Day 9 Cann River to Gipsy Point and a few Orchids : October 23 2022

It is a shorter distance to ride today with one big hill. Got moving early to beat the rain forecast to start in the afternoon. The pattern of the past few days remained - rain over the tops of the big hills. Not enough to put on a rain jacket

Not the weather for sun orchids - they want sun - raindrops there were

Rain was not fun - got in the way of finding orchids

Sun orchid waiting for sun - will be a few days yet

Most of the route is bounded by national parks or state forests. Good news riding on Sunday - Princes Highway is low in traffic and no big trucks.

17 kms windy road - 10 up and 7 down. One big climb up to Alfred NP - rained hard on the way down the winding descent. Used the radar to watch traffic from behind and hammered it

Did spot a pair of large waxlip orchids

Caladenia major - was known as glossodia major

Was happy to see the turn off sign to get off the highway with 12 kms left for the day

Did find one orchid on the Gipsy Point Road - caladenia fuscata - observe the curved in lobes. My room at Gipsy Point Lodge was ready early. Nice big room with a view down to the river. Good news is restaurant is open from 6pm. I do not have much in the way of food.

Orchid in the garden

Showered and went walking down the river afterwards. Walk was disappointing - overgrown and no views of the river along the way

Junction of the two big rivers - Genoa River

Wallagerah River. Found the blunt greenhood opposite lodge driveway

Got on the bike and went hunting orchids in the National Park. Found a few

Caladenia catenata

Caladenia fuscata

Close up

This caladenia is similar but does not have the curved in lobes - most likely carnea

Not gar from where I parked the bike and growing in the gutter - calochilus campestris

Brendin at the lodge had said the cemetery was good for orchids - rode the 3 kms there - too bad it was cloudy and raining

Hundreds of sun orchids - probably two types

Did find two microtis orchids flowering

Looks like microtis parviflora but structure of the plant is not right for that - flowers too tight together

Walked the lookout trail on the way back - a few sun orchids but none open

View of the trail - steep and slippery

View down to the river. A few neat flowers too

Seen a lot of these red bell flowers on the road - now for a photo - either erica or grevillea

The corea with a raindrop is always fun to photograph - see the hairs

Big day with one third of the steps from walking/riding after the day ride

Rested the remainder of the afternoon until restaurant open time. Couple of local beers from Bruthen Brewery and a fine steak. Chatty session with Katie - the owner and the other guests, a couple from UK.

Dinner view over Genoa River

Beer from Bruthen Brewery I cycled past two days ago

Enjoyed watching India vs Pakistan in T20 World Cup in front of 90,000 fans. Like a final

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Cycling, Daily Activity, Photowalking