New South Wales

Mount Panorama Racetrack, Bathurst

So we picked some nice back roads, up through Gundagai and finally arrived at Bathurst. We had always wanted to visit Bathurst, hopefully for race weekend, but this was the first time we had made it to the historic town. We visited the motor racing museum and of course did a couple of laps of the track. It must be the smoothest road in NSW, if not the whole of Australia.

Jane on the Southern Swan

The next day we woke to frost all over the bikes and tent. Jane splashed some water while doing the breakfast dishes and this quickly froze on the table. We checked the forecast and it was for sub zero minimums for all the towns to the north. Surely it should get warmer going north, does at home, but then again we don’t have any elevation. It’s too cold for us, so we headed for the coast along the famous bike road “The Bells Line of Road”.

Steve on the Southern Swan

As mentioned, sailing is another pastime we indulge in, so we were delighted to be dockside when around the world alone, female sailor Jessica Watson arrived. As luck would have it we managed to organise a ride on the old square rigger, Southern Swan, to welcome her home. 

Unfortunately Jessica was running late and we had to return to base due to the owners prior commitments. We had just arrived back when the roar went up as Jessica crossed the finish line at Sydney Heads. We found a good viewing position as she docked at the Opera House. What made this very special for us was that we had owned a yacht of the same design (Sparkman and Stephens 34) for fifteen years. Jane had also sung on the dock as part of David Dick’s welcome home ceremony many years before. David was also a solo, teenage world circumnavigator who completed his voyage on Seaflight, another yacht of the same design.

Jessica is in there somewhere, you just need to look hard!

After Sydney we took another famous bike route, this time the Putty Road. We stayed the night in Singleton and celebrated Jane’s birthday in a great little Indian restaurant in an old house run by a delightful husband and wife. Well recommended.

On the road to Dorrigo

It was still too cold for us inland so we headed back to the coast and visited some of our old sailing haunts of Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour and Byron Bay. These places made great bases for day rides into the hills. What great bike roads they have in northern NSW. We really enjoyed the caravan park centrally located in the town of Byron Bay. We thought it would be too trendy and full of movie stars, but found some great little eating houses down back allies, that were relatively inexpensive. The walk around the cape was enjoyable, although we hadn’t planned such a long walk and for once we were not carrying any water. We now have a full set of photos to prove we have visited the easternmost, northernmost, westernmost and southernmost points of mainland Australia!

Cape Byron

Murray River

The sign says it all

We joined the Murray River at Morgan and then followed it eastwards. On our last trip to the east coast in 2008 we had wanted to come home along the Murray, but it was still very hot and we decided to follow the Victorian coast to stay cooler. We have always been interested in boats, so we really enjoyed viewing the river traffic, visiting locks and meeting some of the characters that seem to inhabit all such rivers.

Of course, Echuca, with it fabulous dockside museum and collection of paddle steamers was a highlight. I spent ages chatting to the skipper of the paddle steamer, Alexander Arbuthnot, during our river cruise. The skipper was explaining how the old timers turn the paddle steamers by running the bow onto the bank, allowing the current to turn the boat and then just gently reversing off. So he gave it a go and of course got well and truly stuck! This occurred right in front of the wharf where all the other skippers gave our skipper heaps. We had never heard so many steam horns blowing at one time. As we departed the skipper placed his hand out for extra money, since he had extended the cruise by half an hour and provided much merriment and entertainment for all on board. He didn’t collect much!

P.S. Alexander Arbuthnot

We had intended to keep heading east to Lake Hume and the Murray River head waters. It was now well into May and the weather got the best of us. Snow was forecast to 1100 metres and we were heading up to about 900 metres. Too cold for us Sandgropers, we are use to more pleasant weather. Still, you also need to leave a little in reserve for trips yet to come.

Go Slow

Grand Parade, Ulysses AGM, Albany

In March 2011 we attended the Ulysses AGM in Albany, Western Australia. Not too far for us, only 450 kilometres down the road. We enjoyed the event, especially test riding several bikes. For a while we had been thinking of swapping our trusty Japanese cruisers for some dual purpose bikes. The AGM allowed us to try several options but confirmed our decision to stick with our current bikes for the upcoming trip. Me on my Yamaha Vstar 650 and Steve on his 1500 Kawasaki Vulcan.

We returned home for about a month, to finalise everything before heading off on a four month journey. Oh, nearly forgot, during this month we purchased a trailer sailer and rejoined the local sailing club. We managed to organised storage for the new yacht at the club even before our membership was approved. Luckily, the bloke making all the decisions on whether to allow the boat to stay at the club was a fellow rider. Sometimes we wonder why we put so much pressure on ourselves.

After a farewell dinner at a friend’s house we finely got away on 20^th April 2010. Our plan was to “go slow”, taking plenty of time to see the sites along the way. Hopefully, follow the Murray River, then head north keeping inland a bit to savour the roads along the Great Dividing Range. We planned on trying to get as far north as possible, then back west via Mount Isa, Alice Springs and Ayers Rock. First we had to cross the paddock, again.

With our “go slow” plan in action we took a few back roads from home in Rockingham until we reached Merredin. Then you have to go along the highway if you want to head east on the black stuff. While refuelling, the garage attendant informed us that there had been an earthquake in Kalgoorlie. She had no details but said very little traffic had come west since. This was our first piece of misinformation for the trip. There had been an earthquake, luckily no injuries and nowhere near the highway. We were thinking of our previous trip, when we took the southern route via Esperance at the same time as the Great Eastern Highway was closed due to fire.

The first night was spent at Southern Cross. The second day was uneventful and the night spent at Balladonia. We had never stayed here before as we normally do more kilometres per day. So, second day and we are still sticking to our “go slow” plan. There were a couple of interesting truckies at Balladonia. First one was coming west and spent a while cleaning his truck, covered in locusts, a sign of things to come. He gave us some special stuff to remove them, but later, we found that it also removes all polish. Not the stuff for our shiny cruisers. The other truckie was eastward bound in a brand new truck, with great Aprilla graphics. The truck contained seven brand new bikes and was heading off to start a tour doing test rides. We couldn’t convince the driver to unload and give us a go!

Eucla - WA/SA Border

Next day we made it to the border. Once again, we had never stayed at Eucla and we wanted to try the restaurant overlooking the Great Australian Bight, which has fresh fish caught by the local fisherman. It was pretty good, especially considering how far we were from civilisation. Next morning it was raining. On the last trip across this part of the world we had 47 degrees, this time rain. Most people complain about the wind but so far we have been lucky on that score.

Next night was Ceduna, with its mouse plague. We saw plenty of mice around the camp ground and the town. The next morning while packing up the tent we found a couple of the little mongrels had started building a nest under the tent. We couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

Nice gentle ride to Port Augusta, where we had decided to stay for a couple of nights. We had always just stayed one night here in the past. We visited the botanical gardens and the sights of the town. We quite like the place.

Give way to Emus
On the road toward the Flinders Ranges

Next stop was the Wilpena Pound in Finders Range. Our first taste of locusts! Apparently they are ok on pizza, but we declined the offer! We loved the Flinders and on this occasion it would have been nice to have the dual sport bikes that we had been thinking off. The road from Wilpena through the national park to Blinman is now sealed and it is a terrific road. Fantastic scenery, lots of elevation changes and loads of wide open curves. One of the all time best roads we have ridden. Just watch out for some of the creek crossing, they can have steep entrances and exits and may have wash-outs after rain.

Next stop after the Finders was Peterborough, so we could visit the bike museum established in an old church. What a great place to create a bike museum! Wonder what they ride in heaven? The museum had a nice collection of small capacity European bikes. We just wish we had known that you could stay at the museum in the attached Bed and Breakfast. The room looked great and the owners were terrific. We will have to wait till next time.

Peterborough Motorcycle Museum