[VIC] French island with drone video!

[Calvin27]

Hey guys, I did a tour of French Island (Vic) and could write a 100 page article about it but the short story is:

- It's tough terrain with lots of grass and sand - probably perfect for fat bike come to think about it.
- It's hot and there are a lot of snakes and mosquitos
- There are no water pit stops so bring lots of food and water.

My mate bought a drone and got some sweet footage too!

[video=youtube;aYd6m5WQAu4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYd6m5WQAu4&feature=youtu.be[/video]

Recommended for any MTBr or if you have a fat bike - this is the place to go!

 

[NeoNasty]

Nice work!

I don't know how I missed this. I was just talking about how I wanted to visit French island to explore it on the bikes.

Did you stay on the island or nearby? I was keen to probably stay in the caravan park nearby for a night. Were you able to cover the island in a single day or is it a two day trip?

Your friend with the drone did a great job. The footage looked fantastic. Congrats.

-Shaun

 

[link1896]

Amazing footage from the drone camera

 

[Calvin27]

Single day if you're with an ok group. We had a few one time riders so it' was a bit of a struggle for them.

Bring lots of food and water. And remember to bring puncture stuff, lots of thorns.

Ideal fat bike land if you ask me!

 

[NeoNasty]

Wicked thanks. One day it is.

It does definitely look like prime fatbike land, I just cant justify buying a new bike for one trip.

 

[mtb101]

great video, what's it cost to get over there.?

did anyone get a strava on it.?

and you can't get lost unless you pedal into ocean.

 

[Calvin27]

I think I paid $36 including bike for the ferry. The ferry takes max 8 bikes so book ahead if a big group is coming.

Strava here. It's pretty slow as we had one or two 'twice a year' riders with us. Missed out on half the island too because we ran out of water.

https://www.strava.com/activities/272047317

And yes, you can get lost. There is no signage. And the roads are so choppy you don't know if it is an actual path or not (orienteering is not my strength). A lot of it looks like it's going into private land and then others just look like a plain field that has been mowed (refer to video). There are also fences that you have to jump that make you think twice if you're heading the right way.

Pre-cache the island map on your phone and use the gps. Bring a hard copy map too - but the parks vic scale is a bit off imo.

Oh yeah and a quick tip - the dotted lines are really choppy paths consisting of huge potholes, loose sand and riding over mowed grass. Perfect snake territory although probably not so bad in winter.