THE 21km extension of the Great Southern Rail Trail, from Welshpool and Alberton near Yarram, is now officially open.
The extension increases the total length of the trail, from Nyora to Yarram, to an impressive 129km.
It also clears the way to connecting South Gippsland and Bass Coast to the 1100-kilometre Gippsland Odyssey Trail, one of the longest trail networks in Australia, after the completion of “the missing link” from Woolamai to Nyora, presently in the planning stage.
And it didn’t much matter that the official opening on Friday, August 16 at Alberton dodged bursts of rain during the afternoon with the farming country around Yarram very much in need of a good soaking.
Ironically, the opening was delayed by floods on the day that the Great Victorian Bike Ride visited Yarram on December 1 last year, when rising water and the raging Albert River damaged parts of the trail and its new bridges.
Among those in attendance were Wellington Shire Councillors Carmel Ripper, Marcus McKenzie, and Gary Stephens, Rail Trails Australia representative Damien McCrohan, South Gippsland Shire Councillor John Schelling, the Member for Gippsland South Danny O’Brien and Judy Kennedy of the original Tarra Trail committee.
There was also a strong crowd of rail trail supporters, many of whom had ridden out from the Goods Shed at the Yarram Tarra Trail Reserve, ahead of the 2pm opening, to Gellion Street, Alberton for the chance to win a Jamis bike.
Exactly who won the bike is not known, but the opening event was a great success and all it needs now is for local and visiting riders to take the trail, which includes a system of new bridges, for a test ride.
