Aysons Reserve to Tongala

 Aysons Reserve to Tongala = 52km
Cummulative total = 99km and 20,100km
Tongala caravan park = $22 unpowered (a bit expensive for what you get!)

Hello there we all survived our 2nd day of cycling ... well at least Neil and I did, Kouta struggled a bit today .... at the breaks I lifted him out of the trailer only for him to wait for me to get out of the way and he jumped straight back into the trailer  .... he was too tired to walk around!
So let me tell you about last night - dinner was nice and easy and here is Neil cooking it all in one pot ...

 and then we had desserts ... courtesy of Leanne and Russells strawberry garden , we dipped each one in yoghurt and Kouta was so insistent on having one that we gave him one ... thinking that he won't like it but he put it in his mouth and spat it back out only to pick it up again and then spit it back out .... he did this quite a few times until it was all gone .... so there you go you can now add strawberries to kouta fruit list of bananas and strawberries!

 Onto today, well after an okay sleep last night ... have to get use to sleeping on the ground and on a small self inflating pillow again and also Koutas wandering around the tent and Neils constent getting up, opening the tent door and scrambling out to go to the toilet (it is alot quieter at home!)  So I expect the sleep will be alot better tonight ... oh and I forgot that I will have to get use to Koutas bad case of farts throughout the night ... he did a real doozy last night that I nearly passed out!
Since we haven't changed for daylight savings it is still dark at 7am so we got up just after 7am and didn't head off until 8.45am.  Luckily the wind from yesterday was not around but sooner or later it would come.  We cycle just up the road and come across some roadworks the guy said the road is being worked on all the way to Rochester (12km away) and we are advised to take the road 50m up and 'go around the block' ... now that is my discussion for today ... in the city a 'block' is a few 100 meters ad most ... now out here in the country a 'block' is literally kilometers big and unbeknownst to us this particular block he mentions is about 19kms big and mainly on dirt road ... so we opt to go straight and link up with the midland highway that goes towards Shepparton.  The first 3km was quite good and relatively smooth going until we come across 4 semi trailers coming in the opposite direction carrying the gravel for the roadworks!  So we got covered in dust, here is the road ...

 the next 4 kms were a little rougher and also had one or 2 crests but it was ridable

the down hill parts were good.  Once we joined up with the midlands highway the traffic wasn't too bad but we had a shoulder, we stayed on this road for 15km and the further along it the worse the shoulder got - it had lots of weeds coming up through cracks.

The turnoff for Tongala was welcomed.  We had a coffee break at 11am and just after we restarted the wind picked up from the same direction as yesterday - west north west wind but it wasn't as strong as yesterday.

The legs felt okay and strong enough and really only started feeling a little tired in the last hour and I think that is because there were no hills around to free wheel down since it is all flat around this area you have no other choice but to pedal!

Once we turned off for Tongala we noticed the paddocks became smaller and some were bone dry while others were a lovely lush green ... clearly this is irrigation country and there are also alot of water channels which are full and flowing.

We get into Tongala and it is a town with a population of around 1400 (1442 to be exact!) and it is a lovely town center.  There is a big Nestles factory here so I think that might be the main employer around here.  Also this area is big on seasonal work (there was a big tomato farm on the midland highway as there were squashed tomatoes in the shoulder of the road!)

So the campground is mainly for seasonal workers but there doesn't seem to be many around at the moment just a few here and there.  The place is a bit expensive for what you get ... no hot water anywhere except the toilets, a kitchen with a fridge and microwave and a gas burner and bbq (which costs 20c).  The unpowered section is just us and 2 italian men next to us ... unfortunately one of them has a loud voice and talks constantly and loudly for all to hear!

The toilet block is nice and clean so I had a lovely long hot shower since I didn't get one last night.

Tomorrow we head for Nathalia which is probably similar to this town.  We will have a rest day there.