Time for an overnight running adventure. This rail trail satisfied all my requirements for a three day run with places to stop for the night and easy access to the start and finish. I took the bus to Leongatha in South Gippsland, ran the trail with daily sections of 18 kms, 42 kms and 22 kms, then took the bus back to Melbourne from Welshpool. This was the first time I’d done this kind of running trip in winter, early July, so I expected to have to carry more gear than usual but I ended up taking very little, just a fleece, leggings, phone charger, and hoped I would not get soaked.
I set out from Leongatha mid morning and I didn’t feel too good as I started running. The early highlights of the rail trail were three trestle bridges across the Tarwin River; the trail crossed the river on newer bridges as the trestles seemed in terrible condition and were comprehensively barricaded off from anyone who wanted to attempt to walk on them. The trail was in a narrow corridor of bush through farming country, so lots of cows. There were plenty of other people on the trail on bikes and walking. I was pleasantly surprised to see a cafe at the first settlement, Koonwarra, and I stopped for a coffee.
From here the trail was more alongside the main road but the traffic wasn’t intrusive. I still felt a bit odd and I stopped a few times; once I sat on a fence and a walker asked me if I was waiting for a taxi! I was happy to reach Meeniyan and my motel for the night.
On the second day I felt a lot better, and especially liked seeing a wombat on the trail ahead of me. As I got closer it ran on ahead, stopped then ran on again and then disappeared into the bushes. I was running in shorts but wearing my rain jacket as the air was cool and I had a tail wind all day. The sun came out intermittently. Soon the trail diverged from the road and took a big detour southward. I ran along at a slowish pace enjoying the bush, lots of birds and the surrounding green hills. It had clearly been very wet in the area and there was a lot of flooding.
I looked forward to reaching Fish Creek after 19 kms as I had seen several cafes on the map. When I got there they were all closed and I got a coffee at the servo. I didn’t sit down as the chilly wind made me too cold; I walked with the coffee and regretted a bit having bought it (since it required me to walk and then carry the litter) but I was glad of it later on when I came to the main town on the trail, Foster, and realised I would not be going into the place properly as it was 1500 m off the trail. 42 kms without a break would have been hard.
Approaching Foster I had some coastal views and could see the outline of the higher hills on Wilson’s Prom. That was very nice. There was another very long and disintegrating trestle bridge outside Foster. Nothing else remains of the rail line apart from the old station signs but the trail is dotted with little bus stop type shelters and picnic tables. Between Meeniyan and my destination of Toora I only saw 5 people on the trail, quite a contrast with the busyness yesterday. After Foster the trail became exceptionally flat with many long straight stretches cut by farm roads. I went through patches of bush and remnant rainforest.
Toora was a one street town and rather run down. My motel was a kilometre out of town so I was able to get in some extra mileage.
On the third day the weather didn’t appear promising. The wind was strong and the sky southward looked very black. I continued across the flatness towards Welshpool, still with a tailwind, and hoped I could beat the rain. FromWelshpool I changed direction and headed south to Port Welshpool where the trail officially ends although the railway only went to Welshpool; there was a horse drawn tram from there to the coast. This last part zigzagged a bit past farms before crossing a last stretch of bush into Port Welshpool.
I bought a coffee in Port Welshpool, not having expected to see a cafe, and sat for a while by the harbour. There is an island directly in front of the harbour so the view isn’t extensive. The sun actually came out and the sky was quite blue. I ran a small tour of the town and went back the 6 kms to Welshpool. I had a little wait for the bus home, and just a couple of minutes before the bus arrived it started raining. In no time at all it was pouring hard. What impeccable timing!
