15.6.10 Full Circle

Easy start to the day, coffee, shower and packed up. We went to the Parts place, who have a replacement mirror assembly for Dads bike for a mere $370, a bargain. I called the shippers while we were there and they have not fixed the crate yet. Rude word! I told them that it is a bit late and we agreed that we would come with the bikes tomorrow and dismantle and tie them onto the bases and they can attach the repaired sides later. They did offer to do the whole job but to be honest, after the approach to opening the crates with wrecking bars instead of a screw driver I am not prepared to trust them to do anything with our bikes other than accept them in a closed crate for shipping to NZ.

We had some breakfast at a Café across the road, as we are not in a rush anymore. After some breakfast headed into town to complete the circle of Oz. We rode to Mrs Macquarie’s Point through the city. It was very busy with traffic heavy and rushing in a way that you expect in a city the size of Sydney. We were riding down the three lane roads with trucks and cars all around and this is pretty intimidating when you are on a bike. We rode over Anzac Bridge and into Sydney city centre. This is yet another impressive structure passing high over the harbour. As we entered the high rise concrete jungle part of the city the GPS became a bit useless as it kept thinking that I had changed position and recalculating, and telling me to go down alleys etc. I ignored Karen, again and rode in the general direction until we came around a corner and…. Boom - Crash Toittiottoit Toittoittoit, Fvissst Boom, Fvisst Boom, Fvssittt Boom, Crack, crack , crack,… Crack, Crack, crack…..Fvisst Boom, Fvisst Boom, Fvissst Boom. A 21 gun salute, and Fireworks burst into the shadows of the high rise jungle, a brass band stuck up “For They’re jolly good fellows” and a huge marching troop started walking in front of us, as Sydney welcomed us back after our amazing adventure. The noise was phenomenal and it was hard to see as the ticker tape streamed down from the surrounding high rises, at one point I feared for everyones safety as a cluster of ticker tapes wrapped around Dads exhaust and burst into flames, but Peter Garrett, minister of the environment ran out of the crowd shaking a bottle of Bollinger and cracked it open spraying the bike and flaming ticker tape fireball with Champagne and extinguished the flames. We laughed as the crowds cheered we continued along with small Aboriginal children running along beside the bikes. Eventually we emerged from the high rise section out onto Hyde park where a huge stage had been erected and there was Mr Rude, Prime Minister, center stage waving us over to join him, while he gave a speech that was broadcast live to the whole nation, he talked of us being such amazing Kiwi adventurers, and Circumnavigating the Continent despite the odds being stacked against us, and despite all that the environment could throw at us, rain, heat, wild animals, dry desserts, huge sharks, Road trains and endless lines of Grey Nomads. His speech was very touching and honoured our country and gallantry, and ended with us being given Honorary citizenship! The people all shouted out that we should be the Australians of the year. Of course we responded with modest acceptance saying it was nothing really, anyone could have done it, at which the crowds cheered, women cried, young mothers held their children up for us to kiss, and the Men all wanted to shake our hands. It was great fun and fantastic that Australia acknowledged our endeavour in such a grand scale. I really only expected a letter of congratulations from the Prime Minister, but there you go…..

We rode down to the point where we officially started the trip and there were buses all around and a lot of people down on the pavement area that we took the start photos from. I felt that it was a bit inappropriate to ride our bikes down there with so many people around and then a bus pulled up behind us making us move on. As we rode around the corner a bit the Ranger was sitting watching us which seemed to confirm that we were being a bit naughty to consider riding down the foot path to get a photo. We parked up and weighed up our options and the crowd seemed to clear, Dad went back to ask the Ranger if he was happy for us to ride down there for a photo. “Yeh mate! Go for it, there’s hardly anyone there. Get in before the cameras go in next week!” So with that formal approval of our plans we rode down the footpath and got our photo with the Opera House and Sydney harbour bridge in the background.

Chatted to a couple of Argentine Guys who are travelling after 6 months of working in NZ.

We rode to the Hotel to check in, but when I chose this Hotel in the Rocks, I thought we would be free of the bikes so it was not ideal, in that it is right in the middle of the busy part of town and with no parking. Dad waited with the bikes in the loading bay while I checked in and asked about areas to clean a bike. They didn’t have a clue where to clean a bike.

We rode to the nearest fuel station, with the hope they would know where we could clean the bikes. They didn’t have a clue either. A new Audi was being towed from the station as it had broken down. The tow truck driver claimed the more expensive the car the more likely it is to break down! We rode in the direction of the shipping agent and called into a Mitre10 to get a drill to put the crates together and at last found someone who knew where we could wash the bikes.

Rode to the Car cleaning company who would not allow self-cleaning but was able to wash the bikes for us for a cost of $50 each, we agreed and settled down to a read of some magazines and a coffee while they cleaned our bikes. They did a great job and had over 5 weeks of accumulated grime off and had them looking like new in no time, well about an hour and a half. We talked to a couple of guys who weigh the trucks and issue fines for being over loaded. Dad asked them what they are called here “They call us Mermaids” I had a quizzical look on my face for quite a while as I tried to work that out, then asked “That’s an odd name?” “Yes, C’s with Scales, not very nice, but there you go” Not sure what C stands for, Cops I suppose.

We rode back to the hotel and settled in. Went next door to find dinner in Sydney’s oldest pub, no food there so went down to a restaurant with a cook your own BBQ, and threw a steak on the Barbie. This is a very historic part of Sydney with a lot of historical info and photos in these pubs.

So there it is Australia Full Circle, time to have a wee break from riding these bikes and get back to normal life I think.

14.6.10 Cann River to Sydney 604km, Total 17,150km

Woke to an ear splittingly loud alarm radio that Dad had set, playing country music, jumped out of bed yelling at the top of my voice “If it ain’t country it ain’t Music!” threw on my running gear and went out to pound the pavement down the country lanes of Cann River. It was pretty cold but not a frost. There were lots of Kangaroos in the paddocks and a couple on the road, all hopping away when I came into view. They are timid animals, probably for good reason.

Had breakfast on return and packed up and we were off headed for Canberra in what will be our last big day of riding. It was “breath test positive” cold and the sun was shining in our eyes through a forest lined road giving a bright flashing light in our faces that added a challenge to the first stage of the day. The road winded up the valley of the Cann River and was in excellent condition making for a very enjoyable start to the day. Dad lead out and carved his way up the valley. It was after 9 am that we got underway so the Kangaroos had all lost interest in the road, which was just as well as seeing them in this light would be very difficult. I had to hold my hand up to shade my eyes to be able to see the road ahead on most corners, so there was a lot of one handed and body weight driven cornering going on.

As we approached the top of the river valley we entered New South Wales again, and passed a sign saying that we were in the Snowy River National park. I looked around for devilishly hansom horse riders descending impossibly steep slopes on horseback, but couldn’t see any, perhaps it was the light in my eyes that was blocking the view. We came into Bombaia and stopped for a cuppa and to warm up. Dad doesn’t seem to be too bothered by the cold, but I am. I am usually pretty good with tolerating the cold, but seem to be struggling a bit on this trip, clearly I need to harden up. Or, I could put on a jersey I suppose. Bombaia is pretty high at around 800 metres altitude, so this was explaining the temperature to a degree. As we were riding out of Bombaia we had the first of three encounters with the law enforcement experts. We were pulled over by a roadblock for a breath test. “If they are looking for too much Coffee, then I am in trouble” I thought, as I started the day with a cook up on the oven top Espresso machine that I have been carrying (Inspired by fellow Caffiend, the young Haxby), and had a quadruple shot to get me going, then this was topped up with the Latte that Dad had just ordered. Thankfully they were looking for alcohol, which I would have known if I wasn’t so bothered by Caffeine driven anxiety, so I was fine. I asked the Officer if they caught many people drunk at this time of the day (about10.30), not really intending to imply that his job was a waste of time. He said that they do catch people that have been up all night partying. I said “have a good day”, then thought I had better brighten up their morning, so I smoked up my rear tyre and then pulled wheelie off into the distance changing through the gears while up on one wheel, with one hand in the air whipping around as if I was looping a lasso, and above the roar of the twin boxer they would have heard me “YEEEHAAA! If it ain’t country, it aint music!”. Honestly, that is just how it happened. It’s true.

I became interested in the altitude and watched this on the GPS over the next stage as we rode up onto the Great Dividing Range. We got up to 1100 metres, which is the highest point on our trip. We could see the snow covered peaks in the distance. It is meant to be a nice ride up to and around Thredbo, but given that I was shivering away down here I did not suggest a detour, there has been recent snow also so the roads would likely be icy. The land up on the Great Dividing Range was open country with gently rolling contour and very few trees. It did look like the kind of country that should be under snow for big chunks of time.

We were slowly descending to Cooma and the traffic was light but present. There were a couple of caravans on the road and the road was gently twisting so that there was plenty of good passing points but also bad areas where you could not see ahead for passing. A Holden Statesman passed us and then sat behind a caravan. They got impatient and passed when there was a bad view of the oncoming traffic due to a bend, and sure enough, a car came in the opposite direction when he was half way passed. The puff of smoke announced a car under full throttle and he sped forward and pulled in quickly. I hit my breaks as all of this was happening as it looked like potential disaster from where I was sitting. The driver of the Holden must have had a bit of a fright, but probably even more so when he noticed the car behind the one he just about had a head on collision with. This car was a bright red Police car. The police car flashed his lights as he went passed, and I thought, “Here we go then”. Dad passed the caravan, but I waited in position behind the Caravan and watched my rear vision mirror to see if he was turning around. There were a few cars behind me so I couldn’t see he had turned around or not. After a few minutes I thought he must have let it go, but then, no, here he comes flat out with siren and lights blazing. The Rolling Stones were singing in my ears from the MP3 player on the GPS, but my internal Dialog drowned them out, with Cool for Cats “The Sweenies doing ninety, cos he got the word to go, to catch a band of villains… nowhere near a shed at Hefrow” The speeding Police car flew passed me, then the Caravan, then Dad who sensibly was not speeding, then followed the Holden who did not initially seem to want to stop. They both pulled over up the road and for some reason Dad pulled over as well. I rode past thinking surely Dad doesn’t think he was being pulled over, I figured I would let him work that out on his own, and stopped further up the road. After a few minutes Dad pulled up and I asked, “what that was all about?” “I thought I would put in a good word, and point out that I thought it was an out of character misjudgement” Said Dad. “ Are you nuts? It is that sort of driver that kills people, especially motorcyclists. You come a round a corner to find someone on your side of the road, no they deserve all that the Sweenie is about to hand out!” Clearly Dad is in a charitable mood, me I have had 5-6 shots of Espresso and am in no mood to take prisoners.

We fuelled up in Cooma and decided to continue on to Canberra. Fairly dull riding and the traffic volume was building also. There was no mistaking that we were approaching Canberra, as it became a bit grand with some large buildings, then Capital Hill came into view with its impressive tower above and formal gardens and fountains in the front. We followed Karen’s instructions into the city centre and tried to find a park near to a café for some lunch. Had trouble finding any parking and I lead us into a buses only area in our search and ultimately we thought it was all too hard and we would find somewhere out of town for a feed.

I lead us up to Capital Hill Parliament house for a look before we left and the road lead right in front of the building. I thought it surprising that you could park there but could see no signs saying no parking, so pulled up, jumped off the bike and fired off a couple of photos right in front of the control room for the whole country. If it wasn’t a public holiday I would have knocked on the door to congratulate Mr Rudd about the excellent roads around his country. I had been off the bike for maybe 1 - 2 minutes when a police officer rode up on his pushbike and said you can’t stop there. “What!” I said, as I had my earplugs in and couldn’t hear him. “YOU CANN’T STOP THERE!” he shouted. “OH AM I NOT ALLOWED TO STOP HERE? I COULDN’T SEE ANY SIGNS SAYING NOT TO” I replied. “YOU’RE NOT THE FIRST ONE TO MAKE THAT MISTAKE!” “I’LL BET I’M NOT”, “HOW DO YOU LIKE THE BMW?” Honestly, riding a bike is such a good icebreaker. “ITS GREAT, I CAN SEE WHY ALL OF THE POLICE RIDE THESE BIKES, IF YOU ARE GOING TO SPEND ALL DAY IN THE SADDLE THEY ARE GREAT, VERY COMFORTABLE!” “HOW FAR HAVE YOU RIDEN THE blaaa, blaaa blaaa” “JUST A MINUTE!” I took of my helmet and took out my earplugs, “Sorry I couldn’t hear you, I was probably shouting at you too?” He laughed and asked how far we had ridden. It was looking like I wouldn’t be arrested today, he was the third police encounter for the day and unless I said something silly arrest did not seem imminent. We had a long chat about our trip and the road conditions in the Northern Territory. He told the story of how the speed limit was introduced in the northern territory due to the accident rates, and the Ferrari crashing in the Gumball Rally Killing four people was the final straw. A second Policeman cycled up, probably thinking that his buddy was having a hard time getting rid of these BMW bike tourists. These guys were obviously having a dull day and glade for the company, or perhaps they heard of my circus tricks for the officers this morning and were hoping I would do some donuts in front of the parliament building to entertain them. After another few minutes a Red Police car turned up and the Policeman who was talking to me answered his phone. The second policeman was telling us that there were cameras all around this place and we were being filmed from numerous angles. It was starting to feel like you really were not meant to park right in front of the parliament building, so I donned my helmet and after a bit more advice from the gathered Force about where to get some lunch we headed off.

Eventually gave up on finding a Café and went to McDonalds as I wanted to use the internet to see where a Bike spare parts place was that Dad wanted to visit in the morning.

The rest of the day was sitting on the bike on the freeway to ride into Sydney. The traffic was heavy the whole way and about 60km out it slowed to 30 -50 km/hr for big stretches due to the traffic load and lots of road works. It got dark about 100km out of town but the risk of animal strike seemed pretty limited due to the traffic and freeway, not long after thinking this we passed a freshly squashed kangaroo. We stayed behind cars for the rest of the way in for protection. Found a Motel close to the parts shop that Dad wants to go to. Ordered Pizza to be dropped off and a quiet night in.

13.6.10 Melbourne to Cann River 487km, total 16 546km

Spot the Kangaroo. There are 25 of then in this photo, but this was as close as I could get.

Loaded up the bikes and headed out of town. Fuelled up and rode through Melbourne with relatively light traffic for Melbourne, given that it is Sunday morning. We rode east for about 150km then stopped at a Tea Rooms in Darnum Stump, which had a huge collection of unrelated Knick Knacks, cheap Watches, Cups, Books, Framed Pictures, Soft toys, Torches, Wind Chimes, Reading glasses, enough Ornaments to sink a ship all surrounding a collection of very tasty looking cakes and muffins. Enjoyed a Coffee while the local ladies gathered for tea after their church session. Something for everyone in this shop.

Refreshed we continued east. It was through lush farming country and a bit cold. Passed a power station that looked Nuclear given the cooling towers, then after another couple of hours stopped for a bite to eat at Bairnsdale. A little further down the road we went through an attractive waterfront town Lakes Entrance. There is obviously a Hot Rod meeting on somewhere as we were following a Blue Model T hot rod, and then passed a group of other Hot Rods, which were a variety of old vehicles that are shinning shadows of their former selves. I am sure that the Blue Hot Rod we were following would look fantastic when it is stationary but following it I got a good insight into what a terrible machine it must be. It appeared to have no suspension, so was bouncing along the road and when we came to corners the driver slowed right down as the thing was at risk of bouncing right off the road. The fluffy dice must have been on an elastic string, as they were not bouncing too much. He pulled over in Lakes Entrance and as I drove by the thing glistened in the light including the fully exposed and chromed V8 engine. I am guessing that they either stopped to polish the thing or to give their backs a break from the beating they were taking from the lack of suspension. Enthusiasts!

The road became more interesting as we headed into the hills after the Lakes Entrance town. We headed into a rain forest, with a variety of trees and occasional fern undergrowth. The road became windy with a series of 65km/hr corners to add a bit of interest, and on cue the skies responded by starting to rain lightly adding the element of slip to the road. It didn’t come to much though, so it was an enjoyable end to the ride. The temperature got progressively colder and by the time we got to Cann River, it was 4.30 and getting dark and we were both pretty cold so time to stop.

Got booked into a motel, contemplated a run but I was a bit too cold (and maybe a bit lazy), which made running less appealing, showered and had a cuppa which all helped to warm up. He headed over the road to the Pub to have a beer and meal. Met an interesting guy, Larnish, a pet shop owner who also is a BMW bike enthusiast. He has added Yamaha Forks to an old R65 BMW frame and extended the Rear suspension to give more travel, added an engine from an R90 and has ridden this machine across the Simpson dessert a couple of times, which is about 600km of sand! He is having trouble finding parts for his gearbox, as they do not make them anymore, as they are over 30 years old now. I suggested he should splash out and get a GS adventure bike. He said it wouldn’t be the same as he wouldn’t be able to fix it. Enthusiasts?

Ended the night watching a family movie, Silence of the Lambs.

12.6.10 Melbourne Day Off

Federation Square, or that should be Federation off-square as there is not a straight line in the whole place. The Ballon is and animation of the sun that you can manipulate with your iPhone.

Dad’s leg is now looking like an abscess has formed, as there is a fluctuant area so off to Hospital we went to find someone to stick a knife into it. Surprisingly the ED waiting room was empty so it was not too long before Dad was ushered in. The nurse came out to get me to join Dad after a bit, and small world, she is from Methven. Dad had a junior, book wise doctor, assess his leg and I kept my mouth shut, kind of. She clearly did not know how to examine a leg and was clearly thinking what is this? She was very pleasant and ordered an x-ray and reassured us that there was no fracture, thanks. Her senior who was a very poor communicator reviewed things and felt that it was not tender enough to be an abscess. He spoke to the junior Doctor about Dad as if we were not there and gave instructions to give an IV dose of antibiotics and return if it gets worse. He could use a lesson on bedside manner, and how to ask a non leading question.

Dad put his feet up for the afternoon and I went into town by bus for a look. There is an excellent public transport system, including trams that give the place real character. Shops galore full of millions of knick knacks, all looking vaguely similar, heaps of restaurants and cafes, museums, an excellent free tram runs around the city centre giving a tourist related commentary. Some interesting Buskers. A man in an oversized Soccer ball, watching the world cup Football as some sort of promotion. Interesting architecture with lots of high rise buildings, Nice river and waterfront, Excellent stadiums, Theatre and oh did I mention the shops. Overall, I can see what the fuss is about, Melbourne is a good looking city with a good vibe. I like it.

Evening getting our fluids up and watching Movies.

11.6.10 Apollo Bay to Melbourne 195km, total 16 059km

Went for a run down the beach to start the day. It was relatively calm with a light rain. The light was creating a very dramatic view down the coast with dark clouds on the horizon and the ridges of the coastal hills highlighted and stacked up by the rising sun casting a shining light through the mist. The surf was up and a nice curling break had already enticed a few surfers out.

My fitness is getting worse. After about ten minutes I stopped to take photos of the scene and then walked for a fair bit down the beach before running again. The problem is that I didn’t have my camera, so that excuse for walking is hopeless.

When I got back to the motel Dad was up showered and dressed in his riding gear ready to go, so that was that decision out of the way, we would ignore the gale force wind warning and hit the road. I packed up and showered then we had some breakfast in the restaurant and hit the road.

The rain went from light to heavy and the road was as slippery as ever, then the wind started to gust also, so to say that it was an enjoyable ride would be a shallow lie. Rain on the bike is not too bad if you can maintain a reasonable speed of 80km or more as the fairing send the water over the top of you, but we were riding at about 30 -50km/hr because of the windy road, wet rough surface and the frequent signs warning about the slippery surface in the wet. The rain was kept out by my rain jacket that I had on over my riding jacket but the water was running down and onto my lap and sat there slowly soaking through the trousers that are only shower proof. So my lower half was very wet and cooling down fast. A bit distressing. I tried to look to the trees to see if I could spot a Koala as there are lots of them in the National Forest going through here but unfortunately I really had to keep my eyes on the road with the conditions being so dodgy. I stopped at Lorne the next town to check how Dad was holding up in the conditions and whether he was keen to stop, but he was comfortable in his flash Italian riding gear that is obviously more waterproof than my fancy Dutch gear. We carried on for an hour or so then I pulled in to Torquay to have a warm up Coffee. This is beside Bells beach a very famous surf beach, big waves I believe. We decided to ride in to Melbourne and stop there as Dads leg is sore and he needed to rest it and give the antibiotics a chance to work.

As we rode through Geelong then on to Melbourne the traffic gradually became more and more heavy. We ended up on the M1 motorway to Melbourne with four lanes of traffic that gradually ground to a halt before the massive West Gate Bridge, due to road works that had closed down one lane on the bridge. The Australians sure know how to build big things. This bridge is so high that it felt like we were coming in to land in Melbourne not just riding our bikes into town. We stopped on the other side of the bridge and decided to go to the Lonely Planet recommended campground for a cabin. This involved turning around and heading towards the bridge again, however Karen the GPS lady got a bit demanding and asked us to turn off to the left at a point that was impossible due to there being a barrier in the way, so back up and over the bridge we went in the gusting wind, and driving rain, feeling a bit exposed as the trucks passed by on the next lane. Eventually we arrived at the Campground and found that they only had cabins with one Double bed and a couch, we had a look and in fact they were large units very new and flash with a large couch, so we took one and unloaded and were both very relieved to dry out and warm up with a feed of Spaghetti and a cuppa.

Laundry, phoned home, groceries, take away and night in by the heat pump, Brrrrrr.

0.6.10 Mt Gambier to Apollo Bay 404km, 15 864km

Chilly this morning when I went out for a run. Ran up a hill to the domain in Mt Gambier, then turned and walked back, as I can’t risk running down hill with zero fitness, and I wanted to take some photos of the houses which were and interesting mix of styles. Mostly they were very nice old houses that were villas made of stone blocks, very nice, and some formal gardens, very nice. Coffee and some crackers then we were of to the lotto shop to pick up the big cheque. Amazingly the Lotto tickets were not winners, so we had to cancel the Helicopter that we had booked to finish the trip with and just carry on, on the bikes, I can’t believe it, it didn’t win.

Today we could have been in New Zealand, firstly riding through Pine Forestry in rolling country, then golden beaches, then into lush green paddocks with stock in them, progressed onto dairy country that looked like the Waikato, then into tight twisting country with rough roads covered in leaves. We rode through Nelson, and then stopped at Portland for some breakfast of a big fry up and good coffee. Carried on to Warrnambool where we stopped and fuelled up, and had another coffee as it was cold and I was very drowsy. The weather is not as bad as yesterday but it is still pretty cold and the occasional shower is coming through. While in the Café, I got on the Internet and booked some accommodation in Sydney for the last three days of the trip when we will be packing up the bikes and catching our breath.

Headed back into the weather and got onto the Great Ocean Road. The GPS was a bit confused initially and kept sending us off on the wrong road so I ignored Karen for a while and followed the signs until she started talking sense again. Eventually we came out onto the coast road. We stopped at the first lookout, London Bridge. This is a rock arch, that used to be two rock arches, but in 1990 the main arch collapsed, so London Bridge really did fall down. Two tourists were on the wrong side of the arch when it collapsed, and ended up stranded for several hours before being rescued from the resulting island. We stopped at the Arch for a look also, the weather was dramatic, strong wind, huge crashing waves and occasional rain clouds dropping showers every now and again.

We went along the coast to the Twelve Apostles. Now this is a fully geared up attraction. It reminded me of the Punakaiki Rocks in a way but a bit more up market. It was absolutely swarming with tourists. I do not know where they all came from as the road is not busy at all, there must be some other route that the tourist buses come in on. We walked through the underpass and down the concrete paths to the first look out and elbowed my way through the crud to have a look at the view. It was like a frenzy of camera activity, everyone was snapping away and posing in front of the view with cameras firing. There was competitive spirit to the camera activity and rising to the challenge I pulled out my little and started firing away, randomly firing in any direction that the tourist were firing at. After a while I realise d that they were taking photos of the rock pillars that make the twelve apostles.

There was a Japanese man with a big SLR camera with a massive lens on it looking determined and firing like the gigabytes would never end. I thought, “That man has short lens syndrome!” Sensing some fun I went up to him with my little German Camera with its little lens (both made in Japan) and stood beside him looking quizzically at the rock, cocked my head from one side to the other, held up my hands with my fingers making a frame as I squinted my eyes through the imaginary frame, then with a look of revelation and urgency on my face grabbed up my camera with panicking and fumbling hands and started firing away as fast as I could in the direction of the rock. Click, click, click,….click, click, click, click,clickety click. He looked shocked that I had seen something that he hadn’t and picked up his big camera and started firing away Zvit, Zvit, Zvit, Zvit, Focusing his lense, Zvit Zvit Zvit, zooming in and Zooming out Zvit, zvit,zvitzvit,…..zvit zvit zvit. Click Click Clickity click, Zvit Zvit Zvit, Clickity Click, ZVIT, ZVIT ZVIT ZVIT ZVIT! He was getting angry, and still didn’t know what I was taking photos of. I was moving my camera from one side to the other Click, click, clickity click. ZVIT ZVIT ZVIT ZVITZVITZVITZVIT! Then I stopped, looked up, and started firing away straight up in the air with a real sense of urgency, click click clickity click. He looked up and rubbed his eyes then started firing away Zvit Zvit…..zvit zvit. He looked a bit unsure but couldn’t believe he might miss a once in a lifetime shot. Click click clickity click, Zvit zvit zvit. Clickity click, Vzit zvit zvit,…ZVIT ZVIT ZVIT! I quickly put the camera down and grabbed out my video camera from my bag. Click, snap whirr whirr whirr went the video pointed straight up in the air. He looked shocked. What could be so good to take so many photos and now video. He squinted and rubbed his eyes again then started firing away again still not knowing what he was shotting at, Zvit zvit zvit, … zvit zvit zvit. Whirr whirr whirr, then Click snap I put down the video, and grabbed my little camera again Click click clickity click. Zvit Zvit, click click Zvit zvit ZVIT ZVIT ZVITZVITZVITZIVT! Click. Then I put my camera down and said to him, “nice blue sky”, and walked off. Zvit as he involuntarily squeezed his camera. Fun with the tourists.

Slippery roads followed over the next hour or so as we headed along the road towards Apollo Bay. Nice winding road that would be great on a dry day but today is not a dry day and the combination of wet road, rough road and a lot of leaf and decayed leaf on the road made it very slippery so it was a matter of taking it very easy. This is the first stretch of road that I have seen a sign that has a motorbike on it with a slippery road cartoon. We went very carefully along the way and you could feel the road was greasy with the back wheel being a bit loose on engine braking. The light was fading also at about 4.30 and we pulled into Apollo Bay so thought we should stop here.

We rode into the town and there were a number of motel options and Dad was keen on one on the main street called Iluka which means “by the water” in Aboriginal language. We booked in and took our bikes around the back to go into the garage. There was a beautiful Honda Chopper in the garage and the Greek owner of the motel and restaurant came out to show us. He was very proud of his bike, and told us that it cost $65 000, and had an accessory exhaust put on which cost another $5000, plus other bits making it worth about $75 000 apparently. It is a limited edition bike with only 10 being sold in Australia and a total of only 100 being made, so he thinks it will be a collector’s item and intends to keep it for his grandson so that he can sell it in the future. Very family oriented, I think he should ride it and get some enjoyment, then give it to his grandson.

We had a very nice meal of Lamb Chops for Dad and a Lamb Curry for me, followed by a Greek dessert of Almond Filo pastry and Filo and custard for Dad. Nice. Forecast is for Gale Force wind on the coast tomorrow, so will make a plan in the morning about weather to ride anywhere or not. A gale might be a good excuse for a day off the riding.

9.6.10 Murray Bridge to Mount Gambier 375km, total 15 460km

What a stormy night. Our little cabin was rattling last night as the wind howled and the rain poured in showers. It was quite cosy, although when I initially woke up about 6am it was pretty cold. Dad got up and turned on the heat pump. It was still very dark so we didn’t rush to get out of bed, my good intentions of getting up for a run were cancelled in favour of keeping warm in bed, but it just seemed to be getting colder so I eventually got up and checked the heat pump and in the dark Dad had turned the thing onto the air conditioning mode and the machine was pumping out freezing cold air! Perhaps it was a strategy to get me out of bed.

We had showers and some breakfast in the cabin, then packed and headed off to find a Doctor for some antibiotics. Dad’s leg has been tender for that past two weeks or so since he initially dropped his bike in Tom Price and the stand cracked his leg. The second drop in Perth didn’t help and he has had a lot of swelling and tracking bruises. Yesterday he was getting more pain than usual and this morning there was tenderness, warmth and erythema (redness), this all equals cellulitis, an infection that needs treatment and so off to get a Doc to look at it (one who is registered in this country and has drugs that is). We were at the medical centre along with a queue of people at 8.30, and Dad went into join the queue in the waiting room. His caring son left him there and headed to McDonalds to have a Coffee and hook into their free Internet.

After a while Dad had been seen and given some antibiotics and given instructions to return if it worsens (sound advice) so we went to fuel up and head south. Got talking to a guy at the Petrol station who was fuelling up his Mazda 6 car. He was interested in how far we get out of a tank of fuel, then told me that his Mazda, a company car that is almost three years old and had done 750,000 km. Yes 750,000km! I said “it must be out of its warranty by now?” “No it is still covered for another month or so and Mazda are very proud of it, I drive between Mt Gambier and Adelaide every day in it” he replied. I said “Have you ever thought of moving closer to your work?” but no he collects milk samples and delivers them to the lab. Do the maths 750,000 in three years is 250,000 per year which is roughly 5000km per week which is 50 hours per week averaging 100km/hr if that is possible. That must be some sort of record. The car looked immaculate, but must be pretty worn out, apparently they have not offered much as a trade in.

We drove into the worst weather that we have experienced on the trip so far. It was still very windy, with occasional heavy showers, and it was quite cold. Most of this is OK on the bike. We had our Thermal liners on to keep the cold at bay and heated grips putting some warmth into our hands, and if you keep the speed up on these fully faired bikes the rain hardly touches you as it all gets blown over your shoulder, but the wind is a bit problematic. Once again these bikes handle the wind very well due to the aerodynamics of the fairing, and their weight, but this was seriously gusty side wind strong enough to be knocking branches off the trees, and up rooting tumbleweed type plants. It was reasonably intense trying to keep the bikes on the road and the road trains added to the challenge with the blast of wind from them every now and again. Saw a couple of Pelicans flying off despite the wind, they are very big birds.

After a couple of hours we stopped to have a cuppa and a warm up with a pie. Dad asked the shopkeeper if the pies were any good, he replied “I wouldn’t look like this if they weren’t!” Grabbing his ample abdomen. “we had better have two then” “you sit down young fella and I’ll bring them over”. He was a good sort. After a cuppa our spirits were up again and back into the wind we went. Arrived in Mt Gambier and fuelled up as the tanks were empty. We headed into town once again to have a warm up cuppa. While warming up in a café we realised that we would have to stop here as the next town is into Victoria and Dad has a winning Lotto ticket in hand in the South Australia Lotto which is drawn tonight, so we would need to come back to pick up the cheque. We also have reached a point that we will get to Melbourne in one day, so on balance we decided to stop even although we have only done 375km. Dad also needed to get his leg elevated to give the best chance of the infection clearing. Of course the inclement weather had nothing to do with our decision.

Found a Motel in town and settled in. I replaced the bulbs in my headlights to try to get them working but to no avail, it will be a visit to the auto-electrician back home. We went down to the local RSL for dinner. The RSLs are similar to RSAs in NZ, but are open to all and all of the ones that I have been into (2) have been very well appointed restaurant with excellent quality and value food. Had a good feed and a couple of beers and then an evening keeping warm in the motel. It is the first day of the trip that I did not get my camera out, will have to make up for that on the Great Ocean road tomorrow.

8.6.10 Port Augusta to Murray Bridge 486km, total 15 085km

Up a bit late again! Our early morning routine seems to have collapsed since we wound the clocks back. Had a coffee and some biscuits then on the road about 9am. Rode for an hour or so then stopped for fuel and a pie for breakfast. We rode through ongoing big paddock land. There were a few big tractors drilling with the now expected oversize equipment. There was quite a lot of wind, which I suspect is usual for here as there was a wind farm with numerous turbines spinning away up on the hill. We passed a couple of lakes at Locheel that were pink in colour the same as a salt works evaporation ponds, however these lakes were at over 100 metres altitude. Not sure of the reason, must Google it, perhaps it relates to the salt planes inland? The land was changing to rolling hills at this stage and we stopped to take a photo of the lakes and surrounds, but on the camera it looked very flat. I think it was a trick of the mind to make it look like rolling hills, as we have been so used to the flat that the minor change fooled me into thinking I am in the hills. Your eye provides visual information but it is your brain that sees, by putting together a series of small snippets of information to perceive the visual scene. I think my visual perception has been altered by all of this flatness, who knows, I think I need some mountains to reset my visual equilibrium, I need to head for the hills.

Road works after road works today. There was a fair bit of waiting for road works today. The GPS is very accurate at estimating arrival time, and the expected arrival time was 45 minutes before the actual time that we arrived in Tanunda in the Barossa valley, such was the degree of hold up with road works. Riding to the Barossa valley lead to a noticeable change in the surrounding countryside. Initially we came across smaller paddocks with more intensive activity including potatoes being planted, and a lot of small Olive groves. Interestingly the Olive trees had no fruit on them. Hopefully this does not reflect what has happened at home, it would be disappointing to arrive home and discover that the birds have taken all of the fruit.

We rode into Tanunda, which is the main town in the Barossa valley. This is a nice little town that looks like it has been here for a very long time. Historic cottages and monuments gave the place a lot of character. We stopped for some lunch at a good-looking café in the main street. Had a bagel and a good coffee. Looking at the map over lunch I could see the cure for my visual perception difficulties in the form of the route to Adelaide through Williamstown and Chain of Ponds through the gorge road. We headed off in that direction and it was a good choice. Sweeping bends tightened up and the country was truly rolling now with a mix of woodland and Vineyard making this a very appealing place. We then went into the Gorge area and this was a series of 35km/hr corners on a good road and very enjoyable riding. It eventually spilled out onto the Adelaide city outskirts.

Barossa valley was very picturesque and sadly I took no pictures, as I was enjoying the riding so much. I did feel a strange connection to the area, that I first thought was just feeling like I was home with the vineyards etc. but then I realised that I am part of the place! You see trillions of atoms from the Barossa valley have passed through my body, in the form of wine from here, and some of them will have been assimilated. Pushing it you say? Well at least the labels and Vineyard names looked familiar.

We rode into the centre of Adelaide. It has been a day of geographic illumination for me. For some reason I thought Adelaide was two things, a small city about the size of Christchurch, but of course it is not, at 1.1ish million it is more like Auckland in size. The second point is that I have always looked at the map and thought, Adelaide is just around the corner from Melbourne, but of course it is not. It will take two days for us to ride to Melbourne, admittedly we will go a slow route but still, it is a very long way between the cities. For some reason I also thought that the Murray River went through Melbourne but here it is on the outskirts of Adelaide, two days travel away from Melbourne. Ha, what do you know travelling like this is a great way to learn Geography.

Adelaide was a big city like any other. Busy, lots of people looking busy and stressed, shinny shops filled with expensive nick knacks, restaurants, cafes, and office buildings. I bet if you looked closely there would be a library and museum, and possibly a Zoo. Sounds cynical I know but on a drive through they all look the same. I have no doubt that if we stopped for a while there would lots of unique things about Adelaide and it looked very,… Big City. We rode out of town as it was going to be difficult to find accommodation, we did try but the GPS took us down a very small alley to a central city motel that did not exist and it really did not look that salubrious, so we hit Melbourne on the GPS and headed out of town, past the BMW shop, Audi shop, Ferrari Shop and the Toyota shop. I reminded me of the Great south road in Auckland that I used to ride my push bike down regularly, and it always made me laugh as at one end, near new Market there is the Porches Shop, and on the other side of the road are Ferraris, further on you get the Audis, Macerate is there somewhere too. Further along you come across the Jaguar and Land Rovers, then the Alfas, then you start to get the Nissans and Toyotas, eventually half way along are the Second hand Dealers initially late models, then getting cheaper and cheaper. Eventually you get to the car dealers with overpriced old cars, and attractive finance deals and look around and find you are in Otara. It is like a social hierarchy of vehicle buying.

We rode out and stopped in Murray Bridge, found a cabin. Got some take away roast chicken for dinner and a night watching TV.

7.6.10 Ceduna to Port Augusta 536km, total 14 599km

Late start today as we both slept in. Perhaps because we were in separate rooms neither of us was woken by the others snoring? Had breakfast in the Motel as I got some groceries yesterday and so we had some cereal to start the day without a cholesterol load for a change. Muesli was a welcome change to eggs on protein with fat base. Loaded up and we headed off, Dad lead the way confidently speeding of in the direction of Perth! I shot forward and pulled him over to turn him around, and it works out he thought there was a fuel station on that side of town hence why he was going in that direction?

Fuelled up then off up the coast to Streaky bay. Eyre highway is not the most inspiring riding hence the Motorcycle Atlas recommends the road to Streaky Bay. The Eyre highway at this point must be dire as the road to Streaky bay was fairly dull. We are back in big agriculture country again, with massive paddocks that are either cultivated or have sheep or cattle in them. We saw the occasional machine doing some work in the paddocks and they use man sized tractors here, non of this limp wristed little wheels at the front, these machines have two large duel wheels front and rear, a cab in the middle that would house a small family and a huge rig out the back. We saw one machine near to the road today with harrows on and there were outrigger wheels on the harrows they were so wide.

Got into Streaky Bay late morning and the bay was streaky! Not streaky in the Gulf of Mexico way, as in oil slick, but streaky with the wind effect on the water, with lines of ripple interspersed amongst the glassy calm. This was a gorgeous little town on the water in a sheltered harbour. Rode around a bit then thought best to stop for a coffee. My Coffee radar, (that I just can not switch off), detected a good looking café on the way into town so we went back to have a brew. I had a look at my wheels and bearings as my bike was rumbling in an unusual way on the way into town however it all looked OK. A friendly guy had a chat to us on the way to get his alcohol from the bottle shop that we were outside. He recounted the stories of all of his injuries from riding motorbikes as a young man. I assured him that he has probably settled down now that he is older. He emerged a few minutes later from the bottle store and proudly announced that he did not have a carry out bag, and then pointed to his jacket pleased with his ability to conceal a bottle under his arm. Clearly public drinking is not tolerated.

Took some photos of the town, then had a chat to a couple that were riding electric assisted folding bikes. I am very interested in these and have come close to purchasing electric bikes in the past but have always convinced myself to harden up and keep peddling. This couple use their bikes to explore areas and they fold up and fit into their caravan for transport. They were full of praise for their little bikes and had a lot to say about the experiences they have from the saddle, they were preaching to the converted.

After a very nice Coffee and half a Cornish pasty each we headed further along the coast to see Murphies Haystacks. These were about 40km further along the coast and are Granite Inselbergs, which are granite outcrops that have been shaped by thousands of years of weather action into smooth outcrops that look like haystacks. They come out of a granite base like an Iceberg out of water, hence their name that is a reflection of the iceberg nature. It was a good spot to look out on the surrounding landscape and sure enough it is relatively flat for as far as the eye can see.

We continued along in an Adelaide direction, going down a minor road to get us back onto the Eyre highway. A few sweeping corners that were labelled as 80km/hr, they were not, and we did not slow down at all, but at least they were corners. We rode for a couple of hours to get a few k’s behind us. About 3pm the temperature started to drop noticeably and the cold started to bite. Not so cold to be a problem but we were both glade of the break and fuel up, and cuppa to warm up. Dad couldn’t feel his fingers for the cold, and hadn’t realised that he was that cold until he got off the bike. My hands were OK as I had had the heated grips on all day and on full heat for the last hour or so, it was the rest of me that was cold.

Fuelled up and warmed up we continued to Port Augusta. We rode through Lake Giles Conservation Park, then out onto the Giles Downs area, from a treed forest onto a treeless plane. Iron knob is a mining town along the way, and clearly it refers to the geographical knob that they are mining, which presumably has iron in it. However it is so heavily altered with mining that they will have to rename the town soon to “Iron hole in the ground”, or if the iron runs out “No Iron Hole in the Ground”. Perhaps they could fill it with water and call it “Iron Lake”, or “Lake Pallor” due to its iron deficiency.

As we rode into Port Augusta the sun was setting and casting a beautiful red light onto the Flinders Range behind the town. It was very striking and would have been a really great photo, the reality was that we were following a sheep truck with no opportunity to pass for several k’s and were being intermittently showered with sheep poo, which I guess added to the natural experience albeit reducing the grandeur of it all. But then that is one of the reasons for travelling by bike, to be more immersed in the environment, so you have to take the good with the bad. I do usually speed up and pass sheep trucks with the minimum of delay. Too much nature is not good for you.

Clearly Port Augusta was the limit of our travel for today as the Kangaroos were sticking their heads up and looking interested in the lights on the road. Time to stop. Found a motel and warmed up with a nice cup of tea and a soak in the shower.

Beer, food, beer, bed.

Eucla to Ceduna 512km, total 14 063km

Heavy rain overnight. We both slept in and hence a bit of a late start at about 9am. We rode to the border then stopped for breakfast at the Border Village Roadhouse. Got some mixed messages from the road train drivers. As we were walking in the Drivers eating on the Veranda told us that the Kangaroos come out on to the road after a rain to drink the water, and that there was heaps of water on the road causing the Road trains to Aquaplane! Sounded pretty extreme. When we were coming out another Road Train driver said there were no Kangaroos on the road, not even dead ones, and that the road was pretty good despite the rain. Take your pick. Some people need to dramatise the situation and worry I guess, whereas others minimise the risk. We jumped on and rode down the road which was not too wet and figured if the Kangaroos were on the road they at least would be easy to see, as opposed to when they are on the side of the road in the bush where they are next to invisible right up to the moment that they come bouncing out.

We stopped to look at the ocean from the cliffs above the Great Australian Bight marine park. The ocean was crashing in to these craggy cliffs and it was quite spectacular however we were more interested in trying to see whales as they use this area as nursery for the young so can often be seen at this time of year from the cliffs. Sadly no sign of them today.

The roads going down to the look - outs were gravel and with the rain there were quite a few puddles around. I thought it doesn’t look like it is very deep as I confidently rode into a small puddle and then – thump, thump the bike fell into a deep hole, water going everywhere. Thankfully it was a short hole so the bike bounced out the other side but it was a cartoon moment. Coming back out onto the road after a look for the whales the boy racer in me got the better of me and I thought I would show the rear tyre what 120 horse power on gravel feels like which lead to a wobbly speed way moment. These were the highlights of the ride, because this is the Nullarbor Plain and the road just continued in a straight line heading east just like yesterday.

We stopped at the Nullarbor roadhouse for some fuel and a coffee. The Fuel was not the most expensive we have bought but the coffee was at $5.60 a cup. It was pretty ordinary coffee despite the high price. In the car park was a Cessna aircraft, a very sensible way to get around in this place where trips are measured in days rather than hours.

Yesterday I was concerned about the signs of an imminent civil war, judging by the airstrips. Today I noticed the sign saying it was a RFDS airstrip. RFDS sounds military right?, Royal Flying Defence Squad? or maybe Really Fast Defence System? but then it struck me Royal Flying Doctor Service. The airstrips are there to help pick up injured Motorists that have fallen asleep and veered of the road. Mind you if you did veer off the road you probably wouldn’t notice, as it is so flat that you would just continue happily along through the plain and wake up happily racing along through the dessert 10 or 20 km later. So I have now relaxed that piece reigns in the outback.

The surveyor E A Delisser, was obviously a Latin scholar, as when he travelled trough here in 1867, he named the plane from the Latin words “Nullus” and “Arbor” to make Nullarbor meaning “No Trees”. This was very apparent today as all trees disappeared for a large part of the trip and it was just red dirt and arid grass and low scrub. The Aboriginal name for Nullarbor Plane is Oondiri, which means waterless. Aborigines are experts at finding water so this is saying something. Both names seem very appropriate.

Crossing the border we lost two hours time and this combined with our late departure played against us for reaching Streaky Bay, and instead we stopped at Ceduna, a nice little town. The Quarantine checkpoint is in Ceduna and you are meant to stop. I rode up slowly into the left lane where the barrier was up and as I was arriving the right lane barrier went up. I took this as a signal to keep going and had a very angry looking quarantine officer shouting at me to stop. I hit the brakes and then worked to reverse the bike back to see the guy. He pointed out the Stop sign with a frown on his face. I thought looks like I’m in for a search or maybe arrested for flaunting the law, I had obviously upset the officious looking officer. He said, “Have you got any fruit?” while he frowningly looked at my bike. I said, ”No, we haven’t got any food” getting ready to dismount and unpack, “Righto off you go then” and that was it, maybe he just looks angry all the time.

Got the best Motel room yet at the local campground, which is on the beachfront. All of the motels and campgrounds seem to be fortified so presumably there is a criminal element in the town. Had Diner at the Hotel beside the Campground with a couple that we met at Balladonia, Fred and Jeanette who live in Melbourne and have been doing a trip around Australia in there car.

We did some laundry that was well overdue. The last two roadhouses did not have the facility to do washing, which I guess reflects their capacity to supply water in the very arid environment.

5.6.10 Balladonia to Eucla 540km, total 13 551km

Checked out the transmission oil levels in the bikes at first light ready for an early start but there was so much mist that we were not able to get underway until 9am anyway. Had a leisurely breakfast in the Roadhouse then loaded up to hit the road. Today was all about the straight roads again, but this time it was the pinnacle in straightness as we crossed the longest straight stretch of road in Australia. Now that is saying something in a country that must be a world record holder for straight roads, to cross the longest one was the highlight of the day. 27km east of the Balladonia Roadhouse and we rounded the last corner for almost 150km.

On we went, straight as a very unswerving thing in full linear mode on world linear day in the one unwavering direction for 150km. The Nullarbor was an interesting mixture of very flat land with no vegetation to a completely level ground with scant vegetation, occasionally it was also as flat as a pancake, albeit a very large pancake that is particularly flat, and notably was uninterrupted by any sort of bump or change in elevation. It was remarkable in the way the plain was able to maintain such an unchanging linear, constant, level and relatively lifeless expanse. I could go on and on as it really was very flat and lifeless, it was really exciting in the way it was so level that there were no deviations from the one unchanging plain which I guess is the genius of its name the “Nullarbor Plain” - brilliant really. Yes the way it just kept on going and going without any need for us to move the handlebars or shift weight on the bike due to the straight and level nature of the constant terrain. I bet you wish you were there? For hour after hour flat and level. The surveyor really must have had a brilliant compass to lay this road out, it is dead flat and straight. No corners.

Ok I admit it, the Nullarbor Plain is remarkably boring in its topography. What more can I say? After 150km it was heads up and pay attention as for some reason known only to the road builders they threw in a corner, albeit a very fast corner that required no change in pace just a slight change in direction. We definitely needed coffee and stopped for a quick brew, and fuel up. Then back into it, straight and level riding for another 300km or so. Every now and then a corner is thrown in for some reason, as if they road builders had proved that they could build a straight road so now they would just let the road bend every now and then to give everyone a bit of a thrill.

I am suspicious about Western Australia’s intentions, as we rode over four sections of road today that are emergency runways for the Air force. These stretches of road are wider than the standard and fairly smooth often with pull off areas for the planes. Why so many on this coast, are the Australian Military concerned about invasion from Antarctica? More likely civil war as Western Australia tries to break free from the rest of Australia. Apparently WA has had several referendums about becoming an independent nation and it has been a close run thing each time. Why else would so many runways be needed here so close to the border? Think about it, its obvious really, how can the eastern states not see it coming?

Crikie, I am struggling here, there must have been something else to mention, ummm, hmmm, no, not really. We stopped after about another 200km at a rest area to have a break and a cuppa, then continued to Mundrabilla Roadhouse for more fuel then stopped at the next roadhouse at Eucla. Chatted to a couple of different people who once again came up to talk about the bikes. One couple who have ridden there Triumph Bikes, a Cruiser and a Bonneville, from Perth to Cairns over a couple of months but are returning to Perth in a 4WD with the Bonneville in the back as she is pregnant, and they felt it was inappropriate to continue on their bikes. They seemed amazed at the mileage that we have done in the time we have been on the road, but seemed to understand when I got them to sit on my bike and see how comfortable it is. I would guess that the effort of riding over distance would be less than half on the fully faired BMW compared to the naked bikes they are riding.

Dinner in the roadhouse after a beer in the bar. Dad tried to strike up a conversation with the barmaid over tennis as Samantha Stosur an Australian Tennis player is cleaning up in the French open. She said she was not really interested in Tennis. Dad started to give a speal on Australian tennis success in the 1950s to 1960s but she walked off while he was mid sentence and started talking in a very animated way to a guy in at the end of the bar about Aussie Rules. She really wasn’t interested in Tennis then.

Esperance to Balladonia 409km, total 13 011km

Had a bad nights sleep, feeling I was going to vomit, I guess the curry last night was not so good after all. Consequently my plan to go for a run in the morning failed as I slept through my alarm, twice. We had a breakfast at the Motel and then hit the road.

We rode north for a quick 200km to Norseman. The country continues with massive paddocks that have been cultivated. My guess would be that these paddocks are 500 – 1000 acres each. If they ever intensify the farming around here then someone is going to make a fortune out of fencing.

Long straight roads were the theme of the morning. Pretty low key stuff really - throw leg over bike, push start button, first gear, clutch out, pull out onto road straight down the middle, second, third, fourth, fifth then sixth gear, hold throttle open 110-120km/hr should do, look ahead scan for Kangaroos and Emus, hold throttle open, check speed, 130km/hr, oops too fast will run out of fuel and upset police, 110-120 that’s better, look up, scan ahead for kangaroos and cows, straight ahead, hold throttle open, look for Kangaroos and Eagles, hold throttle open, check speed, straight ahead, look up, scan for Kangaroos and dingoes, straight ahead… and so on. A simple life it is riding a bike in Western Australia, no corners.

I was definitely struggling to maintain focus and needed coffee at Norseman, and we are back in the country where it is foolish to ride past a fuel pump without topping up. Dad needed a break also, so we fuelled up and looked for a coffee. The occasional fuel station has driver survivor, which is free coffee and Tea for the driver to encourage people to take a break, and it is usually found at the back of the restaurant area and is instant coffee or tea bags. I needed the real thing though so went to the real coffee machine with proper beans and milk, prepared to pay the $2.95, made two coffees and handed $6 to the lady behind the counter, she said no that is free for drivers. My opinion of Norseman soared to the all time best driver survivor town in Australia, thanks Caltex.

After a break we went out and loaded up for another 200km push to the next fuel station. Just as we were getting on the bike I noticed that there was oil on Dads rear wheel. On closer inspection it looked like it came from the differential. Trip cancelled. Can’t head into the Nullarbor with a Diff that is likely to seize.

We checked the oil level in the dif and it was low. There was no appropriate oil in my favourite gas station, but the lady behind the counter said there is a mechanics 100m down the road. We headed down there and clearly the lady has never walked around this town, it was more like 1km down the road. They had the right oil and we topped it up, but decided we should take the wheel off to check that it was put together correctly as it had been taken off to put the new tyres on. It was all OK but for some reason there was a lot off grease around the wheel nuts and in fact this had flicked onto the wheel so it was not oil from the dif. Put it all back together and then we were finally away, having lost about two hours of riding time.

We turned the corner to head east and Karen, the GPS voice, said, “continue on 1 for 1200km”, and then went silent. Now that is a record, I’m worried she is quitting, or going on holiday or something. Was it something I said? But I guess that’s outback navigation for you, there is only one road, all you have to do is decide which way you want to go and stay on the road. Outback navigation course 101, “do not leave the road, and you can’t get lost”. If you do leave the road you need skills from the 201 course paper “Celestial navigation” because it is pancake flat and there are no landmarks to guide you. If you are from generation Y then skipping the 201 paper is an option and going straight to paper 204 “turn on your GPS and follow instructions”, If you have flat batteries then paper 301 may help “You are lost!”. Best to stay on the road and keep going in the same direction.

Surprise, surprise, the roads were straight and fast as we now headed east again and let the k’s roll away. We stopped to take some photos of the bush and were passed by a couple of cars. A few k’s down the road both cars were pulled over by a Police car with two Police Women doing licence and breath testing in the middle of nowhere. They did not pull us over, and there was a bit of luck with this as I had been doing about 140 to catch up with Dad a few minutes before, which probably would have been frowned on, as the limit is 110.

In the middle of this stretch of road about 100km away from any sign of civilisation there was a hitchhiker wearing Ug boots and caring a heavy plastic bag. Sadly I did not have any room on the bike for him so pulled across the road to give him a wide berth and accelerated, was that wrong? Perhaps I should have stopped to see if he was OK? But there were cars that were empty on the road, why would someone drop him off in the middle of this place anyway, there was no turn off?

We got into Balladonia and stopped to fuel up and have a cuppa and some food. Balladonia is interesting in that it was showered with the USA space station. The Space station went into an unstable orbit after being shut down and ended up coming back to earth in a fairly unpredictable way ultimately burning up over Australia and dropping debris that landed between Albany and Balladonia in 1977. Balladonia was in the lime light for a while with the President Jimmy Carter phoning to apologise to the locals and offering to pay for any damage done. There is a very interesting museum in the Roadhouse here that includes a large section of the space station.

It was about 3.45 and the light was fading and it was clear we would not make it to the next roadhouse before dark at 5pm so we decided to stay here. I went for a run down the road and took a few photos of the sun going down. A cyclist was coming along the road and I took a photo of her as she went by with the sunset behind her. She is Glenda Wise, an artist, who has been riding around Western Australia and raising money for the Royal Childrens Hospital in Melbourne, and is travelling with a friend Frank who turned 91 today. They are travelling in a van that Frank has had since the 1950s and has fitted out as a camper himself. He has done 400 000 miles in it. We had dinner with Frank and Glenda.

There was a tame Kangaroo at the roadhouse. The kangaroo was hand raised by the previous owners as its parents had been killed on the road. She lives wild but comes in every night to get some food and was very tame. She has a Joey in her pouch and did not mind being patted etc. She has trained the staff well, she went into the bar and staff lured her out with a banana, which she ate. She also sat around sucking her thumb! Ben would be very impressed.

3.6.10 Albany to Esperance 507km, total 12602km

Up and went for a run and had another look at the Anzac Freedom Park and the controversial new art centre that looks like a giant origami model from the waterfront, then further around the water front to the historic Brig, Amity which is a reconstruction of the original ship that bought the first settlers to Western Australia. After a shower phoned the shop and they had our bikes ready to pick up, so we got a Taxi and gathered up the bikes with fresh oil and filters and new tyres on Dads wheels. The Taxi driver was a big boy, so big (fat) it was difficult for him to turn the steering wheel, however he is a budding racecar driver and told us about the classic car race on this weekend in Albany. He is building a Holden to race in this race next year. We had the obligatory Holden vs. Ford debate, as clearly he is a Holden man although he is forced to drive a Ford Falcon taxi. I told him about “the Rock” Radio stations recent prank where they built a car with one half Holden and one half Ford, and called it a Folden. He looked like he did not compute this idea, and only wobbled with laughter when I described the fact that Robert and Johnno the presenters had received death threats from Holden and Ford die hard fans at the massive insult to there loved brands, and there attempt to sell the car as a fundraiser had failed as no-one would buy it even although it cost about $70 000 to build.

The Bike shop owner had some advice about the route to take to Esperance, recommending the Stirling Ranges as a more interesting way to ride, compared to the coast.

After loading up the bikes with all of the luggage and bits and pieces we rode around the corner and had a Café breakfast. It started to pour with rain while we were having breakfast. We rugged up with weather proof gear and headed for Esperance. It was about 11.30 by the time we fuelled up and were heading out of town.

Today was all about ups with no downs. Up Up Up went the whole ride, it is amazing that we did not go into orbit. Here is a list of the places we went through; Porongup, Amelup, Ongerup, Jerramungup, Munglinup and Dalyup. But of course we passed road signs for the turn off to other towns; Kendenup, Gnowangerup, Pingrup, Chillinup, and Minarup. No joke, check a map, it is true.

Today’s rain was the first we have ridden in since I had new tyres put on. Ironic really, as new motorbike tyres are very slippery until they get the top layer taken off with a bit of time on the road so to have the wet road as well means you need to be particularly careful. We rode North Through the Stirling ranges which a re the highest ground in Western Australia, but no that high really in NZ terms. Never the less they are impressive in that there is a ridge of mountains that come up out of the Plane that is Western Australia. The road was very straight and fast through the national park. We rode past the Stirling ranges and then headed east again to resume our slog East. The country was mostly massive Paddocks with cultivated crops, or livestock and occasional natural country. Once on the northern side of the Stirling range the clouds were behind us and the skies were clear and large.

We rode until we got to Ravensthorpe about 310km and it was definitely time for a break and a drink for both bikes and riders. We stopped at a Café called the Stuffed Cockie, and parked behind a Land cruiser that was red with dirt, so much so that from behind there was no telling what colour it was, or if there was anyone in it, it looked like it was a clay model. Had a coffee and muffin and a read of the papers. Had to stop Dad ordering me Lasagne that would have just added to the difficulty of maintaining attention in a fairly dull riding environment.

Saddled up and headed for Esperance a mere 190km down the road. Long straight roads, big paddocks, windmills, cows, sheep, big tractors, and mines rolled past us as we progressed east. Dad stopped for a Photo at some point and I stopped to wait for him and got off the bike to take a photo myself. In the roadside there were animal prints of Cattle and Dog presumably a Dingo and a huge series of imprints from an Emu, which is clearly a heavy bird. Not good to hit any of these on a bike, and these were in the middle of nowhere miles from any sign of civilisation other than the Mine. Another reminder of why not to ride at night. The sun set behind us as we rode closer to Esperance, and my radar was on full alert for wildlife on the road although at this point it was farmland on both sides of the road so the risk seemed pretty minimal.

Found a motel in Esperance on the esplanade looking across the harbour to a huge tanker Ship that is obviously empty at the moment as it was so high in the water.

Showered and Skyped home to Justin and The Tavern. Everyone was a bit shocked and amused at Dads Beard. It is the longest he has ever gone without shaving, Mum told him to shave it off before coming home, which I think has strengthened his resolve not to. Then into the restaurant for food and drink.

2.6.10 Pemberton to Albany 280km total 12095km

Braving the gloucester tree ladder, "Cripes is that the time! I'll have to come back another time"

That was a great sleep in a very comfortable bed. Woke up at 7am as the light was starting to arrive. Donned the running shoes and headed out for a run. There was a sign to the Gloucester tree about 3km away. I thought sounds interesting and headed that way not knowing what it was about. A big Kangaroo thumped away through the bush confirming our decision to leave a bit later was a good one. Got to the Gloucester Tree, which is, a tree that has a ladder made from steel rods put into the tree in a spiral up to a fire observation platform 60 metres up. Yes you read that right six zero, that’s sixty metres up. These trees are monsters and the Gloucester tree was selected as a big one on a prominent piece of land. Someone spent 8 hours climbing the tree with climbing boots and a climbing belt to assess the suitability of the tree as an observation platform, a superhuman effort. Having decided to use this tree they then put the steel rod ladder in and cut the branches off as they went, I guess for stability. One of the branches came down and knocked several of the steel rods out trapping the man above them for about 5 hours while his assistant replaced the damaged rods. When they got to the acceptable height they topped it at about 60 metres with what looked like about 20-30 metres of tree above coming to the ground. They then built a hut on top of the tree so that people could climb to the top and sit observing for fire in the surrounding forest and warn via telephone the fire teams to allow and early response preventing a major fire in the forest. Interesting stuff I guess I had better go up and have a look I thought and started up the very precarious looking ladder.

A couple of days ago I talked about strengths and weaknesses. I have to admit that heights are one of my weaknesses. It’s not that I am scared of heights, it is just that the thought of falling from a height terrifies me. Illogical but true. I don’t know where it comes from, but its there. I had a sudden reminder of this when I got about 3 metres up the ladder. That was enough for me, lets face it the next 57metres would be just the same as the first 3 metres anyway so what is the point of wasting all that time going up there? Hey isn’t it time we got on the road anyway? Of course I could go up there is if I wanted to, I just don’t want to, right? The view is probably terrible anyway, I had better get going, and the sun is coming up. So I came down and ran back to the accommodation, head held high in the knowledge that the Gloucester tree hadn’t beaten me, I just decided to reprioritise the morning. Yeah Right.

If my life depended on it I suppose I could do it, but when is my life going to depend on me having to climb a 60-metre tree? It is a skill I am comfortable not having, but I do admire those people who can do that sort of thing. To stand on a pegged platform 60 metres up and swing an axe to chop down what amounts to a large tree above you, that is impressive. That man deserves a DB. Although it is Australia so perhaps he would prefer a VB. Then again it is Western Australia, so he would probably go for an Emu lager or something? You get the idea.

It was cold and getting home after a run I was hardly sweating, a notable point for me, however once in the accommodation it started pouring out of me. Had a coffee and a shower than loaded the bikes and off we went.

We rode to Walpole via the town of Northcliffe. This was a gorgeous ride through the forest in the early morning light, with occasional misty areas. The road was winding its way trough the forest and the surface was dry and good grip and the speed crept up. Dad commented went we got to Walpole that I must have been enjoying it as I was going 120 through the 90km corners, and it is true I did enjoy the road. Valentino Rossi would probably go through those corners at 200km/hr but 120 on a fully loaded touring bike when you do not know the road is exciting enough for me. We stopped and had breakfast at Walpole. We were both grateful for having the insulation in our jackets and pants, as it is really quite cold now.

After breakfast it was back into to final 120 km or so of riding to get into Albany, where the bikes are booked for a service and Dads bike for some more tires. We rode through the town and found some accommodation in a motel in the centre of town unloaded our gear and then rode them back to the Bike shop. They felt like they would take off without all of the load of the luggage on them, the handling is hugely different. Having ridden the bike pretty much every day for the last three and a bit weeks you really get tuned into the machine and riding it in a different state was dramatic. I do not recall feeling that I could tell the difference in fuel in any other vehicle that I have owned before, but on this bike I am so used to its performance now that I can tell if it has 95, 91 or 98-octane petrol in it. That is subtle.

The bike shop owner ran us back into our motels and gave us a wee tour on the way. He drove us passed the town hall which is an old building built in 1888, and is used for any functions in the town, then took us to what has been a very controversial upgrade for the town hall. The controversy is in the character of the town, and the new buildings lack of respect to that character. You see, Albany is the oldest town in Western Australia, and it has a large number of old buildings, as you would expect. They have the character of the 19^th century all over then, and this sets the character of the town. We got down to the water front (which was not on the way to our motel, but the bike shop owner was enjoying showing off his town) and there was the controversial new arts centre, a very modern architectural masterpiece that looks half way between the Sydney Opera House and a sinking ship. This is absolutely not in keeping with any of the other buildings in the town and there is the controversy. Myself I like it. It has a character that is all its own. Imagine if they did not build the Sydney Opera House because it did not fit in with the existing buildings (how could it). No, I think there is a role for modern buildings amongst historic ones, provided the historic ones are not bowled over to build glass towers. But clearly a lot of the locals do not like it, and it really does stand out so it will be in their faces.

After our tour finished we headed around the corner to have a coffee and cake at a nearby café. Dad is struggling with the walking, as his leg is really swollen and tender where he dropped the bike so we headed back fairly shortly. Got onto the Internet and Skyped home.

I went for a walk in the afternoon and was surprised to learn that there are no antique dealers in Albany. Bought a book to read and wandered around the shops for a bit. I then headed down to the waterfront to look at the ANZAC Peace Park.

This park was opened earlier this year and is a large waterfront park that honours the ANZAC troops and all who followed. Albany is an important place for the Anzacs as this is where the troop carrying ships congregated prior to going off to Europe and ultimately Gallipoli. 39 ships congregated here for 4 days to take on water and supplies and then departed with a naval escort for Egypt where the ANZACs trained for several months before landing at Gallipoli. This had a major impact on the population of Albany, about 4500 people at the time. Over the next few months over 2000 people enrolled for service in this town. It is great to see such a prominent park being established in recognition of these people and the sacrifice that they all made.

Had a salad for dinner, but Dad stayed in the motel with his feet up to try to get the swelling to come down in his leg.

1.6.10 Rockhampton to Pemberton 456km, total 11815km

We did not rush off this morning, as had a bit of a sleep in, perhaps that Guinness had something to do with it. We had a Coffee and a biscuit then did a bit of repair work to Dads mirror which broke with being dropped yesterday. Headed off about 9am and after fuelling up, rode south. I had seen the stretch of road in the dark and it looked quite different in the daylight. There was a surprising amount of population out here and obviously a lot of people live out here and commute to the city judging by the rail station that was packed with cars of commuters. The road south took us through Mandurah, which is quite a large city and has a fantastic environment with beach on one side and an inlet on the other side.

Once again the trees got larger and larger the further we travelled south. We passed some very tidy farms and the country was very lush, great cattle and sheep country. Arriving in Bunbury there were a lot of big box shops going into town but just as we arrived at the GPS centre of town I noticed a good looking Café so we stopped there and had a breakfast. The woman serving behind the counter was Maori, and I said to her “are you from New Zealand?” her face lit up and she said “how did you know?” then the penny dropped for her and she said “Oh of course” Pointing to her face. I said “It is the tattoo of New Zealand on your arm that gave it away” She had a map outline of New Zealand on her arm, she laughed, as she had obviously forgotten about it.

We decided to ride through the Margaret river area and headed off to go around the coast. There are a lot of Vineyards and some olive groves going around here. We cut through to the coastal road, Caves Road and continued south. This is a recommended motorcycling road by both the Motorcycle atlas of Australia, plus a bike rider we talked to in Fremantle. It was a good ride with some sweeping corners and good road surface and the environment was very pleasant with the vineyards being scattered amongst the forest and the occasional art gallery. There were several turn offs to caves, but we did not go down any of them, as they were dirt roads. Augusta was at the end of the road and is an old town with 1830 of the sign going into the place. We rode through Augusta and out onto the Cape Leeuwin, which has a lighthouse and represents the south west corner of our ride. There was a charge to look at the lighthouse and surrounds but we were short of time so did not look around it. We took a few photos of the Indian Ocean clashing with the Southern Ocean and I cranked up the gas cooker for a cuppa. It is surprisingly easy to light these new gas cookers and it had none of the excitement of lighting a white spirit cooker, which has the element of the unknown about it.

We aimed for Pemberton after this and thought that we would have plenty of fuel to get there as it was only about 120km. The road went through a mixture of paddocks and forest. There was a rough but colourful camp in the middle of the forest with a smoky fire burning. There were signs for what must be a protest camp, calling themselves guardians of the forest or something like that. Hippies.

This is the “UP” region that Mike Hyde talked about, and it is true a lot of the names end with “up” and the road signs were a constant reminder: Nannup, Yallingup, Manjimup, Mayanup, Noggerup. What the “hellisup” with these names? did the surveyor have the hiccups? Another linguistic puzzle.

We came around one corner and the trees towered above us as true giants. They seemed massively tall, perhaps due to their white bark and the lack of undergrowth, but it almost took your breath away seeing them tower above the road and us.

We pulled onto Pemberton and I was running on vapour again as the speed had crept up coming through the windy forest roads. My bike took 23.4l to fill, once again only a bit over 1 litre prior to it stopping. We stopped at a converted theatre, which has been into apartment accommodation, and it is the most luxurious stop so far, three bedrooms all very nicely renovated. Dad is hobbling around with a swollen leg from a repeat injury from his bike falling over, so was not keen on walking to get food, so I went to the pub and got some take away Pizza. This is a good looking town with old buildings nicely renovated and set amongst the trees. It has gotten very cold and today for the first time we have seen fires being used for warmth. Hard to believe that only a few days ago and a couple of thousand km north we could not keep cool enough, now we are struggling to stay warm. I had my heated grip on all day. We both put the thermal liners in our jackets for tomorrow.

31.5.10 Perth to Rockingham 149km (What?)Total 11359km

I had a premonition today, that I would loose Dad. Be careful what you believe, it often comes true, how does that work? Well in some instances it is all about what you are paying attention to. If you are looking for something you are much more likely to see it, Conversely if you are looking for something you are less likely to see other things. Example, you walk into a party and you notice lots of people talking and laughing and having lots of fun, you end up thinking whoa that was great party everyone was really into each other. Conversely if you walk into the same party but notice a couple arguing and a couple of young guys giving each other the eye you come away thinking, man that was intense, what a stressed out atmosphere. Same party.

I don’t know if it was the same thing today or just observation of how we travelled through the city yesterday, but as we headed off this morning I knew that I was going to loose Dad today.

How do I recount today’s events without being negative about my travel companion, you are likely to read between the lines.

We loaded up and headed out to have breakfast at the bakery that we noticed last night next to the Chinese restaurant. We had to go in the opposite direction because of being on a one way system, and ride around the block sort of, left then left again then up a couple of blocks or so and left again then probably a right and you are there, pretty straight forward. Dad headed out first so I thought I would follow and see what happens. Dad has lots of strengths and weaknesses as do we all, sense of direction I have noticed through my lifetime, is not one of Dads strengths. We turned left then left again then rode for a while, a bit further than I would have gone, then Dad started to look around in a way that I interpreted as confused and wondering where the Bakery was. Eventually I took the lead and we rode directly to the Bakery, over a few blocks and back a bit.

Now dear reader, I can see you rolling your eyes and hear you muttering something about righteousness. It is true that I have always perceived myself as strong in many areas, which has mostly served me well, but every now and then someone I care about informs me of one of my weaknesses, which usually floors me, but I hear them. So yes I also have strengths and weaknesses (well a catalogue of weaknesses it turns out), however, sense of direction is one of my strengths (provided we are in the Southern Hemisphere, for some reason I get all screwed up in the Northern Hemisphere and have to think quite hard about it, and often get things wrong).

I digress. We had breakfast in the bakery, Dad a big breakfast that he could not finish, and for me Eggs Benedict, oh I love Eggs Bene, but it is a treat. After breakfast we were heading into town to see if I could get the MSR cooker fixed to prevent any accidental national park burn downs. However as I said I had a premonition, so I punched in the address to Dads GPS and said if we get separated that we should meet at the BMW shop where we also needed to go to get a couple of parts for Dads bike. I put the same data into my GPS so we had the same directions happening. Off we went. Perhaps it is the way Dad was riding in this City that had me thinking this way as he was hanging back a fair bit and as with any city if you leave a gap it gets filled, so I often was not able to tell if he was still following or not as the rear vision mirrors are low on the RTs’ so that you can not see over the following cars. I was riding slowly so Dad could keep up without difficulty however he seemed to be riding even more slowly. Anyway we went to the Mountain designs shop that had MSR cookers without event. I went in a found that, yes these cookers are still worth an arm and a leg, but good news parts are available to put the cooker right, so I will repair this in NZ, in the mean time I bought a gas cooker to keep us going, and should be less likely to blow up, which is a good thing when cooking in national parks that are tinder dry.

We rode off to the BMW shop. They did not have the parts for the bikes but I asked them about the headlights that are not working on my bike and this lead to a full day of diagnostic work that was ultimately unsuccessful. They gave me a loan bike to carry on for the day, a brand new F650 with 5km on the odometer. We went into the Bell Tower to have a coffee and read the paper while waiting for the team to fix my bike. We then went for a ride out to Fremantle for a brief look, very historic.

Then we rode into town to the BMW shop again. The bike was not ready so we spent a couple of hours kicking BMW tyres. Interesting, the Bikes looked more and more attractive and the cars less and less appealing the more time I spent there. Eventually the Mechanic admitted defeat and put my bike back together. Very generously they did not charge me anything, fantastic service Perth BMW. We headed off to get a bit south prior to dark, and my previous premonition about loosing Dad had obviously escaped me. We rode south on the freeway for 70kms or so then turned off. It was getting dark and I stopped to see if Dad was going OK and see what he wanted to do, turn around to some motels behind us or carry on, we decide to carry on to the next town and get the next motel we came across. I headed of into the failing light with just my fog lights to illuminate the way. Dad was following, then around the first round about a Ute came between us and I let it pass me to give a good set of lights ahead. The Ute came through fast and I accelerated behind them to follow their lead assuming that Dad was right behind me. I raced to keep up with the Ute who seemed to take my acceleration as a challenge. After about 5-10 km we came to a major intersection and I could not see Dad behind me so stopped to wait for him to catch up.

After about ten minutes he was not there so I turned around to see what had happened. But riding all the way back to where we had talked, there was no sign of him, I turned around and rode slowly back thinking could he have gone off the road unnoticed, but there was no sign of braking (do ABS brakes leave much sign of braking?). I thought maybe he has gone on to the next town via another route, so I rode on to the next petrol station to see if he had stopped, but no sign. I waited there as I thought this is the only way to where we were headed, and there is no missing me if he comes along. I had a pie and waited for 20 minutes or so. I phoned Di to let her know in case Dad phoned home instead of phoning my cell phone, and then headed up the road to the next town. Perhaps he has ridden through without me noticing and stopped outside a motel. But no there was no sign of him anywhere. The problem was that there were now several different options for turning off which when multiplied out meant an impossible number of directions he could have gone.

I started to worry at this point, thinking there was nowhere he would have turned off back there, perhaps something did go wrong and he went off the road, so I speed back to the original road and rode down it slowly looking at every opportunity to go off the road carefully, but there was still no sign. By the time I got back to the last point that we spoke it had been two hours since we last saw each other and was about 7pm. I phoned home and checked that there was no sign from Dad to either Di or Mum. I phoned the Police to ask for their advice and help. After a bit of questioning and advice from the call centre policewoman, she spoke to her advisor and came back to me with the address that Dad was staying at! He had phoned the police to let them know where he was if I phoned in, but somehow did not think to phone my Cell Phone.

He had followed a single light thinking it was me, but then discovered that it was a Ute with a blown bulb. At this point it had lead him off in the wrong direction and Dad spent a bit of time looking around for a prominent place to meet me, or accommodation. He had a mishap also with him dropping his bike as well, and reinjuring his leg that was hurt with his bike falling last time. Eventually Dad found somewhere to stay and the Proprietor advised calling the police to let them know where he was. It was not long after this that I phoned in. I let everyone back home know that he was alright and then rode to the motel he was at, about 10km back towards the city, in the opposite direction to where we had been headed.

Clearly we need to update our emergency contact plan for if we get separated. Dad phones me on my cell phone would be a good plan.

Sometimes the least planned days turn into the most notable days. Interesting Travel lodge that he had checked into with an excellent Irish themed pub, we celebrated our reunion with a Guinness.