To Montrose

We said goodbye to Sophie and William and set off to the Dandenong Ranges. Sophie lead us out of Melbourne and we passed some fantastic artwork so it was time to take some goodbye photos.
Cooler weather with a high of 21 degrees today so just like a nice summer day back home. Lovely cycling weather.
We are staying with our warm shower hosts Curt and Dee who lived in Northampton until the eighties. A fantastic house in the protected forest area although the bush fires are always a constant concern given that there are lots around at the moment. I was unaware of the speed these fires can travel and I am told that even cars are sometimes unable to out run a fire. It will be worth knowing where these things are in Tas so that we do not put ourselves at risk.
Our bedroom has massive windows looking out over the forest hillside. All sorts of bird song and parrots on view and the unmistakable sound of Kookaborough ( spelling?) really loud. I am told I will be less impressed with the birdsong in the early hours tomorrow morning.
Did about 25 miles today which took us most of the day as it is quite hilly and our average speed is about 7 miles per hour. Total so far this holiday 65 miles. We did start late however as we spent time getting a top up card so that we now have our very own Australian sim card so I can now phone locally at really low cost. Got here to Montrose at about 2 pm and spent some time looking around the township and organising tomorrow's accommodation. Got to Curt and Dee's at 3.30 and had an interesting chat.
Warm showers hosting site has meant that we have once again met a lovely interesting couple.
The only bad news is I found out that the Brompton frame has been damaged with a dent and cracking around the small wheels that sit at the bottom of the folded frame . Good news is that this does not effect the cycling integrity of the bike but means that when the bike is folded it tips over when placed on the floor. A bit of a bummer but fingers crossed it should not effect the cycling side of things. Will really need to protect that area on the flight to Tas and back however otherwise we could end up with it spreading to the rear stay.