Monday, January 4, 2010

The great divide...

Turns out those ingenious little fellahs up in central victoria have been at it again - new trail! :)

Chatting over the weekend with someone from 'upstate', apparently there has been a bit of a winfall in central victoria for local mountain bikers, and also for the blow in tourist type. On the back of a submission to the Federal Government from a few united groups, a hefty half a million dollars have been allocated to upgrading and developing the Great Dividing Trail. Some might scoff at my interest in whats occasionally referred to as a glorified country bike path, but I've got a feeling the trail management crew might just be looking out for us little mountain bike kids... ;)

So stay tuned, and keep your eyes out for a push in the region. 500K might only buy a drop dunny and a carpark up there, but I'm tipping there will be a few blokes on rakehoes making something memorable.

This is what the ABC reported:

Central Victorian tourism operators believe they will benefit from upgrades to a major hiking and cycling track between Bendigo and Ballarat.

The Great Dividing Trail will get $500,000 of Federal Government upgrades.

The funds will build some detours for mountain bikers and improve signage and bridges.

Goldfields Tourism chairman Rod Thompson says the trail will have more appeal to Melbourne tourists when it is upgraded.

"It'll attract a lot more people to use the track being so close to Melbourne," he said.

"You can access it [at] Bendigo, Castlemaine and Ballarat by train, or driving, it's only an hour-and-a-half and the B&Bs, accommodation providers and attractions along the track will benefit greatly from the extra usage."


And hey, happy new year!



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