Sorrento - Sommes - Inverloch

I said goodbye to my daughter after catching the ferry with her from Queenscliff to Sorrento. We sat by the beach then ate Banana cake and chatted at a side street cafe. It has been so good to see her for a few days and chat and chill. Hit home a bit when she said “see you next year”. The heat was rising fast on the beachfront so I got my move on and started off officially on my tour. I followed the coast to the town of Rosebud then hooked in and headed towards the middle part of the peninsula. Mistake.....slow and up, quick short down, slow and up. With my experience I should have know better than not spot the names on the map. Red Hill, Panorama View, Wells Lookout. Still it was nice and quiet on the back roads. I arrived in Sommes and headed down to the beach area as in this country where there is a beach there is usually a bench and maybe even toilets. It felt sweet this time as I had showers as well. All for free. So I kicked back knowing my sleeping arrangements would be good, made a coffee and watched the sunset. Early to rise next morning as I had to catch another ferry this time over to Phillip Island. I knocked up a nice cup of coffee and made some oats with chocolate protein powder then packed away my gear and headed off. I ended up having to take a bit of a detour as the naval base I arrived at wasn’t on my map and the sign outside mentioned a firing range, explosives and prosecution. Still I didn’t mind a few extra kilometres. Rather that than end up shot, missing limbs and in court. Once on Phillip Island the heat really kicked in. It was only 10am and already touching 30 degrees. After an hour of riding I stopped of at an information centre to catch some shade. I spoke to an English guy there for a while who was working locally but had cycled down from Sydney a few days earlier. The poor guy had done it on an old rusty bike with a backpack on, a broken tent, no camping mat and a table cloth instead of a sleeping bag. Just goes to show you don’t need all the gear just have the will. I made it to my host in time for veggie burgers, salad and an IPA. His name was Thierry, he worked in conservation and for a hobby occasionally did ultra marathons. His house is just across the street from where my first Aussie Parkrun will be on the foreshore at Inverloch. Let’s go run....please be cloudy.