Walter cried when he laid his eyes on
vast groves of oranges, avocados and
tree nuts, and of course vineyards. At
Wentworth my friend Vonna Keller
joined the team as medic.
We would follow the Murray River
for 1000km up until Tom Groggin on
the Alpine Way. Speeding motorists
made this the most hazardous part of
our journey. We found ourselves tak-
ing long detours just to avoid the ex-
ceedingly dangerous Murray Valley
Highway. Not wanting to lump all mo-
torists into one basket but the mem-
bers of the team on trikes (trikes take
up more of the road) copped abuse on
a daily basis.
At Echuca we had a rest day and
met up with the Rummin film crew
again for interviews. There were won-
drous moments along the Murray
as we crossed in and out of Victoria
and New South Wales several times a
day. At times the team would split up
and take different routes according to
their modes of transport. The tandem
for instance was up to four times as
fast on metalled road surfaces, where-
TRAVERSE 96
as the dirt roads along the river bank
were more scenic and ideal for the
hybrids. Along this leg of the journey
the L2H team were riding over 100km
a day. Upon reaching Albury we took
a rest day at the Big 4 and continued
along Lake Hume. Not far along the
lake, with its skeletal trees poking
out of the still water, the landscape
changed from flat Riverina to alpine
foothills.
Once the lake was behind us we had
our first view of the mountain. And
what a view! Still dressed in its winter