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Southern Circuits

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This entry is part 6 of 20 in the series Adventure Rider Issue #51

There’s a plethora of unsealed and sealed roads that duck, twist and weave between the crystal-clear streams, fern-filled depressions, plantations and towering gums of western Victoria’s southern regions. Graeme Sedgwick went in search of some of the best.

Author Graeme Sedgwick

The postage-stamp sized village of Moriac became my start point before heading to Deans Marsh, an even smaller hamlet boasting a magnificent store-come-bakery café. At any other time it would also have been a perfect place to stop, but I had no time to enjoy either if I was to make it through a loosely planned southern circuit following Cape Otway Road.

Barwon Downs beckoned, and after a short plantation detour immediately south of Seven Bridges Road and north of Yaugher, I rolled into Forrest, a very on-trend destination these days, with a brewery, café, pub and hideaway accommodation.It’s in stark contrast to when the town was a narrow-gauge railhead for fresh-cut timber.

Variety

With Forrest in the mirrors I headed for Road Knight Creek’s gravel, which morphed into Ridge Road to Karwarren East before veering more westerly above Gellibrand and then north on Wonga Road and White Peg Road. Black Bridge Road turned out to be a narrow line of bitumen that demanded attention as it wove its way to the village of Carlisle River. The run, almost deserted midweek except for locals and the odd, lackadaisical motorists seemingly bereft of any peripheral vision, wound down into what can quickly become one of the wettest parts of the Otway Range, attested to by several significant water storages.

Black Bridge Road intersects Gellibrand River Road, and an observant rider can spot the western beginning of Egans Track, which runs through the water catchment known as Arkins Creek. It’s one of the least-known, but largest, of the western Otways watersheds, managed by the South West Water Authority, and an important part of Warrnambool’s water-supply system – a destination, by the way, that’s home to George Taylor’s Vintage and Rare Motorcycle Collection at 159 Lava Street, Warrnambool.

Egans Track is a veritable roller coaster of gravel. At times it’s a little narrower than ideal, and it runs to a T-intersection just southwest of Wyelangata and on the Lavers Hill-Beech Forest Road for a couple of kilometres. I turned onto Wait-a-While Road, which became Seaview Road at its southern end, and connected for a run along part of the Great Ocean Road before spearing off to the left to complete a circuit of Red Johanna Road and Blue Johanna Road before running up to Lavers Hill to recharge.

As it turned out, Lavers Hill gave an opportunity to engage with a bunch of seasoned adventurer riders out of Warrnambool. It seemed they’d ridden just about everywhere, including Indonesia and South Africa.

The central Otways offer plenty of diverse terrain, all of it great riding.

Unfamiliar

From Lavers Hill an unsealed, dry-weather track wiggled its way northward to eventually intersect with Gellibrand River Road a second time and I turned further south, skirting Mount Mckenzie just before Chapple Vale.

Given my riding ability, particularly when I was solo and unsure of what was ahead, this section had caused a little apprehension. I encountered some sand and found myself continually thinking, ‘Hang loose, you goose’.

I made it, although I was a little frayed around the edges, and Chapple Vale was an opportunity to reset and acknowledge the point, ‘If you want to be free, you have to let go’. It’s crazy logic, I’m sure you’ll agree. But at the time it struck a chord with me, partially because when on unfamiliar terrain I do tend to clench my grips tight – although not as much as I did a few short years ago.

A spectacular panorama across Apollo Bay’s fishing harbour from Busty Road.
Crowes is a worthy historical stop to ponder what was once a significant point on the only rail line into the depths of the Otways.

Princetown

I continued southward along Gellibrand River Road to a T-intersection at Lower Gellibrand where again I briefly joined the Great Ocean Road before heading up Boulevarde Road to Ferguson Hill, my circuit’s westernmost point. Princetown Road ran south to a sleepy, but pretty, sheltered coastal village of the same name where there were a number of accommodation options.

Beyond Princetown the Old Ocean Road is a relaxed, hard-packed, yellow gravel detour.

Narrow-gauge

Beyond Princetown the Old Ocean Road is a relaxed, hard-packed, yellow-gravel detour that wanders the inland side of the Gellibrand River, rising slightly through blind corners to its intersection with the Great Ocean Road at Lower Gellibrand – the same intersection where I’d earlier exited north. This time I chose south for a very brisk tarmac squirt to Crowes, the end point for Victoria’s third of four narrow-gauge railway lines. It was the state’s last narrow-gauge to be closed in 1962 and was once a significant point in the only rail line into the depths of the Otways.

Having travelled enough unsealed tracks and narrow bitumen I pointed the front wheel at Lavers Hill then south via the Great Ocean Road to Glenaire, and it was a tarmac joy. The run from Glenaire to Hordern Vale is a cracker too, probably because I’d like to think its rhythm suited my talent – if that makes sense. From Hordern Vale I detoured north at Cape Horn on to Binns Road to run up into the Aire Valley Plantation, a place, God only knows why, that never ceases to capture my fascination.

Skirting Mount Mckenzie just before Chapple Vale.

Warning

Maybe it’s because of where it sits high within the heart of the Otways, where views between canyons of tall timber, or wide panoramas where tree felling has taken place, can be epic. Or maybe it’s the physical nature of dirt roads with names like Horse Paddock, Satin Box and Seaview which crawl between plantations. Whatever it is, Aire Valley is a magic place for me. It pays to be careful in there, though. The roads aren’t the widest and the escape routes aren’t particularly attractive. Many of them creep along the outside of steep drop offs.

Choices are few north of the Aire Valley Plantation’s narrow delights. The best main exit east is Turton Pass, a fantastic twisting road that’s seldom 100-per-cent dry and with plenty of tight stuff to rivet the attention while requiring a rider to be very aware of occasional oncoming traffic – further motivation for my choosing to ride midweek.

Turton’s is a rewarding experience in either direction. This time I rode to Haines Junction, where another choice presents itself: head north to Forrest and beyond if you’ve had enough, or continue south via Wild Dog Creek Road, a narrow, unsealed twister along which it’s not uncommon to encounter deer.

Resting wombats or bouncing kangaroos could be moving targets, but deer are fast-moving and solid.

For Lorne

Don’t miss turning up Busty Road at Krambruk North to enjoy a spectacular panorama across Apollo Bay’s fishing harbour, unsurprisingly, the site of one of the best fish-and-chip eateries.

Before rejoining Wild Dog Road’s southern end, kick back for a moment and enjoy the peacefully curved shoreline of Apollo Bay, a year-round place of tranquillity.

Just a little further on from Lorne, Victoria’s version of Noosa Heads, Apollo Bay’s expansive sea-scape is always a wonderful place to pause.

Away from Lavers, an unsealed, dry-weather track wiggles its way northward.

Zigzagging

A short run up Skenes Creek Road was a fun ascent away from the surging surf, and beyond Haines Junction there’s an obscure shortcut to Mt Sabine, the Otway’s highest point. Mt Sabine’s early agricultural potential never had a chance because of a refusal to extend the narrow-gauge rail or any sort of formed road.

The switchback run along Sunnyside Road down to the Great Ocean Road opened the door for a further blast along the tourist highway before escaping up Grey River Road, a mostly narrow, twisting thoroughfare. The curves continue after Cape Patton, but there’s the choice to continue up Wye River Road to re-unite with the main Benwerrin-Mt Sabine gravel artery that runs the spinal length of the Otway Range.

It provides access to any number of seasonal tracks either side of its passage toward Benwerrin, where one can either exit north to Deans Marsh and beyond if time limits further adventure, or continue right to engage a cracking down-hill tarmac blast along the southern leg of the Deans Marsh-Lorne road to once again re-join the Great Ocean Road and continue toward Aireys Inlet.

Cape Patton.

Satisfaction

Before my final detour away from the Great Ocean Road I blasted up Big Hill Track, which at an earlier time in my short riding career had caught me out, much to the delight of a more expert rider who had led that day.

With Big Hill conquered and with the day’s end not far away, I headed toward Seaview Road and via Boonah Road running up to Peter’s Hill Fire Tower – just south-east of an area known as Paddy Swamp – that offered plenty of singletrack and wider forestry choices for anyone feeling underdone.

On this occasion daylight saving was in my favour. I faced up to a couple of passages I was keen to conquer that required navigating Hughes and Denham Tracks, the latter’s middle sections more about proving to myself I could do them.

Even though I was between an increasingly rich envelope of vivid colour and growing shadows that signalled the day’s sunlight was fast failing, I was aware of a host of watching eyes in the undergrowth. It definitely wasn’t the time to blot an otherwise rewarding ride.

I got into the flow, probably because I’d been in the saddle for two days and seemed to be more relaxed. I let the bike do the work, rolling up, over, down, around and through what had previously been obstacles, and it all definitely felt better.

That said, I hasten to add there remains lots of scope for improvement. I’d found a new respect for second, third and fourth gear, positioning my body and looking ahead – I felt a level of inner satisfaction so good it’s almost impossible to comprehend unless you’ve felt it yourself.

Why we do it

The continuum of less-hectic gravel quickly blurred into darkness as I closed in on the coastal township of Anglesea.

It had been, by my measure at least, a sizable southern excursion that delivered in spades. Almost half the terrain was classified as secondary narrow or unsealed thoroughfares, topped up with an ample serve of lesser-travelled sections and some ripping coastal tarmac, all with a raft of breathtaking vistas.

The decision to call it a day was an easy one.

I parked alongside the ocean and the river that splits the peaceful township which once shared two different names before its single identity, Anglesea, and sat down to an enjoyable fill of Rose’s best Chinese take-away.

It was a magic end to a great ride.

I guess that’s why we keenly seek new circuits and adventures.

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