8 October - Home in Traralgon

We left Apollo Bay this morning at 08:00. Our intention was to travel the Great Ocean Road back to Melbourne. We were aware that the GOR has been closed between Separation Creek and Wye River due to a landslide but the locals at Apollo Bay assured us that a bypass around that area was available and would not delay us much at all. This information was completely wrong - the roadblock was immediately east of Apollo Bay and our only option was to divert into the Otway ranges via Forrest and this diversion would take us all the way to the very beginning of the GOR in Torquay. At this point we abandoned the idea of riding the GOR (another ride when the road is fixed perhaps?) and we continued on through Winchelsea and Geelong and then on to Melbourne.
Although the morning had started off cool, it warmed through the day and we had brilliant sunshine throughout. Waved goodbye to Luke as we passed Moe and I arrived home just after 1:30 pm.

Seeing we delayed the trip to minimise the impact of severe storm weather along our route the availability to check rain radar all through the trip enabled us to minimise the impact of rain. While we experienced a couple of really windy days, in total we only had 60-90 minutes of actual rain. Everywhere we travelled we witnessed the impact of recent and serious flooding in the countryside but this only affected our route once when we had to divert around Shepparton.
Our accommodation plans didn't always work out due to unforeseen events, but we were always able to modify the plan and we enjoyed great accommodation and meals everywhere.
Both bikes performed perfectly with no issues at any time.
In summary, a great eight day ride covering some 2,700 km with a great many highlights, not the least of which was the opportunity to share it with my brother.

Total Distance today 362 km.