High Country Omeo Weekend

A 620 km loop

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Why this ride

Built for flow, views and useful stops rather than navigation busywork. Out of Cranbourne East and back again: 620 km, roughly 11 h 29 in the saddle. It goes by way of Scenic stretch near Clifton Springs, near Gordon and near Yea. near Rosebud is the high point.

Roadbook

1. Fuel stop in Cranbourne East fuel

   Fuel at 0 km.

2. High point near Rosebud pass

   You top out here; the road stops climbing.

3. Scenic stretch near Clifton Springs scenic

   Clifton Springs looks north across Corio Bay, and on a clear afternoon the view is the reason to stop: the water in front, the industrial skyline of Geelong to the west, the granite bumps of the You Yangs rising out of the plain beyond, and on the best days the Melbourne towers far to the north-east. The town is part of the Bellarine Peninsula, a fist of farmland, vineyards and small seaside towns that closes off the western side of Port Phillip.

   The name comes from the mineral springs at the foot of the cliffs, which drew day-trippers by steamer in the late nineteenth century when taking the waters was fashionable. The old jetty and the bluffs along the shore still give a hint of that era, and the shoreline walk is a decent leg-loosener.

   As riding goes, the Bellarine is gentle. Roads roll between Drysdale, Portarlington and Queenscliff, with a few nice crests and open views but nothing technical. What you will notice is the wind, which comes hard off the bay and Bass Strait and can push a bike around on the exposed stretches. Summer weekends bring holiday traffic, caravans and families heading for the beaches; a weekday or a winter morning is a different, quieter world. Queenscliff, at the tip, has the ferry across the heads to Sorrento, a handy way to turn a ride into a loop around the bay.

   Drysdale, a few minutes away, is the local service centre with fuel, a supermarket and bakeries, and Geelong covers anything larger. Local wineries on the peninsula open cellar doors, though of course that is for passengers or for later. Grab a coffee, look at the bay, and decide whether the next leg is the ferry or the long run west towards the Otways.

4. Photo stop near Gordon photo

   Gordon is a small township on the old road between Melbourne and Ballarat, perched on the slopes of the Great Dividing Range. Like many places in this part of Victoria, it grew during the gold rush, when diggers and coaches streamed west towards the goldfields. Today it is a quiet village with a pub, a few shops and wide views over farmland and forest.

   The landscape is open and rolling, with the Western Freeway running nearby and old volcanic hills dotting the horizon. To the north, the Lerderderg State Park protects a rugged gorge carved by the Lerderderg River, a surprisingly wild landscape so close to the city. To the west lies Ballarat, with its grand gold-rush architecture and Sovereign Hill.

   For riding, the freeway gets you here quickly, but the real joy is in the back roads. The routes north through Blackwood and the Lerderderg area wind through forest and steep valleys, with tight corners and some rough sections. Heading towards Daylesford, you will find flowing roads through farmland and bush. Surfaces vary, and wildlife is common, so stay alert.

   As a photo stop, Gordon offers big skies and an authentic slice of rural Victoria. Fuel is available in Ballarat and Bacchus Marsh, and there may be limited options in smaller towns, so plan accordingly. The local pub is a good place to rest and refuel the body before continuing your ride into the High Country or back towards Melbourne.

5. Food stop near Yea food

   Food at 354 km, roughly 7 hours into the riding.

6. Near Alexandra, on the way back swim

   Alexandra is a small town on the Goulburn Valley Highway, a few kilometres from the stop, and it sits at the edge of the high country where the farmland of the Goulburn Valley meets the forested foothills of the Great Dividing Range. It was a gold and timber town in the nineteenth century, and the old buildings along the main street still show it. The Avenue of Honour, an avenue of memorial trees planted after the First World War, runs into town, and in autumn the leaves turn a spectacular red and gold, a quietly moving sight.

   For a rider, this is a gateway to some good roads. To the east and north lies Lake Eildon, a huge reservoir with arms reaching into the hills, popular for boating, fishing and houseboats, while to the south the Cathedral Range State Park rises in a jagged ridge of rock, visible from the highway. Mansfield, about forty kilometres away, is the gateway to the alpine country, and the road there passes through farmland, forest and small villages.

   Alexandra has about two and a half thousand people, with a fuel station, a supermarket, bakeries, pubs and cafes, which makes it a sensible start and finish. If you are staying overnight, a pub meal and a cold beer are a good way to end the day. The roads out of town are generally smooth, with long bends and rolling hills, though you should keep an eye out for kangaroos and wombats at dusk, and take care on narrow bridges.

   The best time to ride here is spring or autumn, when the days are mild and the colours are strong. Summer can be hot, and bushfire danger can close roads, while winter brings cold nights and the possibility of snow on the high ground. If you are planning to continue east toward Omeo, fill the tank before leaving, since fuel is limited in the mountains. Take a moment at the river, where the water is clear and the red gums stand tall.

7. Near Altona finish

   High Country Omeo Weekend checkpoint 8 closes the day.

8. Back to High Country Omeo finish

   Cranbourne sits on the south-eastern fringe of Melbourne, where suburb gives way to market gardens, horse paddocks and the flat country around Western Port Bay. For anyone returning from the Victorian high country this is the first sign of home, and the last place where the road stops feeling like countryside.

   What many riders do not know about Cranbourne is that it holds one of the finest gardens in the country. The Australian Garden, part of the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne, is a landscape of native plants arranged around red sand, dry creek beds and eucalypt groves. It is a fine place to wander on a day off the bike, and its cafe is more reliable than most. The remnant bushland nearby is also home to koalas and, in the quieter patches, swamp wallabies and the occasional echidna.

   If you want better roads, head south and east toward Tooradin and the lowland edges of Western Port, where flat farmland and wetlands give a quiet half-hour. The Bunurong and Boonwurrung people lived and fished around this bay, and the tidal flats are an international site for migratory birds, particularly the waders that arrive from Siberia and Alaska each spring.

   Cranbourne is a big place with nearly twenty thousand people, and fuel, supermarkets and every chain restaurant you could want are within a kilometre. It also has a racecourse that draws crowds on meeting days, so allow for some extra traffic if you pass through then.

   If you have had a long day in the mountains and want something gentle, the botanic gardens offer a shady place to wind down. Park, take off the jacket, and let the sound of birds replace the engine.

Where this sits

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