Our intrepid crew: Bruce, Des, Janice, Maureen and Maria.
Beginning in Nyora and ending at Port Albert, the Great Southern Trail winds its way through Gippsland’s rich rolling hills, open plains and bushland and through 14 small towns along its 130kms length. We tackled the trail in two days, beginning in Loch where we stayed in a superb Airbnb overnight and ending in Port Albert, enjoying perhaps the world’s most delicious fish n’ chips overlooking Port Albert’s extensive harbour.
It’s cow country and particularly after Foster, we encountered many gates allowing access for cows and farmers to cross the trail, some gates easier to manoeuvre through than others. The trail also crosses roads, most quiet county roads with a couple of exceptions. We stopped for morning teas and lunches in parks along the way and were impressed that even in tiny dot places there were well-planted bush oases complete with picnic tables and seats where we could rest and enjoy the birdlife.
Des the speedster
The trail is signed, but at times it may have been possible to pedal the wrong way, so some signage in and out of towns would be helpful. We also would have appreciated distance markers especially on day 1 from Loch to Foster to know how long before toilet stops and places to refill water bottles.
The website, Great Southern Rail Trail , for the trail is fabulous and provides a wealth of information about attractions, food and drink and accommodation. It’s worth a close read if you’re planning to ride.
Two days was not enough to explore the towns and make the side trip to Port Welshpool, or continue on to Yarram, so we’re planning a return visit. We are trying to work out how we can access the trail via public transport at both ends. It appears that a train to Pakenham then a ride to Nyora or Loch on day 1 would be possible, perhaps overnight stops at Meeniyan, Port Welshpool and Yarram, before riding to Bairnsdale to catch a train back to Melbourne.
There were five riders in our group, all members of CMRT, and a support vehicle for our catering needs. We shuttled cars along the trail, driving back to start points. This is a time-consuming and not ideal process. Carrying gear in panniers is the way to go next time. And enough room for lots of water and some sustaining snacks. The views are glorious, the townsfolk friendly and the trail’s surface is in excellent condition. Next time, it won’t be a summer ride, so that long tiger snake we saw on day 2 will be somewhere warmer!