Cathedrals of Gold, Sat 1 - Tues 4 Nov (ride closed now sorry) - Events

Nov 1, 2025 at 7:00am to Nov 4, 2025 at 4:00pm UTC+11
Location: La Cochon Rose, St Arnaud Victoria
Latest Activity: Sep 25

Sorry, this ride is now closed. It has reached its maximum ride size for practicality and safety.

Four days of riding exploring old gold towns, beautiful roads including the historic 'Golden Triangle' North East of Bendigo, and even into the Wimmera. Highlights include the amazing Stick Shed, beautiful art silos, and some eclectic venues along the way (you have to have a beer at the Logan Pub, and we'll work through some prize winning vanilla slices). And a couple of surprises. We'll be mainly off-highway and the ride will be led by PX so it should be good for most. We've structured the four days of riding, but there's opportunity for you to break out and choose your own adventure.

Ride Information

There'll be many nice stops along the way, and hopefully places you've never been before. Being a long weekend we'll be avoiding the heavily touristed towns like Daylesford, Maldon, Castlemaine.

Day 1 - Saturday 1 November. Melbourne to St Arnaud 270 kms

New Meeting Point: IGA Liberty Greenvale. (825 Mickleham Rd >MAP< ) Adjacent to the airport. There's coffee, fast food, and groceries here. We recommend that you have a full breakfast at home before you arrive. You'll need to arrive by 8.30 AM if you want a coffee before we head off. This location gives a large ride a quick and seamless (no traffic light) exit from the city.

Departure is at 9.00 am. Then Kyneton, Malmsbury, Chewton, Vaughan Springs diversion, Newstead, Maldon, Eddie's Garage in Eddington for lunch, Dunnolly, St Arnaud. All backroads. Fuel top ups - Taradale 118 Kms. Maldon 175 Kms - no fuel beyond until St Arnaud 270 kms.

View / Download the Route Map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/3020602

Day 2 - Sunday 2 November. Cathedrals of the Wimmera 270 Kms

We're in the wide open Wimmera and that beautiful flat golden wheatscape. (Julie's home territory). The roads are long and straight but the rewards are great. The Murtoa Stick Shed is unforgettable, Rupanyip Art silo, Minyip, Sheep Hill Art Silo, Brim Art Silo. Lunch in Warracknabeal. We're backtracking a bit to keep the kms down to under 300.

View/ Download the Draft Route Map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/3020643

The Murtoa Stick Shed, aka "The Cathedral of the Wimmera. We're booked in, and the entry fee will be paid as 'ride support' compliments of the Club. We also have agreed permission to move our Vespas inside the shed for a photo shoot. Enjoy!

Day 3 - Monday 3 November. David's Golden Discovery

A pleasant exploration loop ride east of St Arnarud taking in a number of interesting places, landscapes and bits of history. Our first stop is Wedderburn to admire the town’s colourful and skilfully painted bird murals, one of which encompasses the entire front of a church. A back road takes us to Korong Vale and it’s lonely pub. We meander our way to Inglewood, a town with a handsome streetscape of fine Victorian buildings. Its also home to a Eucalyptus Distillery Museum. Not far away is Bridgewater on Loddon where we’ll have break for morning tea and savour the local bakery’s award winning Vanilla Slices. We’ll pass through Newbridge on our way to circumvent Laanecoorie Reservoir. Tarnagulla is an old “forgotten” mining town of note that is well off the main roads. The former wealth of this small town is evident in a few of its grandeur buildings, hotels and churchs. While here we’ll stop by the picturesque Pebble House to admire its unique construction. Greg set me the task of uncovering something of interest in the nearby hamlet of Waanyarra. Morton’s Welcome Inn was built in the 1850s is of historical significance. Its about the only ruin left in this once thriving gold rush area. To get there we’ll need a sense of adventure to negotiate four kilometres of dirt road. Our next destination is Moliagul. Here we’ll visit the spot where the world’s largest alluvial gold nugget was found in 1869. The “Welcome Stranger” weighed in at 110 Kg. Next we head to Kooyoora State Park to get some splendid views from the top of large rock formations at the Melville Caves Lookout. On the home run back to St Arnaud we’ll stop by at “The Pub in the Scrub.” Our throats should be a little parched by now. The Logan Hotel stands all by itself at a lonely intersection 22 kms from St Arnaud. It was built in 1894 and yet its unique interior makes it look much older than that. The walls are made of bagged hessian which bulge and warp in all sorts of strange ways. In fact the walls seem to get more bendy with each beer.

Note: This is a draft route. Finding a town with food options at the right point in our ride is problematical now that the only cafe in Tarnagulla has closed. For these reasons as well as some good riding I’ve included Eddy’s Garage as an option. This is where lunch is planned for the ride up from Melbourne. If we all pack a picnic lunch, then we have far more flexibility. More on this closer to the date.

View/Download the Draft Route Map

https://www.plotaroute.com/route/3113460

Day 4 - Tuesday 4 November Home Direct

Avoca, Talbot, Creswick

With the usual provisos:

There will be some long roads, and some long days in the saddle. Rural roads of variable quality. Many roads will be 100 kmh. There won't be a Vespa mechanic within cooee. So this is for experienced riders only. We're happy to talk it over with you, but we'll let you know if we don't think you should do it.

You are an independent rider. Your bike is recently Major serviced, well maintained, and roadworthy. Your tyres have plenty of tread or are new. You carry your own tools and parts to do minor repairs, including tyre puncture. You are insured, and have emergency roadside assist if you seriously break down and need to leave the ride.

Eating

Like many towns in the region, behind the grand street facades there are tough times. Many hotels have closed, the biggest and most popular (The Royal) only recently. Fotunately a new breed of entrepeneur is hitting the area. The Dancing Kelpie Splendid Restaurant has now expanded into the old Commonwealth Hotel, just a block away from where we are staying. There's a diverse menu, and we've made a booking for 20 for Saturday and Monday evenings (leaving Sunday for a free evening). Here's a recent photo of the Specials Board. Breakfast will be based at the Shire Cafe (menu). All ride-outs will leave from here after breakfast.

Accommodation:La Cochon Rose, St Arnaud. It's a long weekend and accom is in short supply around Vic so we'll use the town of St Arnaud >MAP< as our base, staying at one venue to ride out and return each day. And what a treat. Formerly the Victoria Hotel (1871), La Cochon Rose operates as a boutique hotel, country motel, and art gallery on the main street in the town. They don't serve food, there isn't a bar, and there's no late night music. So it's a quiet peaceful place to rest after a ride. We've booked out the whole venue, so it's excusively ours for the three days - and this means we have negotiated some excellent prices for you. In addition we've reserved the Old Bank building just across the road.

La Cochon Rose Rooms

= Paid Confirmation

1. 'The Residence' - 6 rooms. Upstairs. Shared bathroom, large shared kitchen & dining. $280 per couple or $150 single occupancy. Prices are 'all up' for the three nights.

B1	Queen	$280 $150	Jodie Lake
B2	Queen	$280 or $150	Patricia Clark
B3	Queen	$280 or $150	Gary Bell
B4	Queen + Single	$280 or $150	Matt Thomson & Philip McMullan
B5	Single	$150	David Atkinson
B6	Queen	$280 or $150	Anthony Cusinato

2. "Couples Rooms" - 2 rooms. Upstairs. $280 per couple. Prices are 'all up' for the 3 nights.

F1	Queen with ensuite	$280	Julie Pond & Greg Pond
F2	Queen with kitchenette, shared bathroom	$280	Suzette Cameron & Ray Cassar

2. More Upstairs. Shared bathrooms. Prices are 'all up' for the three nights.

F3	Queen	$280 or $150	Paul Jones
F4	Queen	$280 or $150	John Reed
F5	Queen	$280 or $150	Athena Katopodis & Chris Katopodis
F6	Queen	$280 or $150	NA. Currently under renovation but may become available.

3. Motel Units. Located Rear. 60's retro. Full ensuite, kettle, microwave, fridge, toaster. $350 all up for the 3 nights.

U1	King	$350	Mark Agar
U3	Queen + Single	$350	Sheryl Towsnend & Maria Todaro
U4	Queen + Single	$350	Leo Wings & Anthony Bottegal
U5	Queen + Single	$350	Sharon Montalto & Peter Schwellinger

There's a communal Laundry on site, as well as an antique shop to browse! The rear yard has plenty of space for all to park.(It's the old Cobb and Co depot)

4. The 'Old Bank'. Beautiful old building across the road. Shared bathroom, kitchen facilities. $280- $300 per couple or $150-$170 single occupancy.

OB1	Queen upstairs balcony	$300 or $170	Tufan Chakir
OB2	Queen upstairs balcony	$300 or $170	Lisa Laidlaw
OB3	Queen upstairs rear	$280 or $150	Raewyn Mackie
OB4	Queen upstairs rear	$280 or $150	Belinda Dalli & Brett Lazarides
OB5	Single downstairs	$150	NA. We're not sure about the standard of the downstairs rooms described as "rustic, servants quarters".
OB6	Single downstairs	$150	NA. 'rustic'.

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Comments

MEMBER

Greg_ September 24, 2025 at 2:11pm

I've started to make changes to the ride to address the ride size. First up, I have set a new Meeting Point for Saturday morning.

New Meeting Point: IGA Liberty Greenvale. (825 Mickleham Rd >MAP< ) Adjacent to the airport. There's coffee, fast food, and groceries here. We recommend that you have a full breakfast at home before you arrive. You'll need to arrive by 8.30 AM if you want a coffee before we head off. Everyone fills up here and has afull tank for departure. This location gives a large ride a quick and seamless (no traffic light) exit from the city.

Departure is at 9.00 am.
MEMBER

Anthony Foundling September 24, 2025 at 1:14pm

If we find our own accommodation can we join for some of the rides?
MEMBER

Greg_ September 22, 2025 at 9:19pm

MEMBER

Hi all looking at this ride for the first time. We are sorry but this ride is now closed. We began planning this ride early this year, and it was put up way back in June for registrations. We didn't widely promote it, and it just filled by word of mouth. We take the keen interest in the ride as a compliment and a recognition that members want rides to be well organized, informative, and safe. It's now at the stage where this has reached a maximum size for the number of bikes that I am prepared to safely organize and lead for that distance.

So, thanks to those who have signed up. I'll be in touch soon about sharing some of the ride responsibilities. For those who have missed out, keep watching the events on this website.

Greg
MEMBER

Greg_ September 22, 2025 at 9:02pm

MEMBER

Thanks John. John Reed You are done. That closes the ride.
MEMBER

Tufan September 20, 2025 at 6:35pm

Yes, thanks Julie - confirming - that will be great!
MEMBER

Julie Pond September 20, 2025 at 4:47pm

MEMBER

Hi Tufan

The Old Bank has opened up so your original choice can be fulfilled. Please confirm that you will take OB1 so the payment email can be sent.
MEMBER

Greg_ September 20, 2025 at 4:44pm

One room left:
MEMBER

Julie Pond September 18, 2025 at 6:11pm

Lisa L we need you to choose a room in the Old Bank now. Please claim a room as a comment under the event and we will allocate your name to it. Looks like the bank will fill.
Cheers Julie
MEMBER

Greg_ September 18, 2025 at 5:56pm

MEMBER

Thanks Raewyn. I have put you on now. Scroll up
MEMBER

RAEWYN MACKIE September 18, 2025 at 5:35pm

Ive tries to add my name beside QB3 but it winter let me?

Is there a trick?