Australia and Tasmania: Melbourne Coast Ride

Part of my grand fish-and-chips-themed tour was a ride down the coast, along the side of Hobsons Bay. See that dotted line labeled “Spirit of Tasmania”? Soon I shall be boarding that craft, and heading for Tasmania, or “Tassie” as it’s affectionately known around here. But first…

… The Royal Botanical Gardens! (“The treasure is buried under a big three!”)

And Fawkner Park!

The weather was clear and sunny, and most of the route was a procession of interlinked bike paths that hugged the coastline. Mile after mile scrolled along with fresh air and music and sips from my canteen.

It was quite pleasant, though not particularly exotic. It felt like I was pedaling down the coast back home in Santa Cruz, passing along that two-mile stretch of sand and boardwalk inside an endless loop that would keep going as long as I stayed on the bike. I didn’t even take out the camera to record the scenery.

Stopping for fish and chips in Sandringham. The place was called Sandy’s Fish And Chips, and they were pretty good. The five dollar fries turned out to be an enormous box – several pounds of salty, crisp fries. I ate way too many of them. They also had a unique fish listed on their board – flounder – but there was absolutely no way I was going to contribute to the hunting of flounder, even if I was doing the Aussie dining experience. I have very special feelings about flounders.

Energy is measured in kilojoules here, instead of calories. I enjoy that.

My room for the night, at the Buckingham International, actually a glorified Best Western. Relatively posh. It better be, for over a hundred bucks… While here, I did some more calculations and realized that instead of riding all the way around Hobsons Bay, I wanted to have an additional day in Tasmania. So I decided to ride north instead of south next morning to catch the early ferry.

I got room number 42! Hellz yeah.