Day 9

Start:  Sale

Finish:  Stratford

Distance:  11

Total:  147

Today was a short 11 mile walk straight along Prince’s Highway as planned. And it’s a good thing it was only 11 miles because as forecast, it rained most of the way and the man-eating flies were out in full force. 

I got away from The Matador in Sale about 8:00 after a hearty breakfast. It had rained all night and it was still drizzling when I left so I covered my pack and wore my parka too.  With it being Monday all the trucks were out on the roads and they were dousing me good with road spray all morning. I never stopped and got to my destination of Stratford at 11:30. 

Stratford is a nice little town. Because it’s located on Prince’s Highway it gets a lot of tourist traffic and despite its small population of about 2900, it has several cafes, coffee shops, a pub, and other places tourists like to stop.  Interestingly, this Stratford is located on the Avon River, just like Stratford-upon-Avon in England which is William Shakespeare’s birthplace. 

Once I got to Stratford and checked into the Avon River Inn, which is very nice by the way, I quickly walked over to the train depot which is also the local bus stop.  I wanted to try to get some first hand information about the bus route between here and my next town, Bairnsdale. That’s because it’s too far to walk from here to Bairnsdale in one day and although I could use my tent and camp along the road, I would rather not. However, there is a bus stop between Stratford and Bairnsdale that I can walk to, catch the bus back to Stratford, then catch the bus back to the bus stop the next morning and finish my walk to Bairnsdale. So I wanted to confirm there really was a bus stop on my route, do I need a reservation or does the bus just stop if I’m standing there, can I buy a ticket from the bus driver, etc. 

So while I was waiting on the bus at the unmanned train/bus depot I met Patrick. He was there waiting on the bus too. His kids were traveling back to Stratford and he was there to meet them. We had a few minutes to talk about all kinds of things because the bus was late. Finally the bus pulls up and I got all the info I needed to be confident my plan will work and I will not be stranded beside the road tomorrow. That’s good because I’m leaving my tent and sleeping bag behind at this motel so I can take a break from their added weight. 

So that’s it from Stratford, Victoria on Day 9 of my little walking adventure. Everyone is super nice here in Aussie Land. I wish you could all be here to join in the fun. JB.