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| Gordon River Road, Tasmania |
Steve and I were both riding bikes when we first met. We got into marriage and out of bikes in 1982, a period of abstinence lasting more than 20 years! In 2004 Steve fell in love with a 2001 Kawasaki Vulcan 1500, and in 2005 I met the same fate with a Yamaha Vstar 650!
Our
plan was to ride from Perth to Victoria in early April 2007, taking in the
Ulysses AGM at Coffs Harbour, before returning home in June. It would be our
first long road journey by bike. Everything was booked and paid for. But plans
are made for mice and men. It all changed when Steve found out, at the end of
January, that he would be starting work immediately after Easter. So we brought
our camping trip forward, changed our destination to Tassi and Victoria and
were on our way one week later. Here is our diary.
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| Loading Steve's bike & trailer on tilt-tray truck |
Monday, 5th February
Left
home at 6:15am. I had imagined this day for some time. The one when we would
leave behind, for a short while, the suburban life for a life on the road. The
heavy peak hour traffic certainly took all the romance out of it for the first
hour but we were soon on our way, heading east with not a care in the world,
until 9:45am! Not bad, that was two and a half hours! Steve's bike said
"sorry, better to punish you now than when you are half way across the
Nullarbor," and died - 21km east of Cunderdin, 225km from home. Clutch
gone. Thank goodness for RAC Ultimate. Once we had organised a tow, I rode home.
Steve waited on the side of the road till 3:30pm for the tilt tray truck to
arrive, but we aren't complaining. Steve didn't arrive home until 7:30pm. He
was still smiling, just!
There
is a lesson in everything that happens and we learnt that even though you feel
that you are travelling as one, you are actually two independent vehicles. You
must always have with you your wallet, change for a phone, reading glasses,
water etc, and understand that at any moment you may be required to ride on
alone.
Tuesday, 6th February
Another
tow was required the next day to get the Kwaka from home to Kim Britton's for
repairs. The repairs were completed in a day and we were ready to leave once
more. I couldn't believe it when someone asked me "has it beaten
you?" "no" came the reply. "it would take more than a
clutch failure to deter us from doing something we really wanted to do."
Wednesday, 7th February
Take
two! Up and away 40 minutes earlier this time and the traffic was much lighter.
We didn't really start to relax until we had passed the "break down
point" east of Cunderdin. After that, the miles ticked by easily as we
relaxed into our riding pattern, taking plenty of breaks and keeping ourselves
hydrated.
A
thunderstorm cooled us down as we approached Norseman. The unique smell of the
Aussie bush, wet after months of dryness, was aroma-therapy to us. We spent the
night at the motel attached to the BP garage (next time we will try the Best
Western), had a pizza and a pint at the pub in town and slept soundly, with a
smile on our faces, the adventure just begun.
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| Seven months touring on a Postie bike! |
Thursday, 8th February
It
wasn't fully light when we left Norseman at 6:40am so we rode cautiously for
the first hour to avoid any Kangaroos that may be late going to bed. There is
something magical about being on the road in that first light. Quiet and
pristine before a new day is fully commissioned.
We
passed six bikes heading west (a group of two and a group of four), and stopped
to say hi to a Japanese biker who had been touring on his Postie bike (Honda CT110) for seven
months. Made us feel like we were travelling in a Rolls Royce!
When
we stopped at Madura it was 32oC. The guy told us that three days
before it had reached 49oC. A sobering thought. However we continued
to ride in pleasant conditions, one day ahead of some hot weather that was
making its way east. We were at Border Village by 5:30pm, another 726km under
our belts. We took a motel room and ate some very average food in the
restaurant. Will stick to "truckie tucker" in future, nothing complex
like a risotto! Eucla, just next door, will be the preferred place to stay next
time around.
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| Only 340km of stray animals |
Friday, 9th February
An
easier days riding lay ahead with only 486km to reach Ceduna. With plenty of
time to spare we took the opportunity to take in the beautiful scenery of the
Great Australian Bight. There is nothing quite like a jam sandwich and a fresh
brew of coffee amongst the splendour of that amazing coast line.
While
hanging out at Nullarbor Roadhouse, this truckie, heading west, pulls up and
says "I guess it was you who did a clutch just outside Cunderdin?"
"Well yes" came the reply, "and who the hell are you?"
Turns out he was Dick, Dave's dad. Dave works for Kim Britton. A small world.
Ceduna
made us welcome and we pitched our tent, which would become home for the next
seven weeks, for the first time.
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| Great Australian Bight |
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| Our first camp site, at Ceduna |
Saturday, 10th February
We
cleaned and checked our bikes, attended to other domestic duties and spent much
of the day "stroking the dog" and feeling pretty pleased with
ourselves having made Ceduna in three days.
Our
Polmac trailer contains a 25lt eski (which can keep ice for up to three days)
and three storage boxes. The first box held the food, plates and cutlery, the
second, tools, spares and paperwork, and the last, cooking and cleaning facilities. Also in the
trailer were sleeping bags, self inflating mattresses, pillows (our only luxury
from home), microfibre towels, and on occasion a carton of beer (each can
having to find its own little space). Tied to the top of the trailer are two
folding chairs, a folding table and the tent. On the front of the trailer is
10lt of drinking water (with the capacity to take 20lt). We did not carry fuel.
Our
tent is a four man dome with a vestibule. When we set up camp we placed the
boxes and eski in the vestibule and the helmets and jackets were kept in the
trailer. Clothes were carried in a tail bag on Steve's bike. In my saddlebags
were wash-bag, day bag (tea, coffee, cups), two flasks and three litres of
drinking water. In Steve's saddlebags were the bike covers, hats, camera,
binoculars, etc.
Packing
that lot up was a precise three dimensional jigsaw puzzle and when completed
there wasn't an ounce of space any where!
Sunday, 11th February
We
left Ceduna in a howling sou'easter. We took local advice and went via Smokey
and Streaky Bays. Pretty little spots but the road is quite straight and not as
enjoyable as we were led to believe. Still, well worth the detour as it kept us
away from the trucks and the Eyre Highway for a few kilometres. We rejoined the
Eyre Highway at Poochera and trundled along arriving at Port Augusta by 3:30pm.
Still time to go a little further before the Roos come out to play! We crossed
the southern end of the Flinders Range via Horrocks Pass. It was getting a
little late in the day to enjoy this fabulous ride but it is short and sweet
and we made it easily. That night we camped under the watchful eye of Mount
Remarkable in the Melrose caravan park. Delightful.
My Yamaha Vstar and the
Paddle Steamer Murray Princess
Monday, 12th February
Packing
up the tent was a procedure that took a long time, even at the end of seven
weeks of setting up and taking down it still took us one and half hours to be
ready to leave. It became a less arduous exercise as time went on, however it
still took a long time. One thing we learnt very early on was don't close
anything (not the storage boxes, not the trailer, not the saddle bags) until
you are ready to turn the key in the ignition and pull away. In the early days
the amount of times the saddle bags were done up and undone was nearly too much
for a human to bear!
We
reluctantly left Melrose, but with a night-time crossing to Tassi booked for
Sunday 18th February we needed to keep moving. We took a moment to walk down
the main street of Melrose, and pondered awhile at the monument in the park in
the middle of town. This monument is a tribute to the pioneers of the area and
there are details of ages and cause of death of some of the people. If seems 40
years of age was old back then!
We
had built up quite an appetite by the time we arrived at the Stone Hut Bakery
(40km). We stopped without hesitation, despite being only 10am, and had the
best pie ever! Then we settled into a great ride through the Clare Valley,
admiring the old buildings as we passed through the many towns on the route. We
turned onto the Kapunda Road at Tarlee and enjoyed a great twisty ride up the
hill. Then on through Kapunda, Nuriootpa, Angaston and Mt Pleasant to arrive at
Mannum, on the Murray River at 3:45pm. We puffed and panted as we set up camp
in the hot afternoon sun but felt pleasantly contented, it had been a good day.
Tuesday, 13th February
Stayed
the day to do the weekly domestics. Seemed too hot to go riding in the
afternoon, so we took a leisurely walk along the banks of the Murray River and
got sun burnt instead!
Wednesday, 14th February
Although
a hot day was forecast for Adelaide we decided to risk the "inland"
route and rode through Keith and Naracoorte to Mt. Gambier. Riding through the
Coonawarra wine growing region was pure pleasure - O the power of the
imagination!
There
is a bend around every corner on the road from Mt Gambier to Portland which was
magic. Police became apparent when the speed limit changed from 110 to 100 at
the SA/Vic border! We pushed on to Port Fairy, where a comfortable campsite
awaited us together with pricey squid rings at the local fish and chip shop
($9.60 for six, and they were small too)! After reading so much about Port
Fairy during our sailing days it was great to be there.
Port Fairy
Thursday, 15th February
We
stayed the day to check out the town and the harbour entrance for future
reference! In the morning we enjoyed a walk around Griffiths Island, despite
some discomfort from our clinging Draggin jeans, but hey we might have fallen
over! In the afternoon we took a ride out to Tower Hill which is an extinct
volcano. There was plenty of wildlife in the park at the visitors centre and we
were fortunate to see a little Echidna busily preparing his nest for the night.
The build up of thunder and storm clouds saw us make a hasty retreat back to
basecamp for happy hour and a bbq tea.
London Bridge, Great Ocean Road
Friday, 16th February
So
it was Great Ocean Road here we come. It was going to be a scorcher but we had
to leave. By morning tea we had thrown caution to the wind and neither of us
were riding in Draggin Jeans. Later in the day Steve ditched his jacket too!
Despite the steamy conditions, and tourist numbers not seen since travelling in
Great Britain, we enjoyed ourselves. The scenery is so splendid, just a shame about the people! We lost count
of the number of times we parked at a lookout, locked up the helmets and
jackets, undid the saddle bags to get the stuff you just can't leave behind and
then did it all again, in reverse, when we were ready to leave. It made us
tired and a little grumpy, but hey this was The Great Ocean Road and no matter how
much you suffer you have to stop and take in the sights, right?
We
copped a stretch of slippery road works going up and down a very steep pass as
we approached Lavers Hill. It made a big mess of our bikes, the clay sticking
like **** in some hard to reach places! I was leading and missed our lunch
stop, which didn't impress Steve as he likes food, a lot! A delicious ice-cream
in Apollo Bay quenched our thirst and our tempers. Not content to quit while we
were ahead, we pushed on the extra hour to Lorne to arrive looking a little
bedraggled. A wise man once said to me "don't do the same thing and expect
the result to be different." We tried to learn from our mistake! Lucky for
us there was a well equipped supermarket and bottle shop right next door to the
caravan park. We were smiling within the hour!
Saturday, 17th February
It
was rub-a-dub-dub time for the bikes before we could allow ourselves the luxury
of relaxing in town. The Arab Cafe lured us inside. A Yamaha R1 mounted high on
the wall was a sure sign that we should take a seat and check out the menu.
With my Rossi cap in tow I felt like part of the furniture! The cafe owners
brother was killed on a motorcycle on the Great Ocean Road. The R1 was one of
his brothers bikes. We enjoyed looking at all the bike orientated photographs
which took up much of the wall space. O' I mustn't forget, the apparently
famous apple strudel was fantastic.
In
the afternoon some locals said "why don't you go play with the Koalas? You
will find them about half way between Lorne and Apollo Bay," so we went.
They are harder to find than you think, but once we had developed our Koala
spotting eyes, they were everywhere. Some high in the trees and some only a few
meters away. One little guy watched Steve walk all the way around his tree then
promptly went back to sleep. The Great Ocean Road between Lorne and Apollo Bay
is probably the best part and it was great to do some of it again.
Queuing in the rain
Sunday, 18th February
We
awoke feeling very excited. It had been a dream of mine for some time to
revisit Tasmania. I had lived there as a child between the age of nine and
fifteen years old. To turn up again, some 30 years later, on my own motor bike,
was something out of fantasy land to me.
We
packed up the tent slowly as we had a whole day to kill before catching the
ferry, and it was going to be a scorcher, 39oC! The Great Ocean Road
was very busy, but generally the drivers are not aggressive like they are in
the West and despite the heat we had a thoroughly enjoyable ride to Geelong.
For
a while we joined the large number of locals that had turned out to watch the
speed boat racing. When the heat got too much, we holed up in an air
conditioned cafe on the town jetty and watched the spectacle from there.
We
left Geelong at 2:30pm and were parked close to the ferry terminal by 3:30pm.
Boarding time didn't start until 6:30pm which left us wondering what to do with
ourselves! A cold shower in a beach side ablution block sounded like a good
idea. Steve went on the "shower finding" mission only to return half
an hour later and report "toilets yes, showers no!" So we had to stay
grubby till the next day. The wise man also said "you get used to
it." And he is right. Once you relax and except your circumstances, you
feel just fine!
Late
afternoon the clouds built up until they could hold on no more, and the rain
came down. Soaking everything and leaving slippery on-ramps for unsuspecting
riders! Boarding time is a long arduous process of stop, start and breathing in
copious amounts of exhaust fumes from burnt out motors. At the last minute
Steve and I were separated. I went onto deck three. Steve was told to wait. The
word came back that deck three was now full and Steve was ushered to deck five.
This would have been fine except I didn't have my ticket.
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| Leaving the mainland on the Spirit of Tasmania Ferry |
After my bike had been secured I waited for Steve in one of the lounges. Time went on and he didn't show up so I presented my plight at the pursers office, showed my drivers licence, and they issued me with a new ticket. At least I could go and dump my stuff on my allocated seat. Of course Steve turned up five minutes later!
Once
we settled down and had a light supper in the galley restaurant, I retired to
my seat for the night. Steve tried to stay awake to see the ship go through the
heads to Port Phillip Bay but he didn't make it. Before we knew where we were,
it was 6am, we were up and about and watching Tasmania rise above the horizon.
Our Tassie adventure just begun.
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