The Grand (Melbourne) Triangle bike route

On 9 November 2014 Alex, Pili, and I cycled the Grand Melbourne Triangle Route (that is at least the name that I am giving it). The route forms a 118 km triangle through the eastern and southeastern suburbs. I have done this once before and really enjoyed it. The vast majority of the route is on off road bike paths, some are unpaved but none are difficult and all are suited for any kind of bike. It took us about 9 hours, that includes two ~20 minute breaks for lunch and a snack. We left at 8:15 am and got back around 5:00 pm.

A Google maps link for more detail on the route is here.

Route Description

Our starting point was 101 Manningham St and this point (A) marked the first vertex of the triangle. First the route joins the Capital City Trail heading east around the north of the centre of Melbourne. After passing under Heidelberg Road bridge and climbing the short very steep hill, the route turns right to cross Heidleberg Road Bridge (point B). Either bike through the park bike paths or along the road to reach the beautiful pedestrian bridge that crosses the Yarra River near the Fairfield Park Boathouse. The route now follows the Yarra Trail until the junction where the Yarra Trail crosses the river in Burke Road Billabong Reserve (point C). Instead of crossing the river continue straight, under Burke Road then through a tunnel under the Eastern Freeway to join the Koonung Creek Trail heading east. This trail takes you east and eventually turns into the Mullum Mullum Creek Trail which passes through some great bushland in Yarran Dheran Reserve.

Follow these trails east for 16.5 km until you pass under the complicated highway junction where the second vertex of the triangle is located (point D).

Now the route south begins, follow the Eastlink Trail for 6 km. 

When you reach a junction with a dirt walking bike track (point E) it is nice to turn right. This is easy to miss and not a big deal if you do as you can rejoin the route later. The reason for going right here is that there is a nice wooden boardwalk over some swamps as well as some other nice sections. 

Bike 5.5 km from point E to point F, along the way the trail becomes the Dandenong Creek Trail at some point (Point F marks a junction that you can reach in case you missed the junction at point E and continued down the Eastlink Trail and turned right along the Blind Creek trail). From point F the route follows the Dandenong Creek Trail for some 31 km until you reach the sea at Carrum Port at point H. Along the way is Jells Park, a great place to stop for lunch. Look out for the bridge crossing in Dandenong Park at point G, it is not clearly signposted that you have to cross it. 

The final section before reaching the coast is along the left bank of the broad Patterson River that Dandenong Creek flows into. 

Finally a celebration is in order as you reach the sea at Carrum and enjoy the expanse of blue and beaches spreading out in both directions. 

This is the 3rd vertex, now begins the long trek along the coast back to the 1st vertex. You can actually see the tops of the Melbourne skyscrapers from here, gives an indication of the distance you have to travel to get back home.

Unfortunately you have to follow an on road bike lane along Statton St for 7.5 km to reach Mordialloc after which things improve. Bike along bike paths or along Beach Road until the reliable and consistent bike path begins at point I. Now amble up the coast on the fantastic Bay Trail.

The trail continues non-stop for 20.5 km until finally you reach the Spirit of Tasmania terminal at point J. From here follow the bike path northeastward towards the city, join the Capital City Trail again and head through Docklands and then north to return to the starting point A. Enjoy a cool beer and take a nap.

East Gippsland cycle tour

This was a great week adventure with a rail trail to begin with followed by an adventurous route along the coast that ended in Bemm River. Touring inland through Cabbage Creek then into the mountains on some testing dirt tracks into the Snowy Mountain wilderness before returning to Orbost. A blog of the various sections will follow and a map of the route is linked below:

Create Maps or Search for a route from millions at MapMyRide

Or below is a link, may allow you to view satellite, road map etc. Just click the map on the left and it will link to the route on MapMyRide.

Create Maps or Search for a route from millions at MapMyRide

The Grand (Melbourne) Triangle bike route

The Grand Triangle

The map linked below is of a cycling route that forms a giant triangle through the eastern and southeastern Melbourne suburbs. Pili, Alex and I will attempt this 118 km route on Sunday hopefully. I did it a while back and enjoyed the variety of the route as well as the fact that most of it is through parkland and on bike paths. Hopefully the link below will work:

View Larger Map

Monday 18 February 2013 Victoria fires

Fires across Victoria today. Plume visible across east Melbourne from Donnybrook fire. Working on a time lapse of view from the Bureau.

I left my camera running taking pictures every 5 seconds looking northeast from the Bureau of Meteorology. The resulting time lapse is here:
I sent the link to The Age and they put the video in their story on the fires:

Life on Mars

I am posting some thoughts about life on Mars that I sent to a friend who asked me a question about it on Facebook. 

I love getting messages like this. The reason that life on Mars could be so significant is because it might prove that life has evolved somewhere else independently. If that has happened at least twice in one solar system the the universe is jam packed with life. It is everywhere. However there is a problem. It is possible that life could have spread from Earth to Mars. We have pieces of Mars on Earth and there are probably pieces of Earth on Mars. It has been shown that some microorganisms can survive in space so it may be possible that life spread between the planets. I'm skeptical about this though so imho if life is found it probably evolved independently. However as a planet Mars is dead. Life has no grasp on that planet, the chemistry of the planet is in balance whereas Earth's is way out of balance - a signature of life, this has been known for a long time and because of this James Lovelock concluded that we would not find life on Mars. Still there may have been life in the distant past or life may be holding on at a basic level. The Saturn moon Enceladus also has the potential for life. It is believed that there is a huge ocean beneath the very thick ice and possibly hydrothermal vents which are a contender for being the life giver on Earth.
If life is found on other planets or moons in our Solar system - and I think it is a huge "if" - it does not mean the Universe is full of civilizations. The only civilization to exist on Earth has only just begun. That means it has taken the life span of the Universe to produce our civilization even though life as existed on Earth for a large fraction of that time. So much has happened on Earth and yet it is only now that civilization has arisen. I think this means it is extremely difficult to produce a civilization through evolutionary processes but I'm just guessing really. Also we don't know yet if global civilizations tend to destroy themselves. If this is a general tendency, then given the amount of time it likely takes to make a civilization, it is extremely unlikely that we could find another one. Still the alternative is that civilizations tend not to destroy themselves and reach technological levels way beyond our own. Then it may be that they can spread between planets, reproduce if you will, and in this case there may be loads. Well some fun ramblings, not sure if that helped.

Sunday 14 August 2011: Thame to Loch Lomond

Woke up in the Towersey garden where we were camped for Ed and Faith’s wedding, around 6 am, keen to get going but nursing a slight hangover. John woke as well and after packing up in the still morning air I set off on the route to Milton Keynes. It was pleasant cycling to the Thame ring road and then off onto minor roads through the country. The hills were gentle and the roads largely empty. After about an hour of cycling that took me through Chearsley and Lower Winchendon I stopped for a bite of breakfast by a silent farm track leading mysteriously off the hill down to the east. I felt the urge to wander a few tens of metres just to see what lay further down but decided to leave it in the realm of uncertainty. It was nice countryside heading north to North Marston, Granborough and then the scenic town of Windslow where I stopped in a small shop to get a snack while the church bells echoed around the town. Onwards my route skirted round the east of Windslow then north to Little Horwood before approaching the sprawl of Milton Keynes. The destination was not what I expected, but they rarely are, a sizable town with a very well organized network of cycle paths on unusually straight (grid) roads that, as with many cycle paths, actually slow progress but are welcome nonetheless. The town centre had wide roads with numerous carparks, an unusual layout for an English town, a modernist 1960s government solution to ease housing pressure in London. It was 1100 am and I had a burger at Burger King after being directed there by a security guard clearly on edge after the recent riots around England.

            I had some time at the station before the 2pm train that I spent mending a my Christmas Common puncture and gazing at the map of Scotland. My obsession concerned whether I could make it first to Loch Lomond by the late evening and on to Gairloch by Tuesday evening. It seemed too much but I thought it still a possibility. It would require two days of 100 miles of cycling across the highlands with untold hills. I took my bike down to the platform and was told by an official that I needed to wait at the end of the platform, and let an official know I was boarding the train 5 minutes before it arrived so that they could unlock the cycle storage carriage. So 5 minutes before the train was due to arrive I searched the platform for someone official looking. All I could find was a cleaning lady enjoying a snack in the empty waiting room. She took me to a code locked door where after she knocked a uniformed man came out. He told me to go to the opposite end of the platform and wait there. After moving my bike down the platform the train arrived, the man came along and unlocked the carriage with a hexagon like key thing. Not straightforward and so on arrival in Birmingham for my transfer I was a little on edge as there was only 15 minutes to figure out what the bike system was at the busy station. Went up and down elevators, got to the crowded platform, asked some officials about the bike situation and they said they would help when the train arrived. They disappeared so I found someone else who showed where to wait and said no key was needed. Indeed the train arrived after a bunch of people got on I got my bike on and attempted to secure it to various straps. There were not enough seats and my reservation was for another inaccessible part of the train so I just inflated my thermorest and sat down next to my bike. A family was also stuck in this cargo area. They later found seats and so did I, so I enjoyed the journey through the north of England and south of Scotland dreaming about how long it would have taken to cycle the distance.

            Arrived in Glasgow around 720 pm, walked my bike straight out of the station, a man on a mission, and started cycling west past various tempting pubs. After a while I saw signs for the Loch Lomond bike path that I had never heard of. I took a risk and decided to try it out. Initially it was a mess, winding through industrial estates and dodgy neighborhoods with broke beer glass as a hazard. I regretted taking it but getting back on my planned route would be complicated so I stuck with it. I came to a nice fish and chips nestled on a canal dock type area where after some accent confusion I got a pie and chips and a sausage and chips (I had asked for a pie and sausage and chips not two meals). Well no bother I would save the pie and chips for a morning snack tomorrow I thought. Continuing on, the light darkened, and the bike path got more interesting. It followed at first the banks of the canal on a gravelly track not ideal for my bike. Then it moved onto a disused railway line that went under the Erskine Bridge and past the old ferry terminal. Eventually it met river Lomond and followed its west bank along a gravel path. It was wonderful to be cycling alone in the dark next to this large river. The evening’s ride was providing a lot of surprises and this was the most pleasant. There were bats and it was now dark so I had to use lights. I found my way to southern end of Loch Lomond where dark deserted car parks had to be negotiated before I stumbled across the west Loch Lomond bike path. This was not a great path to start with but I was happy to be not on the dodgy looking A82 nearby. It was getting late around 10 pm by this time but I pushed further wanting to find a decent place to throw my tent up. My dream of a scenic location next to the Loch was looking unattainable as the road and path wound along some distance away from the water’s edge. Eventually around 11 pm my perseverance was rewarded as I found a small walkers gate next to the bike path that lead to a country land and a path of land next to the calm waters of the Loch. I quickly set up my tent incompletely and had a quick snack. There was a house, appearing to be on an island or peninsular across the water about ½ km away. As I lay in my tent I got paranoid that I was on private property and my tired mind heard each A82 car to be the angry residents coming to chase me off into the night. Eventually my fatigue won over and I descended into deep sleep.

Tuesday 11 August 2011: Cycling to Leith Hill

This was the beginning of a longer plan to get to Gairloch in Scotland. The plan was this: 11 Aug: bike from Lewes to Leith Hill, 12 August: bike from Leith Hill to Thame, 13 August: attend Ed and Faith’s wedding, 14 August: bike to Milton Keynes, catch a train to Glasgow, bike to Loch Lomond, 15 August: bike ~100 miles to past For William, 16 August bike as far as possible towards Gairloch, 17 August meet family in Gairloch. In the morning I packed up, and waited for some rain to arrive and pass over. It never arrived. After lunch biked to Coldean and dropped off my wedding gear at Ben’s place. We had tea and discussed the relative merits of fig rolls. Ben said that the fig was important in the development of human civilization. Left around 2 pm and biked over and down the steep hill of Ditchling Beacon giving my loaded bike its first downhill test. Followed minor roads, country lanes etc through nice country to Hailsham. Had not been there before, quite a nice town with pedestrian area. Continuing north the going got more hilly and forested as the North Downs approached. I caught a first glimpse of Leith Hill in the distance clearly the largest hill in the region. The view of this, only 300 metre high hill, still managed to induce a sense of excitement. Something about the mystique of the North Downs, the advance planning, the anticipation of completing the first stage in my plan. Off the OS maps now, route finding relied on inadequate Google Maps printouts. I changed route to follow a single track road heading up the west flank of the hill. It climbed steeply through damp, mossy and surprisingly wild forest. Walked the bike up most of it. Eventually after some uncertain turns in the darkening forest I arrived at a car park that had a 15 minute trail to the summit. It was easy to walk the bike along, and soon the tower appeared, a beautiful single castle tower that peaks the hill a smidgen over 300 m.

There was a view north to London in the distance with sparkling buildings reflecting the lowering sun, but too the south was a more beautiful view across The Wield to the just visible distant South Downs.

A strange cloud had formed to the south that took an uncanny resemblance to the silhouette of Mauna Kea:

It was as if to remind me of the greatness of that mountain (14 times higher than Leith Hill) and of the extraordinary Big Island. There were one or two mountain bikers finishing off evening rides but as sun set I became alone and set up a modest camp next to a tree and large log. The hill was in drifting mist, above cloud base the clouds gently drifted through the conifers. I slept well.