Geelong. A rest day

I had decided to have a look around Geelong on the way – and hoped that by now my scalp would have recovered from Efudix enough to allow a haircut. It has.

I visited the vast central shopping centre twice today. In the morning to get a hair cut and some more socks to replace those left elsewhere. Careful re parking. Found trike OK.

Second time to get prescription drugs to keep me going – which I forgot during first visit! It took 1 hour to get a simple prescription filled so I investigated the centre and got lost of course. By the time I found Chemist Warehouse again an hour had passed and scripts were ready. It was great to get out into fresh(ish) air again.

While having lunch along the front I was approached and asked if I was the owner of the trike. The questioner also has a Magnum but today was on his electric mobility scooter. He told me he tackled the “Round the Bay” event (200+ ks) 11 years running but then Parkinson’s kicked in. So on good days he rides his Magnum. We met up later too and watched a paddle board training class learn how not to fall in.

In between the other stuff I cycled the trails alongside Corio Bay. They run from the Trailable Yacht Club above Rippleside in the north to Limeburners Point in the east. I went slowly, checking out all the figures along the way. Loads of them. They appear to represent people who would have visited the beach back in the 20s and 30s. There are two types of concrete bollard, one male and one female and the paint does the rest. Only a tiny bit of graffiti spoils a couple of them.

Thoughts about Geelong.

I didn’t realise it was situated on the water! Good use is made of the waterfront with water based activities and cycling, dog walking, jogging very prominent.

To get to the CBD from the caravan park a cyclist takes the Riverside trail to the first bridge on the right. A ramp takes you up and onto a wide track on the bridge well separated from the roadway. It is then a climb up past the footy oval (Kardinia Park I think it is). There are blocks with cycle lanes and blocks with none. I rode on the footpath when no lane was available as the traffic was busy. Similarly on the downhill through the centre down to the beach.

Everybody was very accommodating. Most pedestrians smiled and kept out of my way as did the drivers when I was in a disappearing cycle lane. I rather felt they are thinking “here comes an invalid. Isn’t he doing well”. They were that sort of smiles. I didn’t tell them otherwise!

Now to survive the evening mosquito attack and get things tidied up for tomorrow.