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.