Day 10, 15th Sept. 2010 611km

The Japanese gardens at Toowoomba

Roick formations at the Toowoomba Japanese Gardens

A big day today, but ultimately a good time, although it didn't stay that way. Last night the heavens opened up big time. Thunder, lightning and hours of torrential rain, which made me extremely glad I took the motel rather than the tent. Thankfully it blew over by morning, although it was still extremely cold and windy. I wanted an early start, so I left Walcha at 6.30am. At Uralla I was able to buy a pastie and a hot chocolate at the local bakery. Progressively as the day went on and I got further north, it slowly warmed up, although it remained windy all day. By the Queensland border, I was able to shed a few layers. and by Warwick, I was able to shed some more in addition to visiting the bank for some money and having a coffee and cake at Macca's. Then on to Toowoomba where I achieved one of the objectives of the trip and that was to visit the Japanese Garden at the University of SE Queensland. Not the best Japanese garden I have ever seen, But lovely just the same. I have a passion for Japanese gardens and try to visit them wherever I can as I am quietly building an asian style garden at home. After that it was back into Brisbane traffic madness to find my way to Margie and Trevors, where I will spend the next couple of days doing maintenance, getting new tyres fitted, getting a haircut, doing washing and fitting a quiet ride or two with my good mate Trevor. Catch you again soon. PS I am so rapt in the BMW. It sat outside in the rain all last night and started first press of the button this morning, running perfectly all day.

Crossing the Queensland border

Day 9, 14th Sept 2010, 374km

Tuesday 14th
A very mixed day today. I slept very well last night. The caravan I slept in was very comfortable. I awoke to heavy rain and took my time getting going. At about 9am the weather cleared, so I headed out, stopping first to update the mobile phone. I had planned to head up the Thunderbolts Way, but with Tamworth friend Kim in Sydney and mate Craig at Wauchope looking forward to seeing me took the Bucketts Way towards Taree. At Krambach, I took a right turn through beautiful scenery through Wingham. From there I rode some brilliant dirt roads, through Comboyne  and then to Wauchope where I caught up with Craig. Craig used to be one of the Senior Rider Training instructors and is still a great mate. He has a Triumph Tiger. We jumped on the bikes and went into Laurieton where we had a long lunch and a great catch up, before heading to the wharf to see Craigs boat. He's bought an old fishing boat and is slowly doing it up. He and wife Di will eventually spend their retirement cruising around Australia. He seems a very happy man and I wish him all the very best with it. A great bloke. After that I headed west again, riding into the deepening gloom, towards Walcha on the Oxley Highway. It didn't take long, before the wet weathers had to be dragged out again and I had to plough on through increasingly heavy showers, arriving at Walcha at 5pm to find the Caravan Park was fully booked out. I was tempted to take a tent site, but the forecast is for very heavy rain tonight, so lashed out and grabbed a motel room. Way over my budget, but a necessity I think. Tomorrow, I will get to Brisbane via Toowoomba, staying at Margie and Trev's while I get the new tyres fitted

On the Oxley Highway. After this it started to pour rain

View above Gloucester

Day 8, 13th Sept. 2010, 487km

Day 8, Gloucester, NSW

Rob Russell and me

Waiting at Wisemans Ferry

On the ferry

The McDonald River after Wisemans Ferry

A great day and good to be back on the road. Left Rob and Chris' place at around 8am with very mixed feelings. I connected up with Rob's family in the early 1970's when as a naive, confused 21 year old I went to live in Sydney, where I worked with Rob and Margies dad. I quickly became a part of their family, developing a very close friendship which distance and time has not diminished. These people are very dear to me.

Rob and Chris Russell

I rode up the Pacific Highway and turned left at Wollongong heading up to Picton where I joined the Hume Highway then left past Penrith to Windsor. Got a bit lost trying to find the road to Wisemans Ferry, but found it eventually. It urned out to be an absolute gem.Lovely twisting bitumen all the way. Caught the ferry across the Hawkesbury River and had the choice of following the bitumen around Mangrove Mountain or the dirt road through St Albans. The BM now gives me so much confidence on dirt that I took the dirt and it was magnificent. Such stunning scenery, following the river and climbing up and down the mountains, past giant cliffs. At the end I then ploughed through the crowded Hunter Valley towns before heading up the Bucketts Way through Dungog to Gloucester, where I found a lovely overnight van to stay in at very reasonable cost. I had planned to go on to Tamworth to stay with my good mate Kim, but she is at a Conference in Sydney, so I will have to catch up there another day. Tomorrow, I hope to get to Wauchope to catch up with another mate Craig. The forecast is for rain so we will have to see how it goes. See you then

Day 7, 12th Sept 2010, 0km

Day 7

Rob at Appin Reception Centre

Ernie Ring

Another relaxing day. We took a lazy morning, talking and catching up before Chris gave me a massage that was absolutely fantastic unlocking some serious knots in the back and shoulders. Late morning we went for a drive to Appin to see old mate Ernie Ring who (with his wife Trisha) runs a beautifully set up wedding reception centre. Being a wedding celebrant myself it weas good to see how they set up and ran their business which was very busy. We got some fish and chips for lunch and help Ern set up for a wedding that afternoon while catching up. I hadn't seen Ernie since the old Sydney days so we had a great chat. Finally we headed back to Shoalhaven Heads to watch the NRL finals and watch a movie.

Ernie and Trisha Ring's Appin Reception Centre

Day 6, 11 Sept 2010, 0 km

Young Lauren restoring her book case

Day 5
A quiet day today at Rob and Chris' place. Did a load of washing, dried the tent, did some shopping, then Rob and I went for a walk on Shoalhaven Beach before heading back to watch the NRL finals on TV. Had a great dinner and crashed reasonably early.

Day 1, 7th Sept. 2010

Day 1    317km   Molesworth - Cockle Creek & return

MeiYu at the end of the road

Cockle Creek

Cockle Creek

The end of the road. This as far south as you can go

An exquisite day. I was happy that MeiYu decided to come with me for the first day. There was a heavy frost last night and the day dawned cold, but absolutely clear. We headed out at about 10am. It was soon apparent that the handling of the big girl was going to be different with a full load of gear, so it was off to the servo to pump up the tyres and firm up the suspension. After that it was just a matteer of heading south. Traffic was light and the big girl was handing well. We stopped and had a nice lunch at a cafe in Dover, before tackling the dirt road to Cockle Creek, which was somewhat wet and slippery, so took it easy. Cockle Creek was very pretty, so I can now say I have been as far south as it is possible to go. We headed back at a bit after 2pm getting back home at 5pm feeling very tired, but happy with a great day. Tomorrow, I'm off to the boat. Cheers















Cockle Creek

A

Days 2 to 5

Day 2, 8 Sept. 2010, 371km
What can you say about doing the run to the Ferry. The midlands highway was slow and boring. I left home at about 10am and was in Launceston at 12.30,where I met a client to complete the signing up for their wedding on November 13th. I had lunch at the Blue Cafe, before heading on to Georgetown to check out Peppers Resort where another couple's ceremony will be held in December. After that I took the Frankford Highway to Devonport, enjoying all those lovely bends. At Devonport I visited Wayne and Caroline before a Macca's dinner (disgusting it was too) and headed for the boat. The two berth cabin was okay and the bloke I shared it with was chatty. Spent the evening chatting over a beer with Caroline, who was taking another load of bikes to the mainland.

Day 3, 9th Sept 2010 476km
Off the boat early (6.30am) and rode out to clients place to interview and sign up the couple for their wedding in December. The celebrancy work is finally starting to hot up which is great. Then rode out to the BMWorkshop at Ringwood where Chris set up the suspension and fitted an oiled foam air filter for the dusty conditions. I was on the road before 10am. Headed down the South Gippsland highway, turning north at Leongatha to Mirboo North where I decided to have a crack at the Grand Ridge Road. Thoeming had recommended this one in his Great Rides of Australia story. Yup; it was great. Lovely twisty bitumen and stunning scenery, followed by over 50km of very rough twisting log tracks through dense forest. It took a long time, but I wouldn't have traded it for anything. It was great fun and the majestic BM handled it all with aplomb. The more I ride the big lady the more in love with it I am. I finally cvame out of the scrub near Traralgon and headed east along the boring Princes Highway to Bairnsdale, turning left to Buchan and riding through some lovely near deserted twisting roads. By Buchan however the weather had packed it in and it was raining fairly constantly. I threw the tent up, raced into the shops and bought a packet of soup and muesli bars before retiring to the tent for the evening. Read a book by torch light and crashed by 9.30pm.

Grand Ridge Road

Grand Ridge Road

Day 4, 10 Sept. 2010, 576km

Descent down to McKLillops Bridge Seriously scary road

A huge day. At about 4am my back packed it in despite the new (and very expensive) sleeping mat. After dozing through the pain for two hours I gave up and crawled out to find the showers. One problem, the campground people had the hot water turned off. so it was back to the tent to boil some water and have a quick wash before heading off at about 8am. The weather had cleared and it turned out fine for the Barry Way. The road was twisting and very picturesque. Good mate Greg had recommended the turn off near Suggen Buggen to McKillops Bridge and wow what a road it was. All dirt with views of the Little River gorge and falls absolutely spectacular. Then I got to the top of a ridge. There was a warning sign, but it was a sheer drop to the valley thousands of metres below. The only way down was on a track the width of one vehicle only with loads of blind corners. At one stage I was riding with a cliff of 50 metres to my right and a drop (unprotected) of over 50 metres to my left. I get vertigo pretty badly so it was bloody scary. At one stage I encountered two 4WD's coming the other way and had to perch on the precipice while they inched past me. The photo of it doesn't do it justice. Finally I recahed McKillops Bridge and the Snowy River with a huge sigh of relief. Greg I think you did this with the Nissan and caravan. Mate you're crazy!!. Anyway after that the road got easier. It was still dirt, but in okay condition, despite recent rains.  Scenery was still excellent. I finally got back on to the bitumen at Delegate and not a moment too soon as the weather packed it in again. It was torrential all through the mountains, even heavy hail at one point. Miserable. Finally got through to the coast at Bega, where the weather cleared and it was warm and sunny from there on. At Bega I had a great lunch and stopped at the Cheese factory to get some goodies for Rob and Chris, then pushed on up the coast (long and boring - I hate highways) to Nowra to receive a fantastic welcome from Rob and Chris. A hot shower, a great dinner and at last I felt human. Ah civilisation does have its benefits when you have been in the cuds.

Little River Gorge

McKillops Bridge across the Snowy River