Ararat to Stawell

 
Ararat to Stawell (via back roads) = 57km
Cummulative total = 242km

We had a lovely rest day in Ararat yesterday - it was hot but not too hot and sunny.  Here are a few photos of Ararat ... the first 2 is off someones garden, actually it was something in the garden that caught my eye ...
 
can you see there is a toy crocodile with something in its' mouth?  well below is a close up of what is in its' mouth ...

LOL someone doesn't like Kiwis!
Ararat is a lovely ole town and below is the town hall
 
and all along the mainstreet are these very old vines that are well maintained and believe it or not they actually do get grapes on them - not sure if they are eating grapes or wine grapes.
 
We woke this morning to rain - it lightly rained for most of the night so we checked the weather forecast radar and saw there was more and we guessed it was going to go north of us and around Ouyen - Mildura way so we packed up and left rather late this morning.
It was overcast and somewhat muggy as there was very little wind about.  You climb to get out of Ararat and at around 7.5km you come to Carols Cutting which is at around 400m above sea level and just over the crest of the hill is a wonderful view of the Grampians and the plain below.
 
Off course the bulk of the Grampians was in cloud!  From there it is undulating to Moyston at 16km.  We took a break there and we have been here before as it is the birthplace of AFL.  And Russell you were right the memorial is for Thomas Wills who established the game of AFL.  He is also the cofounder and captain of both Melbourne and then Geelong teams
 
From here we were suppose to find a road about 8.7km further on to connect to the road that goes from Pomonal to Stawell - we didn't find a sealed road but did see an unsealed one but decided to stay on this one and do the extra and go to Pomonal. Mind you the state of this road is really lumpy and bumpy and I doubt if the unsealed road was any rougher!  The traffic is relatively light - quite a few coming from Halls Gap to Ararat but not much going our way.
Just before Pomonal we saw a Kangaroo grazing alongside the road, normally they panic and bound off but this one just casually looked at us and thought 'oh yeah' and nonchalantly carried on like we weren't there!
At Pomonal we had our coffee break and there were little wee ants running about annoying Kouta when he laid on the ground.  In annoyance he bounded up to me and lept on my lap ... it is lovely to be used by Kouta - that is the only time he sits on my lap - when it is too uncomfortable to ly on the ground!
 
From Pomonal we took the Stawell road and that was really quiet.  It is nice riding through there.  The area is very dry looking but the pastures look green but not 'lush' like around Colac.
The campground is just before you get to the highway ... speaking of the highway - if we rode along it from Ararat to Stawell it was only 31km ... by taking the back roads we almost doubled our distance!
It is a nice big campground but not too many here.  It has a lake in the middle and we are camped right on the edge of it ....
 
It is still overcast but incredibly warm - too warm to lay down in the tent to admire the view of the lake.
Tomorrow is Rupanyup - decided to go there instead of doing the very long haul of Stawell to Horsham via the back roads which is near a 90km day - so to Rupanyup which is about 55km and then onto Horsham the next day.