End of blog, 24.10.2010. 568km, Molesworth, Tas

Well I hope you all enjoyed the story of my big adventure. I'm back at home at last and heading back to work tomorrow. Last week I worked for 3 days in Sydney for the NRS and then back to holidays. Brian and I took the bikes (Brian has an F800GS BMW) and we had a great days touring in western Gippsland, visiting some friends and finding some fun roads. Unfortunately I forgot my camera that day, so no piccies (sorry). Friday, I helped Brian and Rose in the garden for the morning, before repacking the bike and after fond farewells to two most wonderful friends headed for the boat back home. The boat ride was nothing interesting, except that I had to buy a cheap tee shirt as all my clothes were ready for the wash. Called into Devonport on Saturday morning for a cuppa with good mate Wayne and then down the boring Midlands Highway to home. Yesterday afternoon and today was spent washing clothes and cleaning the bike.
In summary - it was a good trip. Highlights were Cobbold Gorge, the sunset at Karumba Point and Lawn Hill, all spots I missed seeing in 2006 due to the Cyclone Larry floods. Low points were failing to make Cape York and the Birdsville Track. I am now very aware that I needed to be 30 years younger, on a much lighter bike and with much greater off road riding experience if I was to complete those two challenges. Maybe I'll do them with a 4WD one day. However the bike was everything I could have wanted, Comfortable, reliable and smooth over the more than 10,000km of the trip. I am very much a fan of the BMW R1200GS. Thank you for following my adventures. I am not sure what will be my next big adventure aboard the big lady, although New Zealand is looking pretty good. I will let you know, when it happens. Cheers.

Waiting to board the Spirit of Tasmania back home

Days 39 to 42, 17.10.2010, 410km Mt Eliza & Phillip Island

Pre race rider parade - that's Rossi

The Island - check out the mud

Well the big trip is nearly over. Over the last few days I have had the privilege of being pampered by Rose and Brian, who as always have been extremely good to me. Firstly, I had to give my bike a serious clean and wash some clothes. I helped Brian and Rose in the garden cutting up some trees that had fallen down in recent winds. After that I took the bike into Frankston Yamaha to get new tyres fitted. The old ones were completely shot. I missed Friday at Phillip Island as the weather was diaboliocal, non stop wind and rain. Saturday I went down to Phillip Island despite the wind and rain. Walked through a sea of mud and sat with Wayne and Sue to watch the qualiying sessions. Casey was fastest. Today I was back at Phillip Island. The weather had cleared and despite the mud, managed to check out the GP Expo and do some great shopping. The racing was fantastic culminating with Casey Stoner wining the GP. What a buzz. A super weekend despite the weather. Tomorrow, I am flying to Sydney for 3 days work, but after that I have 3 more days left of this adventure before I get home. I'll let you know how that goes. Cheers

With Wayne and Sue at the Island

Day 38, 13.10.2010, 422km, Mt Eliza

On the Queenscliff to Sorrento Ferry

Interesting stone walls around a large farm built in the late 1800's

Finally slept well last night and had an early start today. The rain blew out last night, but the day started overcast and cold. I got going at about 9.30am. After Casterton I visited Wallon Falls for a look and had a coffee and a cake at Hamilton. It was only 400km to Melbourne, so I just kept going. I made the excellent decision to head for Geelong and catch the Queenscliff to Sorrento Ferry. It was a lovely relaxing way to finish the day. The greeting from my good friends Brian and Rose was wonderful as always. I am now relaxing for the next couple of days cleaning  and fixing the bike, looking forward to Phillip Island and the MotoGP (the weather forecast isn't great).

Wallon Falls near Hamilton

Day 37, 12.10.2010, 422km Penola

This nasty little bloke used to live around here. Thank goodness he's extinct

Inside the Narracoorte Caves





Fabulous, lovely Coonawarra

An interesting day for sure. I left Ouyen after a bad nights sleep. Don't know why, just a restless night. Maybe it's because the trip is coming to an end. Anyway the fgirst part wasn't very interesting. Crossed into South Australia at Pinnaroo and headed south through Bordertown where I had a coffee. As I headed towards Naracoorte, the weather started to darken and by the town it had started to pour. It didn't take too much thought to head towards the Naracoorte Caves. MeiYu and I had visited here about 6 years ago, arriving too late for the tour. No such problem this time. I had a nice lunch at the cafe and then did the self guided tour through 'Wet Cave' followed by the guided tour through the main cave. All the time it continued to pour. It was still raining by the time I left, but fortunately by Coonawarra it had stopped. Just the same, I was pretty wet, so I stopped at Penola at the caravan park, where the cabin is nice, but very expensive. After off loading the gear I went back into Connawarra, where I visited Patrick Winery, had some lovely tastings and bought a couple of very nice bottles for Brian and Rose, who I am staying with this weekend. Tomorrow I will head back into Victoria. I'm thinking of going back via Ballarat to get some new tyres on the bike. The current ones are very low and may be cause for some grief from the Victorian Police who will be out in force for the Gerand Prix.

The long straight road near Pinnaroo

Day 36, 11.10.2010, 533km, Ouyen

Bit of a nothing day today. I left Griffith with some regrets. It is a lovely place, where I could easily spend some more time some day. The rest of the day was just an endless procession of farm land. I had a nice coffee and pastry at Jerilderie before I crossed into Victoria at Barham, headed up the Murray to past Swan Hill and turned left for Ouyen. There was stuff I could have had a look at around Kerang and Swan Hill, but I have been there before and as always I'm looking for new roads and new experiences. I was last here in this caravan park at Ouyen 40 years ago when I was just a pimply 18 year old on my 350 Honday twin. Incredibly the place hasn't changed a bit. It's still run down and grotty. Still, it's cheap and it's a bed. Last time I slept in my tent. Lord I'm getting old!! Tomorrow should be more interesting.

The Bridge across the Murray River at Barham. It's very old by Australian Standards

Entering Barham on the Murray River

Day 35, 10.10.2010, 6km, Griffith

A giant orange chicken - entered by the local KFC store

Griffith Orange Festival sculpture. The plane is an ex WW11 plane now a city feature

Griffith Orange Festival - check out the giant chainsaw

Today is sunday and not much happens on the road, so I took the day out from travelling. Besides the Bathurst Car Race was on today and I wanted to watch it. However before I did I rode into Griffith township firstly to visit the local market, which was fun. After a coffee and cake I then went further and visited the Griffith Orange Festival. At the festival local community groups and businesses all create metal sculptures in the local park and cover them in oranges and grapefruit. A delightful silly bit of fun, which promotes this regions greatest export - oranges. I really like Griffith. Unlike so many rural towns this place has real life to it, although they seem very scared by the coming reductions in water allocations proposed by the federal government. I hope they do okay despite that. Ah well back on the road again tomorrow. I'm going to head to Melbourne by taking a big loop through the east of South Australia.

Griffith Market - this guy had the biggest oranges  had ever seen

Day 34, 9.10.2010, 386km, Griffith

View of Griffith township from the hill behind town

Close up pof Pattersons Curse

Fields of Pattersons Curse - very pretty, but hated by the farmers

Orange Grove at Griffith

I sure can tell that I am back in the south of the country. I was cold today. An unusual feeling after the sweltering tropics. I was late on the road today; just having trouble getting my act together, but when on holidays that isn't a problem. Besides, I wasn't planning on going too far today. I had a look at the old Cobaer Mione before I left. Cobar used to be a huge mining town until the gold, silver, lead and zinc ran out. It's trying to survive on tourism and I noted that there are some new smaller mines opened up, trying to find another profitable ore body. Good luck to them as living in the semi desert wouldn't be a lot of fun. I continued heading south on the long 263km non stop trip to Hillston. What was amazing was the huge amount of Pattersons Curse in the area. If you don'y know Pattersons Curse is a purple weed which was brought to Australia as a garden plant. It has escaped into the bush and become a major problem, ruining huge areas of pasture as the animals won't eat it. It looked pretty though. Hillston was a small sleepy, pretty little town, so I stopped at the local bakery for a coffee and a pie, not wise as my stomach is still giving me some problems. After that it was another 100k to Griffith, where I have a nice cabin for the next two days. Griffith is a huge agricultural town, where orange orchards are every where mixed with large and small wineries. In addition to watching the Bathurst Car race tomorrow on tv, I'll try and get out for a look at some of those over the next couple of days.

Part of the old Cobar Mine area - it really is quite huge

Day 33, 8.10.2010, 425km, Cobar

It badly needs a clean, but I am so rapt with the big lady. The BMW has done a fantastic job

The Back of Bourke Centre was very interesting

Not a bad day today apart from a tummy bug I think I picked up in Tambo. Either that or its just bad diet that is a consequence of being on the road. I'll get better soon. Anyway I had a reasonably good night last night. Cunnamulla is a nice little town; like a lot of smaller country town it is struggling to survive, but it is the kind of place I usually like to stay. More personal and friendly as a rule. Because of the rain, I got some washing done, so I had fresh clothes today. The weather had cleared and it was much cooler. I actually wore a windcheater for the first time in weeks. The first and only stop today was at Bourke (a place I had never been to before). The best bit was the Back of Bourke Centre. There seems to be a few of these in outback Australia, where government money has been spent to create a tourism venture which celebrates the culture and history of rural areas. In the main they are very well planned and thought out and this one was no different. I spent a very interested hour checking out the hardships and disasters that the regions pioneers experienced. After a bite to eat, a visit to the bank for money and a fill up with petrol, I was on the road again to Cobar, where I have another cabin in the caravan park, once again watching the Commonwealth Games.

Farewell Queensland; it's been fun. Hullo NSW

Day 32, 7.10.2010, 359km, Cunnamulla

Had a tough night last night. Tambo is a very small town. The best accommodation I could manage was a room at the Hotel-Motel, which was disgustingly filthy. The water smelled of sewerage, two of the staff had to be sent home with bad gastro and I have always disliked pub meals. I slept pretty badly as it was right beside the highway. I left pretty early as a result not feeling well. I made good time just the same and at Charleville had a very enjoyable hour at the Cosmos Centre, which is a small space research centre. The guide was a very enthusiastic science geek and I learned a lot from him. On leaving I noted a large rapidly advancing cloud front, so kept going and just made Cunnamulla as the rain started at about 2pm. For the rest of the afternoon it bucketed down, so I washed some clothes and watched the Commonwealth Games. The van which I have tonight is a big improvement and well away from traffic, so I hope I sleep better tonight. I am about 3 days ahead of schedule, so I am looking at the map for other opportunities to explore previously unridden roads before getting to Melbourne on the 14th.

The Cosmos Centre at Charleville

Day 31, 6.10.2010, 320km, Tambo

A bit of a funny day today. At least it wasn't so hot, but at present mostly I am going over roads That I have been on before, which I don't enjoy so much. I had a bit of a cruisy start, visiting the Qantas Museum. I had seen a documentary some time ago about a bunch of pilots who had found and restored a Lockheed Constellation and flown it to Australia. I thought it had come to the Longreach Museum, but I was informed it is in South Australia. Apart from that the Longreach Museum is much the same as 4 years ago when I saw it last. The same with the Stockmans Hall of Fame. I had a look for a while, but it was much the same as last time. Both are great sites, but really only seeing the once. After that I headed south, turning left at Barcaldine and headuing towards Charleville, which is new territory for me, so hopefully tomorrow should be more interesting.

DC3 at the Qantas Museum

The Stockmans Hall of Fame

An early Qantas plane

Day 30, 5.10.10. 542km, Longreach

Another long hot day today. I left Boulia at 8am to try and get as many kliks as possible out of the way before the day got really hot and boy did it get hot (40 degrees today). There were some 'mares tails' clouds behind me at the beginning of the day signalling a change coming through, but hopefully not for a day of so yet. The ride today was long, flat, straight and mostly boring. The only relief was the Cawnpore Lookout and hills for a bit of a view of this hard red landscape. I filled up at Middleton at the most run down excuse for a road house I have ever seen. I was assisted by an incredibly polite and helpful young 10 year old girl who seemed to be running the place. No adults were visible. Finally got to Winton at abaout 1pm, where I spent an hour wandering around the Waltzing Matilda Centre learning more about the history of our national song, followed by a coffee and sandwich. After that it was back on the road for more boring kilometres to Longreach, where I am now staying at the slightly scruffy, but quite cheap caravan park, where I last stayed in 2006. Tomorrow it will be the Qantas Museum and the Stockmans Hall of Fame.

Cawnpore Lookout view

The Waltzing Matilda Centre at Winton

This is what the scenery was like today - absolutely flat and boring

Day 29, 4 Oct 2010, 309 km Boulia

Inside the Min Min Light I
Intrepretation Centre

On the road to Boulia - hot sunblasted country



 I decided to have a look at Boulia because it was on the way I wanted to go, I hadn't been there before and I wanted to hear more about the Min Min Light phenomenon. Once again today was baking hot, but it's not too bad when I am moving, but pretty ordinary when I stop. so I just kept going till I got here. A highlight of tady was visiting the Min Min Light interpretation centre. It seems that the light appears spasmodically at night and frightens the daylights out of the people who see it, but no one has any idea what it is or what causes it. It certainly is a central part of the folk lore of this region. Boulia also has a great dinosoar collection so it was good to see that too. The curator was very chatty and we had a great yarn. Got a nice cabin for tonight and then heading towards Winton tomorrow to see their Outback Centre. Cheers

Ichthyosaur fossils at Boulia

Day28, 3 Oct 2010, Mt Isa, 12km

Mt Isa View

I had a quiet day today, mostly because I had a big load of clothes to wash, but also to catch up on some sleep. I did get out to have a look around Mt Isa, having a ride up to the lookout and then into the Mt Isa Heritage Centre to have alook at their excellent range of dinosoar fossils. The interpretation of the fossils was very well done. I then retreated back to my room to watch the NRL grand final.

View of Mt Isa

Less the half a million years ago these things roamed Australia

Day27, 2 Oct 2010, Mt Isa, 545km

I woke this morning very sore as my back and shoulder were very painful last night. I did consider having a night at Adels Grove, but it wasn’t cheap, so decided to hit the road south. This time I rode even more slowly through the horrible sand patches and didn’t fall off this time. I could have taken a much shorter route south, but it was mostly dirt, so I went back to Gregory Downs and Burke and Wills Roadhouse, before heading south to Cloncurry and Mount Isa where I have a cheap room for the next two nights. I will sightsee around Mt Isa tomorrow and on Monday, I have some shopping to do before heading off. The original plan was to head home via the Birdsville Track, but it has recently been closed due to heavy rains and although mostly dried out, I believe there are still patches of very muddy road, so I will pass on that one. The choice is to head south by going east or head west and come back via Tennant Creek and Alice Springs. I think that coming back via the east will be better as there is still plenty to see there, but I will have to plan the route carefully to avoid the bad weather which has affected the region.

Desert Hills outside of Lawn Hill

Leichardt River near Gregory Downs

 

Taking a break from the 38 degree heat

Day 26, 1 Oct 2010, 0km Lawn Hill Gorge

Today was one magic day. Everything people had told me about Lawn Hill was true and then some. I slept badly last night as I have every night in the tent. Shit, I hate getting old!  Awake at 5am, I had a cold shower, ate breakfast and went down at 8.15am to hire a canoe. Not cheap, but it was so worth doing. I then had over two entrancing hours slowly canoeing up and back down this incredible gorge. For the main, I had it to myself, which made it even more special. Lawn Hill Gorge has to be one of the most beautiful places on earth and I didn’t want to bring the canoe back. Canoeing is fun and I can well see why Wayne and Sue love it. I have gotta get me one of those!. After lunch, I did a couple of short walks, but it was incredibly hot and most of the afternoon was spent reading a book in the shade. After dinner, I went to bed early as I was pretty tired. Sleeping badlt doesn't help either.

This place should be on every bodies bucket list

Water falls created by calcite build up





This place is absolutely magic