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Dave's Australia trip April/May2008 By Dave Hobbs (CVAM) Click for Intinerary Movie Clips (Bullet-cam) My sister has lived in Australia for forty-odd years. She came over to see us in 2005 and ever since has been hinting that I should go over there for a while. So in March of this year I scratched up enough pennies for the air fare and booked a ticket to Oz. I had considered flying the SV1000 over to tour on that but a look at the costs soon put paid to that idea. And sea freight would mean not having my bike for long periods before and after so that too was a non-starter. The solution was to arrange the hire of a 650 V-Strom for a month. The hire was arranged via a company called BikeRoundOz (www.bikeroundoz.com), who also provided a range of itineraries that took you along some of the best biking roads and highlighted places of interest. They can also arrange guided tours and accommodation. The bike was provided by AussieBiker from their depot at Noosaville, 90 miles North of Brisbane. (www.aussiebiker.com.au) "The star of the show" I flew into Brisbane via Kuala Lumpur and Sydney, arriving at about 11pm local time on Thursday March 27th. After a short taxi ride I was crashing out in my pre-booked hotel room, absolutely knackered. It was a long flight and I do not sleep well on aircraft. Next day I wandered around admiring Brisbane until the evening when I met up with my nephew Robert and his wife Sue. They whisked me off to watch an Aussie Rules football match at the Gabba between Brisbane Lions and Collingwood. I spent the first half of the match trying to work out what they were trying to achieve, but the rest was quite a cliff-hanger. After the game we went out to Robert's place at Laidley, about 50 miles West of Brisbane. Jet lag had me wide awake early next morning, wandering around the patch trying to identify all the strange birds and their calls. Later Robert drove me the hundred or so miles to Noosaville. By this time I was starting to get the hang of the enormous differences in scale between UK and Australia. Noosaville looks on the map to be just part of the urban sprawl around Brisbane, but it definitely ain't.
The V-Strom was a very nice little bike, well prepared and maintained. There were 51630 km on the odometer. After transferring the contents of my suitcase into the panniers, sorting out the paperwork and climbing into my gear I was off. First of all back south to Brisbane to see Pat and get acquainted with yet more members of my far flung family. Eventually I was off on my own to see what Australia had to offer. I didn't really want to go to the tourist traps, and the places that the Tourist Board would like you to go to. I wanted to see what the real every day Australia was like. But Byron Bay was within an easy day's riding on what looked like interesting roads so that was my first target. I was right about the roads. Winding through jungle and over sizeable mountains. At the top of Mount Tamborine there were any numbers of assorted loonies launching themselves off the top on hang gliders. There were quite a few bikes on the road too, not surprising in view of the fact that it was now Sunday. Byron Bay is a fairly typical Gold Coast type resort. Plenty of good restaurants, beaches and motels. In fact virtually all Australian towns had at least one decent motel, usually more. I began a survey of the various motel chains to compare value for money, availability etc. This eventually worked out in favour of the Golden Chain and I mostly used their places for the rest of the trip. Apart from visiting the family, I only had two real targets and those were the race circuits at Bathurst and Philip Island. So I then headed inland to Armidale via Ballina, Harwood and Grafton. Superb jungle roads from Grafton to Armidale but nearly ran out of fuel. Memo to self: WE ARE DOING LONG DISTANCES HERE, WITH BUGGER ALL BETWEEN TOWNS. www.bathurstregion.com.au/mountpanorama www.phillipislandcircuit.com.au From Armidale I went on to Maitland where I stayed in a slightly dodgy pub, but the beer and the company were good. From there I went on to Bathurst via Windsor, Lithgow and the Putty Road, Bells Line of Road and the Blue Mountains. While crossing the Blue Mountains in the late afternoon a strong cold wind got up that made me very glad to check in at the Gold Panner Motel in Bathurst. That was one of the very few variations from what I am sure is the Australian Standard Weather i.e. sun shining from a largely cloudless sky. I stayed an extra day at Bathurst, partly as a break from riding, but also to have a good look around the race circuit. The nice thing about the Mount Panorama circuit is that it is on public roads. It's a pity about the 60 kph limit, but you can understand the reasons for it. The V-Strom and I enjoyed a lot of laps, much to the amusement of the workers around the track. The museum was excellent too.
Then off South again to Wagga Wagga via Cowra, Young, and Cootamundra. A major priority by then was to get internet access in order to sort out my finances. Retail outlets, motels, fuel stations etc. were not interested in my debit card so I needed to juggle some money around to ensure that my credit card did not run dry. ATM's would accept the debit card but charged for the privilege so I used them as little as possible. Happily there was an internet cafe in Wagga. Further South again, this time to Euroa, a pretty little country town. There was a wedding taking place on the river bank opposite the motel with a band, booze, barby, dogs and kids. It looked and sounded like everyone was having a damn good time. Off again to Philip Island via a wonderful mix of straight-as-a-die-for-miles type roads and winding jungle roads. The fast men from nearby Melbourne were out in force (Sunday again) which is probably what prompted the appearance of a camera car on an especially choice set of fast, open bends. Plenty of warning from oncoming traffic kept me out of trouble. Philip Island Circuit was a disappointment. You could see very little of the track and you were not allowed on the perimeter road. The museum was not very well stocked and poorly labelled. You could get driven around for a couple of laps but it would cost $200. I passed on that one. Instead I went and had a look around a very nice wild life park. I had seen very little of the local wild life so far and that mainly in the form of road kill. Apparently it mostly occurs at night. I had had plenty of warnings about 'roos on the road but I was only travelling in daylight so it was not a problem. The only wild life problem I did have involved riding fast through a squadron of grasshoppers. They really hurt, even through my riding gear. I was later assured they were in fact locusts. At the end of a long day I settled down at the Banfields Motel in Cowes.
The next day I was heading North East to take a look at Melbourne. I was very impressed. It reminded me a lot of Paris with its broad boulevards and laid back attitude, no bad comparison! I would have stayed longer but I could not find a hotel or motel with off-street parking. So I headed on till I got to Torquay, which was just about what you would expect it to be with a name like that. Torquay is the start of the Great Ocean Road which came highly recommended. The road itself is not technical or demanding, but a lovely relaxed ride through incredible scenery. The only thing that breaks it up is the incessant need to stop and take photographs. I stopped at a little cafe for breakfast and while it was being prepared I wandered down a nearby track to stretch my legs. There I found my first Koalas, happily sitting it trees, chewing stuff. I followed the G.O.R to Warrnambool where, after an overnight stop, I turned north. The next day's run took me to Bendigo via a goldfields museum. I would have gone to the actual mine, but the place was swarming with millions of school kids so I moved on. Somewhere near Bendigo IT RAINED. At least, a few drops appeared on my visor, but that was the best it could do. As I was checking into a motel in Bendigo, the owner’s son was working on his enduro KTM. He invited me to join him and his mate for a ride round the boondocks that evening, using a spare Suzuki DRZ-400. It went pretty well, but it was hard work keeping up with their KTM's. We must have done about 40 miles on dirt roads and hill trails. An excellent evening rounded off with a few beers back at the motel. I paid for it next morning. I was wrecked. My arms, chest and back muscles did not want to move at all. I was half way through the next day's run before they freed off enough to be comfortable. That run took me to Narrandera, with the countryside getting drier and drier with every mile. Stock were standing sadly in bare earth paddocks. Dust devils spun through the fields alongside me. One cut across me which was exciting for a while, the bike being blown from one side of the road to the other. I spent the next day in Narrandera, just lazing around, walking by the Murrumbidgee River and visiting a small Tiger Moth aircraft museum. The next day I got to see some larger aircraft when I called in at the excellent museum at Temora. They have some lovely examples of Canberra, Meteor, Vampire and F86 Avon Sabre aircraft and they routinely fly them. That day ended in the town of Parkes. A few miles out of Parkes is a giant radio telescope which played a major part in the Gemini and Apollo space missions. They are prepared to go into great detail about the work they do there and I found it absolutely fascinating. Then back on the road and on to Coonabarabran. The motel backed onto quite thick bush where I spent a couple of hours watching assorted birds and lizards. Only a short run to Tamworth, the next stop. I went to a medical centre to see if I could get my left ear syringed or blown through or whatever because it was starting to be a nuisance. I made an appointment for the next day, when the nice lady sluiced a fair amount of old rubbish out of my ear. Only when it was cleared was it obvious how bad it had been. I had to turn down the audio output from the TomTom. I found an internet cafe so I was able to keep my accounts straight. I also booked my air ticket home. On the way out of Tamworth en route to Glen Innes I called in at the Powerhouse Motorcycle Museum and salivated over some of the choicer exhibits for a while. Some good stuff there and very well presented. Yet another nice sunny day but a bit cold. Not surprising really because this area is at about 3,500 feet. This is Australia as I imagined it to be. Not all the surfing and barbies that you read about, but people wringing a living from some inhospitable landscapes. I did notice that even the smallest villages have a footie pitch or two and a sports field. It is no wonder that the Aussies do so well in so many sports. They have so much encouragement to succeed.
Road manners are generally very good. Very few people exceed the posted limits. The Road Trains can be a hazard. When you see one approaching, take good strong grip of the bars because the buffeting can be severe, especially in a crosswind. It is also a good idea to take a deep breath and hold it because some are carrying stock and niff a bit. From Glen Innes to St Georges and on to Roma. I had to refuel at Thallon, which had me fooled for a while. I had not realised that there was fuel depot, not a service station. I also visited a drilling museum at Roma where oil and gas is produced. I also learned a lot about artesian water. Apparently if you drill in that area you can get oil, gas or water. Sometimes all three. I spent a day in Emerald, finding out about the gemfields and the gem industry. I also spent the couple of hours doing some fruitless "fossicking", so any dreams of a Ducati Desmosedici will have to be put on hold for a while longer. On to the most Northerly point of the trip, Mackay. It was only after I had booked into the motel that I realised that it was under the approach flight path for the local airport. Happily they were not too busy that evening. But a Hercules woke me very early the next morning doing circuits and bumps, dammit! On the way South to Rockhampton I pulled over to investigate a sugar cane processing plant at Sarina. I had seen fields of heavy foliage alongside the road and eventually twigged that it was sugar cane. I even stopped to cut a piece to try, but it must have been very immature because it was not very nice. The Sugar Shed is open to the public and contains a simple version of the processes used in the main plant. The guide was very enthusiastic and I found the whole thing fascinating. For instance, I always thought that they used to burn off the fields in order to get rid of the foliage. But no! When they were cutting the cane by hand they burnt it off to get rid of all the snakes and rats. Now they cut it by machine and the foliage is burnt in the factory to heat the boilers and also to produce power, the excess of which is fed into the national grid. They also make rum and various flavours of schnapps. Very hard to drag myself away. I came very close to getting caught in the rain on the way into Miles from Rockhampton. I had just checked into the Outback Motel when it really lashed it down. The locals were very pleased. Apparently it had not been happening too often recently. On next day to Goondiwindi, which has a horse as its claim to fame? A grey horse called Gunsynd was bred there. It was one of those horses that caught the public imagination for winning against impossible odds. Something like Desert Orchid in UK I suppose. They also have a very good Information Centre where they let me have some internet time to give my finances a tweak. Next day was Anzac day and when I got into the town of Warwick there was a parade going on. That is probably why the police were running a random breathalyser test later in the day. That was the second one that I had encountered on the trip. At the first, the officer was so interested in my licence (one of the old pink paper ones) that he never got round to administering the breath test. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANZAC_Day I had been wondering if Warwick was the site of the Warwick Farm motor racing circuit that had been used for international Formula 1 races in the 1960's, but the Information Centre said not. There was however a nearby circuit called Morgan Raceway so I went out to have a look They were having an informal practice day in preparation for racing the next day. There was a good selection of cars there from backyard specials to Cobras and GT40's. I didn't like to ask if they were genuine or replicas. Well, one doesn't does one? By my stopwatch the fastest thing there was a Lotus 7 fitted with a Suzuki Hayabusa engine and driven by a young lady. The weather was foggy when I left Warwick next morning, but it began to clear by the time I got into the mountains, about an hour down the road. Back onto narrow winding roads through wooded countryside now, rather than the long open straights. The destination was my sister’s house at Victoria Point which I reached at about midday. Cue lots of rabbiting about the trip and all manner of things until we went off to niece Sarah's place for dinner. Next day I said my goodbyes and went on to Robert's place at Laidley. They were not at home when I got there; they were watching another footy match in Brisbane. But then they appeared with a large bag of prawns that were soon on the BBQ. Proper traditional Aussie stuff. The next leg of the trip was the last on the bike, back to Noosaville. I reluctantly gave it back to Dave at AussieBiker with 60036 km on the odometer. I had become quite attached to what had always been a very reliable and willing little beast. We sorted out the paperwork. I paid a few dollars extra because it was filthy dirty and it had some scratches on one pannier where I had scraped it against somebody's rockery. Dave arranged for me to travel down to Brisbane Airport on the shuttle bus the next evening and dropped me and baggage off at a local hotel. Next day I was just a tourist, doing touristy things like taking a river trip and doing a bit of fishing. That evening I was picked up from the hotel by the shuttle bus and taken down to the airport. I texted the family to say thanks to all for everything and that they could go ahead and have their winter now. Then the 747 whisked me off back to Heathrow via Bankok. It was good to be home, yet I would happily have turned round and done the whole thing again, perhaps to the West coast. Have you noticed how many of the place names have UK and Eire origins, showing how much input these islands had into the development of Australia? I think we should be proud to have made major contributions to what is a terrific country. Itinerary
Full size versions of these photographs and lots more can be seen in the CVAM SmugMug Gallery here Movie Clips (Bullet-cam) |
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