10/17/18 – Furry and Fuzzy

Sunday, my first day in Melbourne, justified its name. After a week of rain I finally got what I wished for – a warm and sunny day. It also coincided with annual marathon. Thousands of people of all ages were running. Meanwhile, many other people were in numerous restaurants on Yarra’s riverbanks or in parks picnicking.

I met up with a fellow Bromtoneer and she showed me around, both of us of course on our Bromptons.

I finally met the animals I came here to see: kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, dingoes. I always wanted to cuddle up with koala and I did; they’re much smaller than I imagined but still warm and fuzzy.

My romance with good weather was short, at the end of the second day it turned to the worse. I still cycled on Tuesday but the whole day was on the verge of a thunderstorm.

At the end of the day I repacked for the ride along the Great Ocean Road, a three days test before I’ll go cycling in New Zealand.

These days in numbers:

123 km – distance cycled
19% – of the population of Australia lives in Melbourne metropolis
7 – years in a row Melbourne had been ranked the most livable city in the world