Ballan Cycling Classic - 18th Nov 2012

The annual

Ballan Cycling Classic

will be held on

Sunday, November 18, 2012.

This year’s event will again raise much needed funds for our local hospital, Ballan District Health & Care, our Volunteer Country Fire Authority Brigade and the Ballan Red Cross.

The Central Highlands Region of Victoria offers superb scenery and a variety of fantastic and challenging cycling routes catering for both the novice and serious cyclist.

A choice of four routes is available, catering for a range of rider abilities and fitness levels.

The 150km ride will follow a challenging revised route with testing hill climbs, undulating roads, enjoyable flat sections all combined with magnificent scenic views. Recommended for the experienced rider.

The 100km ride presents a shorter, yet a still challenging and scenic route for the more serious cyclist.

The 50km ride presents a challenging, yet easily achieved ride for those with more advanced riding skill and fitness. The beautiful Central Highlands scenery provides a truly wonderful backdrop to a memorable cycling experience.

The 25km ride is a great ride for the novice rider who is looking for a new challenge and cycling experience travelling a beautiful route passing through rural farmland and stopping at the small village of Gordon for refreshments.

The Ballan Cycling Classic is a charity event to raise funds in support of the Ballan Hospital (Ballan District Health & Care), the Ballan Volunteer Country Fire Authority Brigade and the Ballan Red Cross.

For further information on the ride, the routes, the ride details, the proceeds or the entry form, please check the website below:

Ballan Cycling Classic website


Ballan Cycling Class Facebook Page

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a little bit of exploring in Regional Victoria

Get off those main freeways and highways and start exploring the small country towns that you only 'see' on the road signs as you whizz by....

If you think of country roads and roadsides as home to nothing more than a few motley old trees, think again! 

Nation-wide, the network of winding bitumen, dirt tracks and roadsides covers in excess of 1.6 mill km’s which offers a significant conservation upside- 1.6 mill km’s of remnant vegetation.

above: map of one of the rural roads from Ballan to Bungaree, via Gordon and Wallace.

Ever heard of WALLACE or GORDON for example?
The tiny village of Gordon is true to its Scottish meaning, “big hill”. Nestled amid rolling hillsides it is home to the slightly eccentric Wild Trout’s Gordon Hat Shoppe which offers a unique range of Scottish and Irish inspired apparel and music.

above: the township of Gordon

Wallace is a town in Victoria, Australia. The town is located 99 kilometres (62 mi) north west of the state capital, Melbourne. The township was established in the 1880s, the Post Office opening on 22 February 1885

Wallace can a quick detour from the Western Freeway on the way to Ballarat, but better still don't use it as a "quick detour" but rather as another town to explore!

Difficult to find out exactly where the name came from, but on searching Google it seems that Wallace was named after a Mr R. Wallace or perhaps even a John Wallace, who was a notable figure on the Central Victorian goldfields.

above: the township of Wallace, showing the Wallace Hotel at the intersection.

the following article was located in an article titled "Did Matthew Flinders go one river too far?" that was on the ANPS website.

So when next you go exploring, you can do some research even after your journey ... it's amazing what you can learn about some of these country towns you have visited!

For some good old fashioned country fun, colour, festivals, markets, atmosphere, bakeries and a warm welcome .... 

you can't beat the smaller towns of Regional Victoria!

useful links:

Australian Place Names Survey

road trip: Gordon to Wallace

road trip: Ballan to Gordon

Visit Moorabool website

Visit Moorabool - Gordon 

Visit Moorabool - Wallace

Visit Moorabool - road less travelled

 

come springtime, we will be out in full force 

exploring Regional Victoria, 

so stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

Road Trip (Gordon to Wallace)

We are lucky to live in such a lovely part of Victoria and have the opportunity to view the surrounding countryside.

Last week we drove from Ballan to Ballarat for some shopping and visiting friends. But instead of driving on the M8 we took the back way.

The previous blog post was on the drive from Ballan to Gordon as seen HERE. This posting is the continuation of that post and is from the township of Gordon to Wallace as seen on the following map.

 

 

After we drove through Gordon along The Old Melbourne Road till we reached the intersection of Careys Road where St Patrick's Church is located. 

On 23rd March 1872 Dr Goold laid the foundation stone of St. Patrick’s Church, Gordon. So there is quite a lot of history here, I think next time we drive through Gordon we will stop and explore the area, in particular St Patrick's Church!

We turned right onto Careys Road and followed it till it turned into Chapmans Road, passing some lovely scenery along the way. I think this will be a beautiful drive come springtime!

Once we reached the intersection of Butter Factory Road, we turned left and continued on until we reached the township of Wallace.

Wallace is a small regional town in Victoria with a population of 343 in the 2006 Census.  The town is located in the Shire of Moorabool  99 kilometres (62 mi) north west of the city of Melbourne.

The township was established in the 1880s, the Post Office opening on 22 February 1885. Wallace was the birthplace of Edmond Hogan, twice Victorian Premier in the 1920s.

We had dinner at the Wallace pub last month and highly recommend it. You can read the blog post HERE on our visit to this lovely little pub that is seen in the image below:

Will upload further blog posts on our "road trips" as we begin to explore the Central Highlands and Goldfield area's of Victoria.