general store is in a sorry state. There's more shelf than product, with the odd lonely can of baked beans, spam and canned tuna. We later learned that it's for sale and the lack of passion or pride inside is really obvious. I was thankful for the coffee that Mary found there, but it was just a small step up from Nescafé.

Mary and Belinda had tours of the locality, by foot and cycle respectively and respectfully. B was enchanted by a little church, and curious about the "Multi-Purpose Centre". Both visited the cemetery too. I just sat on my slowly recovering backside, reading, blogging and enjoying the warmth. Mid afternoon, in the middle of a lovely chat with Belinda, a sudden rush of cool air heralded a change and the sky darkened with clouds. Rain didn't eventuate, but this was a different atmosphere. It wasn't until the 11th hour that the significance of this hit home, but that can wait (ooh, the suspense!)

Later in the evening, I ventured out on foot for my own tour, camera in hand. Here's the results:

Returning there was little to do but rest, dine and shower, which we did.

While resting I came across a blog about the short cut we didn't tackle yesterday on a motorcycle blog site. Here's a photo they took of part of the track.

The description of the ride is worth a read (http://www.austouring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1271&page=6). In summary, they were so relieved to finish the traverse unharmed that they nearly kissed the ground when they reached the Eskdale side.

The information about the road?
6. It's been recently graded in preparation for bitumen (this could be good, or might not be, depending on the nature of the grading)

The weather change? Have a look at the forecast for the second half of the trip...(produced as a goodnight story by Belinda with a cheeky grin and twinkle in her eye)

Our blessedly ideal weather had evaporated.. This could be a cold and challenging few days!