Recce trip Day 1 Melbourne to Coleraine

 (Continued from here)

The train trip to Ararat wasn't completely straightforward. On the day I travelled in April 2026, public transport in Victoria was free due to fuel shortages and the Middle East war this was great! But soon after the train departed it was announced that only the front 3 carriages would go to Ararat, and I was at the back of the train. Unfortunately the train was split in the middle and I couldn't get through to the front from the back except at platforms - this meant a bit of carriage and plaform hopping with bike halves until I was settled in the front of the train. 

I got to Ararat about 10:30, reassembled the bike,  and was soon on my way. Hamilton is about 30k from Coleraine, and my route went through there, and Hamilton was signposted from central Ararat. So navigation was easy and as bonuses the weather and wind were good and it was slightly downhill!

I stopped briefly at the tiny town of Willaura and  had smoko (sandwiches made at home) with a grey nomad who had taken up residence in a barbecue rotunda. He travelled between country race meetings and had been to Coleraine. From there I rode to Glenthompson and the bigger, slightly more trafficked Glenelg Highway. 

My second decent stop was at Dunkeld. This is a slightly upmarket town, at least partly due to the upmarket Gourmet stop, The Royal Mail Hotel . There was a provedore but I couldn't find an IGA for food and ended up returning to the Mobil service station to eat (salted fried dim sims - yum) and get supplies on board (Oak chocolate milks poured into the drink bottle and biscuits) for the rest of the trip.

I didn't stop in Hamilton but kept going through to Coleraine by which time (about 7pm) it was completely dark. Thankfully I had good lights including a Flock taillight on my helmet and I was used to night riding.

Thankfully also the Coleraine pub where I was staying was open and welcoming. It was slightly depopulated though, due to the pool tournament up the road at the other Coleraine pub!

After a shower I tucked into the bed about 8ish and was soon asleep.