A day at Lake Bolac

Very windy, cold and with showers. Glad I’m not riding today. The wind is strong across to Melbourne and further south in Tasmania.

I visited the camp Laundry early on and got everything washed. Hung it out and some drying got done before the showers arrived. Management of drying was necessary to keep stuff in the breeze without it getting wet or blown into the Lake.

Also visited the Information Centre. The big bales I saw yesterday were hay bales. For animal fodder. All I have to do now is spot some animals! The stubble is either wheat or canola. Canola stubble is the white stuff that I thought had been sprayed with a soil fertilizer. They don’t. Instead farmers grow one crop every couple of years as the paddocks need to rest in between.

The Centre had a lot of information about the Lake Bolac eels. They start their life in the seas around Vanuatu as see through larvae. Then change to see through glass eels, then turn into elvers. The ocean currents slowly bring them over to Australia and the eels in this lake ‘come ashore’ in Gippsland. Working their way inland some then end up here. Some – well thousands! When the eel has grown to adulthood they wait for a good wet and then begin their journey back to Vanuatu. As they leave the lake they have been food for the local Bulukbara Clan for thousands of years. Now the first people hold an annual eel festival to tell everyone the story and make sure the eel feasts aren’t forgotten. BTW: The largest eel known to have been caught was over 4 feet long!

The other thing I found out about is that the plains over which I am cycling are volcanic plains. All the way from Geelong to Robe nearly. The last eruption was approx 6,000 years ago but volcanologists know there is quite a bit happening down below right now. Apparently not enough to worry about an immediate eruption but it’s best to keep a watch on things. There are many dormant craters dotted about and some impressive lava caves – but none close enough for me to visit. You can’t go too far out of your way when cycling.

In the afternoon the trike and I were blown down one side of the lake. For a few hundred meters a swarm of swallows were flitting around in a demented way looking like the wind had sent them barmy. I suspect a goodly crop of midges were there for the taking.

Turning into the wind I had to turn back and run with it in order to select a low enough gear to allow cycling into it. Just like going into a hill too highly geared, turning, engaging the correct gear and then starting the climb except this time the road was flat.

Enough was enough. Save the energy for tomorrow! Back to the cabin and enjoy some more time out of the gale.