Well quite the eventful day!! I've crossed into Victoria, the photo accompanying this blog is one foot in each state!! Not too many places you can straddle the mighty Murray. That place was Cowombat Flat, which I last visited at about age 14 with Venturers. A hiking and caving trip, good fun! It has not changed at all, right down to the DC3 parts scattered around, following a plane crash some years back. One person died. The track to this point was well benched into the hillside and the uphill sections were all ridable. One minor mishap was running over the tip of the tail belonging to a red-bellied black snake. That made me start watching the track more intently. He was only a baby and moved away seemingly unharmed. I also copped a rock, flicking up and striking my rear derailleur. Somehow it pushed the derailleur so part of it was hooked on a spoke, you couldn't do it if you tried!! As a result my back derailleur is now bent and I can't get into granny gear. (no offense Grandma, just the term for the easiest gear amongst bikers!) After lunch at C-flat the track became inordinately more difficult. Steeply undulating I spent much more of my afternoon pushing than riding. When I did finally get some sustained downhill...puncture no.2! Exactly the same style, what is referred to as a pinch puncture. That is when the tube is pinched between the tyre and the rim, usually when hitting an object, and usually at speed. I repaired the puncture (or so I thought) but had to stop twice more when the wheel lost pressure. I finally bit the bullet and changed tubes which I should have done in the first place!! I have made good time and distance today, I had intended to stop at Cowombat Flat, but felt good when I arrived there and pushed on. This sets me up really well for meeting Mum, Sime & Sal in Omeo on Christmas Eve. I am currently sitting looking up a broad gully, which is thick with water loving Heath, underlying this is sphagnum and other mosses. Not here but on the higher ground around Kosi in the north and the Bogong High Plains (near Falls Ck) this moss can be up to 10,000 years old! The afternoon mist rolls down the gully and song birds echo each other across the Heath. Nearby a Brumby whinnies. Idyllic...