Crossing Australia - Twice!

[Augo73]

 

Day 10. Local area Margaret River.

 

Distance; Negligible – maybe 150 km.

 

Weather; Patchy cloud. 14-23 Deg C.

 

 

Morning was a bit of a late start – Gav and I headed out for breakfast. Found a hipster café (these things are monotonous in their regularity in WA) and had some good eats. Then set off to a supermarket for supplies for the day.

 

 

Simon and Nick & Charlie turned up, so back at the caravan park, we embarked on a major battle with washing clothes, washing bikes, airing out camping gear etc. That lasted until about lunchtime, then we got into what Margaret River is famous for – wine, craft beers and good produce.

 

First stop, the Margaret River Chocolate Company. Not really my thing, however, great opportunity to get a bunch of supplies for the family. Upon leaving this location, we noted a bit of smoke / smell about the VFR. More on this later.

 

 

Next, we went to the Bootleg Brewery. Craft Beer makers who take food and drink very seriously. Great location, great vibe, great food and of course, great beers. Had the tasting paddle of 8 beers along with a pulled pork roll with slaw and BBQ sauce. A bit clichéd these days, but still bloody good. I would move to Margaret River for this establishment alone.

 

 

 

Then to Hap winery. Really nice stuff; they tend to specialize in sweet  wines, particularly sticky after-dinner numbers. Again, not my thing, but Gav put an order in and some wines should be inbound to his wife shortly. Had the conversation about the prostate cancer ride we completed and a complementary bottle for this evening was forthcoming. Great work, Hap winery!!

 

That was it for the day. Pretty low key, but very enjoyable. Overall, I’d call it a win.

 

No map.

 

Tomorrow is Margaret River to Perth. Distance about 250km.

 

 

Augo

 

 

[Augo73]

Day 11. Margaret River to Perth.

Distance; About 250 km.

Weather; Cloud and rain. 12-23 Deg C.

 

Remember that smell and smoke from the VFR? Appears to be a slow oil leak. Point of origin, unknown. However, the cooling system is still regulating temperature, and there is no massive oil slicks behind / under the bike. There are no reliable service agents in Margaret River, so I’m going to nurse the bike to Perth.

Set off. Quick detour to the Busselton Jetty. It holds some record for the longest jetty in the southern hemisphere(??). It’s big. It has a train on the jetty to get tourists to the other end.

Slowly but surely inched our way to Perth. Like all capital cities in Australia, Perth’s freeways suck.

 

Temperatures on the bike stayed within norms. Gav and Simon trailed me – there  is obviously some smoke and drama, but we are monitoring carefully.

Finally got to a service centre, where Simon is having his V-Strom serviced. Talked to Mike, the head mechanic. Not sure if he has time today. Deep discussions follow – we need to depart asap tomorrow morning. We walk off to have lunch, waiting for the phone call. About an hour later, Mike rings. V-Strom is serviced. The VFR is almost done. Looks like the bolt-head on the oil filter (not naming brands) has partially failed, resulting in a slow oil leak. Filter and fluids replaced, we are now back in business.

 

Here’s Mike – a legend.

 

From there, we rode to see Nick and Charlie. We were all being put up at a friend of theirs – Brett. An ex-work mate of Nick’s. Great guy, married to Jodi – equally awesome. We had a great night and a fantastic BBQ with far too many wines and rum.

Simon and Gav got into deep discussions (with helmets on) regarding the virtues of their respective intercoms....

Air mattress in the shed – perfect end to a stressful day.

Here's the map.

Tomorrow is Perth to Norseman. We are starting our trip home in earnest. Distance 740 km.

 

Augo

[Augo73]

Day 12. Perth to Norseman.

 

Distance; About 740 km.

 

Weather; Everything – patchy cloud, some blue sky, and rain. 12-20 Deg C.

Departed Brett and Jodi’s at 0730. Hung over. Never drinking again. Yeah, right. Nick said goodbye to Charlie. She would be flying back to Victoria today, leaving Nick to ride with the lads. Lisa is staying in Perth with Chris while he recovers from his surgery.

Battled freeway traffic – remember I said Perth’s freeways were crap? They have not improved in the last 24 hours.

Headed East, through some of Perth’s hilly country. Really pretty, lots of fog added to the ambience, but not the comfort factor. Fuel pretty early on and then we were ready to get started properly.

The rain started, but we didn’t care. We were back into long distance bike riding.  Lads only. 

Ripped through the first couple of hundred km. I am amazed with WA. I assumed it was largely dry, dusty and barren. Wrong. East of Perth is wheat country. Delivered in gargantuan proportions. Everything is enormous. The wheat fields go forever. I spied wheat silos that were so big that they had 4 dump chutes to accommodate 4 railway carriages at once, in order to fill a train…..amazing.

We followed this water pipeline for most of our route today. As we headed further east, the landscape got more rugged and drier, changing from wheat fields to classic Aussie scrub.

 Arrived in Coolgardie, a bit of a relic from the gold rush days. Unfortunately, in the modern age, the town is now not in great shape. Had a quick lunch and a beer in the local pub. It would have been a grand old girl in her day.  But now it is not looking so flash.

 

 

From Coolgardie to Norseman (home of the infamous camel-induced-sidestand-roll-forward incident of 2016 – all the locals talk about it). Gave those fricken evil camels a wide berth.

 

Set up tents in the same caravan park we used last time. Much quieter this time, without hundreds of other riders. 

Norseman pub for dinner.

 

 Here's the map.

Tomorrow is Norseman to a secret free-camping spot, near some cliffs overlooking the Head of the Bight. So secret, I don’t know where it is…..Back onto the Nullabor Plain, and we have to do the 146 km of straight road.....again.

 

Augo

 

 

[Augo73]

 

Day 13. Norseman to Border Village (+40 km).

 

Distance; About 750 km.

 

Weather; Mainly fine. 12-20 Deg C.

 

 

Straight to the Norseman BP roadhouse for breakfast. We have a couple of big days ahead of us. Check tyre pressures. Everything was as it should be.

 

Took off and had an uneventful run to Balladonia. Best coffee on the Nullabor, so a quick stop. Also checked out the display of SkyLab debris, from a NASA Satellite which crashed in the region in 1979.

 

From there, we did another run on the 90 mile / 146 km straight road – Australia’s longest. Simon strangled that poor little V-Strom for all it was worth. I think it’s normally good for about 300-350km. That day, he ran out of fuel 6 km from Caiguna, so it’s fair to say it was working pretty hard…..

 

I asked the lady behind the counter whether she had a jerry can for fuel I could borrow. “Sure” was the answer – a 25 Litre can….. Mmmm, not so useful. After ratting through the bins, we found a 1 Litre plastic milk bottle, with a lid. Gave it a very good wash and dried it out. Grabbed a litre of fuel and set off to rescue our mate. Found him where we left him, and completed the fuel transfer. All good.

 

From Caiguna we pressed on for a short leg to Cocklebiddy, for lunch. Fuelled up again, as the next stop would be Border Village. This is probably the most I’ve ever paid for Unleaded fuel in Australia.

 

Next stop was Eucla, then across the border into South Australia. Refuelled at Border Village roadhouse and grabbed some supplies for dinner as we would be free camping tonight. Loose use of the word supplies. A bottle of red, some beef jerkey and some "Shapes" biscuits.

Back on the bikes. Grabbed a photo opportunity on the coastal cliffs.

But light was fading. Had to get off the road and find a campsite before the critters came out. Ended up about 40k East of Border Village and found a shielded site off the Highway. Tents set up, we settled in for the night.

Great day, good riding. Tomorrow offers more of the same.

 

Map;

 

 

Augo

 

 

[Augo73]

Day 14. Border Village (+40 km) to Nutt Bush Retreat (near Iron Knob).

Distance; 860 km.

Weather; Fine. 14-20 Deg C.

 Distance day today. We had originally wanted to get to Ceduna for the night, to revisit the Foreshore Hotel. Well, we got to Ceduna, but we got there at 1pm.  Not wanting to waste half a day, we settled for lunch at the Hotel, then got back on the road, and figured we would see how far we could get. We thought Nutt Bush Retreat – a caravan park setup near Iron Knob – would be achieveable. We made some phone calls. They had space, so we made a booking and committed to the extra miles.

 Put the bikes through the Bottle Shop again (Dejavu anyone??) for supplies, and pressed on.

To get there in time, we would have to do Ceduna – Kimba in one hit. Only 313km, which sounded easy, but we were all pretty knackered by the time we got there. Refuel, leg stretch and then the final 90km to Nutt Bush.

 Sun was setting as we rolled through the Iron Knob area. The mining sector pulls iron ore out of the ground, so the unending shades of red dirt and rock were highlighted by a setting sun behind us, as we made the final push East. Would love to have captured a picture, but we were focused on our destination.

Finally, success. Nutt Bush Retreat is located on Pandurrah Station, which is still an operating sheep station.  Been in the same family since 1895. It is only 40km West of Port Augusta, so we had an obvious breakfast spot in the morning.

Here's the map.

 

 

Augo

[Duc2V4]

Visiting Australia has always been on my bucket list but now it's made it a notch or two higher on the list! Thanks for posting this!

[Augo73]

On 27 April 2016 at 0:28 AM, Duc2V4 said:

Visiting Australia has always been on my bucket list but now it's made it a notch or two higher on the list! Thanks for posting this!

Thanks Duc, it's been a pleasure to share this stuff with all you guys!!

 

Cheers,

 

Augo

[Augo73]

Day 15. Nutt Bush Retreat to Adelaide.

Distance; 385 km.

Weather; Fine.  Sunny. 13-26 Deg C.

We left Nutt Bush Retreat after having had a great night. Excellent campground, with great facilities.

After packing up, we made a bee line for Port Augusta for breakfast. On the way in, we were still in a remote-Australia-Nullabor headspace and the speeds were creeping up. As we overtook a lady in a Four Wheel Drive (SUV), she screamed out the window “Cop!!” and pointed ahead. Nodding in thanks, we slowed down and looked out for police cars. Couldn’t see anything. Thought we’d been slowed down by an anti-bike cager.

Just before we entered Port Augusta, we (responsibly) overtook a small generic white car, which had a uniformed police officer going into work. A respectful nod and we all kept going. Clearly the lady knew all the locals and their cars. Nice one....

 

Breakfast and fuel, and we were ready to move into Adelaide, capital city of South Australia. To keep it simple, I’ll sum it up like this; boring highway, not much to see, strong crosswinds throughout and I was without my mojo. Didn’t enjoy it. Just wasn’t working for me. The only thing that kept me on my toes was a trio of motorcycle cops. It was Friday, leading up to a long weekend and the police were out in force. We watched the three officers working together and they were zipping backwards and forwards, nailing car drivers, and paying particular attention to those folk towing caravans. Safety first, I guess.

We finally made it to Adelaide and we headed for a large dealership in town. Nick wanted to get a backrest fitted to his Harley. While we waited, I threw a leg over a Triumph Tiger Explorer. Nice size bike, tall, leggy, heaps of room. Has potential.

 

Bar right next door, so we had lunch and a few beers while we watched bikes come and go.

From there, the group split. Nick and I would be heading to Nick’s son’s house for the night, and Gav and Simon were heading to a mate of Gav’s, after completing the Chain of Ponds route (nice twisties).

Nick and I transited through Adelaide – beautiful town with lots to see and do. It’s famous for it’s churches, but there’s more than that. It’s the red wine capital of Australia and there is some great riding in the hills around the city. Excellent beaches as well.

Nick’s son and his partner were fantastic hosts and we had a great night. Excellent home cooked meal, great company and a heap of laughs. A good night’s sleep and we were ready to head to Mount Gambier.

Map

 

 

Augo

[Augo73]

 

Day 16. Adelaide to Mount Gambier.

Distance; 490 km.

 

Weather; Fine.  Warm & sunny. 13-25 Deg C.

 

Nick and I were up bright and early ready to go. Gav and Simon rang to say they were “getting there”….. Might have been a big night. Nick and I decided to press without the others and we would rejoin as a group along the way.

 

 

We left Adelaide and headed to Victor Harbour.  I’ve never been before and it’s a beautiful and fascinating place.  Long history with whaling, and the references to whales are everywhere – whale tails, museums etc.

 

 

 

They have a horse drawn tram that is still in use today, complete with a stable full of Clydesdales. Very cool.

From Victor Harbour to Wellington – small town where you get on a free ferry to cross Lake Alexandrina. Saved a few KM, and it’s a ferry, and it was free. What’s not to love?? Caught up with a husband and wife on his KTM 1190 Adventure R who were touring around. We would end up shadowing each other for much of the day.

 

 

 

 

Ferry trip complete, we kept eating up the miles. Nick recollected a pub in a small town just outside of Mt Gambier (in Tantanoola) that had a stuffed Thylacine – or Tasmanian Tiger, now extinct – in a display. Sounds good, let’s have a look.

 

We got to the pub. Had a look. There is something stuffed in a case. Not a Tassie Tiger though. Apparently, it’s an Assyrian Wolf, which came to Australia via a Russian whaling boat. Went feral, and started terrorizing the local community. As a result; shot, and stuffed. Placed in the local pub. Classic.

 

 

 

Pressed on to Mt Gambier, where we would be staying with Nick’s mum and dad. Gav and Simon arrived about 30 minutes after us.

 

 

Had a great night with way too much red wine and an excellent meal from Nick’s mum. Nick’s dad is a motorcyclist and he and a mate will be joining us for a couple of days on the road – a special moment for Nick; sharing a great ride with his old man.

 

Here’s the map;

 

 

 

Augo

 

 

[Mikey]

Awesome trip report Augo, wish I was there with you, although it feels like I am, great writing, appreciate it!

[Augo73]

9 hours ago, Mikey said:

Awesome trip report Augo, wish I was there with you, although it feels like I am, great writing, appreciate it!

Too easy Mikey. All too often we take our own back yard for granted. Australia is an awesome place and I'm glad I could get you guys along for the ride.

Don't worry - the next couple of days are the best yet - Great Ocean Road, here we come!!

Cheers,

Augo

[TomP]

Very cool trip, and for a good cause to boot.  Thank for the great write-up!

[Augo73]

 

Day 17. Mount Gambier to Warrnambool.

Distance; 195 km.

Weather; Fine.  14-28 Deg C.

 

Went for a guided tour around Mt Gambier, courtesy of Nick and his dad, Chris.

Chris rides a Triumph Thunderbird. We set off to see the sights. Mt Gambier is built around a dormant volcano complex, so lots of striking natural features to see.

We rode out to Mount Schank, parked the bikes and walked up the trail to the volcano rim. 

Some pretty cool views, and a great vantage point for the surrounding farmland.

From Mount Schank, we rode Blue Lake, probably Mt Gambier’s most famous asset.

The lake changes colour through the year. The colour change is a function of heat – during the cooler months, it is a steel grey, and during the warmer months (December to March) it turns to a vibrant cobalt blue colour.  It sits over a huge water table and the lake is about 77 metres deep. It is the key water source for the town and surrounding agriculture. The circumference of the lake is 5km at the top, via the road.

After a quick coffee we moved on to Umpherston Sinkhole, also known as The Sunken Garden. The sinkhole was created when the top chamber of a limestone cave collapsed downwards. Now the topsoil down on the floor of the cave forms a perfect environment for the garden.

Quick bite to eat. We met Allen, a mate of Chris, who would be riding with us on his HD Sportster. We all loaded up and headed to Warrnambool. Passed through a couple of nice small coastal towns like Nelson and Portland. Stopped at Port Fairy for a leg stretch and a coffee. Some cool old buildings and a great coastal aspect / vibe.

From there, a quick blast down to Warrnambool. I’ve stayed here before with Mrs Augo and it’s a great mid-sized town. Lots to see and do (whale watching etc).

Dinner at the local Returned & Services League (RSL), as tomorrow is ANZAC Day, and we wanted to get all the details of where the dawn service would be held. Great RSL, really friendly staff.

Early to bed, as tomorrow morning would be an early rise. Dawn service, then we would be riding The Great Ocean Road.

 

Here’s the map;

 

 

Augo

 

 

[Belfry]

On 26/04/2016 at 6:54 AM, Augo73 said:

Looks like the bolt-head on the oil filter (not naming brands) has partially failed, resulting in a slow oil leak.

No need to be coy, sounds like another K&N failure.  Several have been reported here including Olive's in which she lost most of her oil but managed to stop without crashing--though she had to be towed to the nearest service centre.  Those !#$% things are a hazard.

Thanks for the excellent ride report and photos, Augo!

[Cogswell]

+1.  There have been a number of reports of 'those filers' failing putting riders in harm's way.

And agreed - excellent report - really enjoying seeing photos of South Australia!  

 

[Augo73]

3 hours ago, Belfry said:

No need to be coy, sounds like another K&N failure.  Several have been reported here including Olive's in which she lost most of her oil but managed to stop without crashing--though she had to be towed to the nearest service centre.  Those !#$% things are a hazard.

Thanks for the excellent ride report and photos, Augo!

 

3 hours ago, Cogswell said:

+1.  There have been a number of reports of 'those filers' failing putting riders in harm's way.

And agreed - excellent report - really enjoying seeing photos of South Australia!  

 

Correct....K&N it was...and will never be again....

[Augo73]

Day 18. Warrnambool to Torquay via the Great Ocean Road.

Distance; 250 km.

Weather; Fine.  Cool morning. Warm Day.

Woke up just before 5am and got dressed in the dark. This morning, it is 25 April. ANZAC Day in Australia.

ANZAC stands for Australia & New Zealand Army Corps. This day, in 1915, at dawn, our troops stormed the beaches and cliffs of Gallipoli in Turkey. ANZAC Day is a national day of remembrance in both Australia and NZ. The dawn services are not loud, flag waving ceremonies. Rather, they are quiet, somber occasions to gather together and reflect.

It was a special morning at Warrnambool. A huge crowd, considering the small size of the town. Speeches were made, The Last Post was played, followed by a minute’s silence then Reveille. The crowd then dispersed to the RSL for breakfast (gold coin donation). Bacon and eggs with Bundaberg Rum in your coffee.

Our thoughts go to brave men and women – not just Australian - around the globe who have served and are currently serving on deployed operations.

Well done Warrnambool. It was an excellent and fitting service.

But wait, there’s riding to be done. We are about to carve up the Great Ocean Road, one of Australia’s best…..

I’ll mainly let the photos do the talking;

London Bridge used to be connected to the mainland. One day in January 1990 the left part of the bridge collapsed, leaving two tourists stranded on the remaining stack. They needed to be airlifted to safety.

Beach adjacent to London Bridge.

 

The 12 Apostles. Slowly being eroded. There aren’t 12 anymore. One day, they will all be gone.

12 Apostles to Apollo Bay.

Apollo Bay to Lorne.

Lorne.

 

You can drive the road Eastbound (like we did) or Westbound. Due to its close proximity to Melbourne, this is what you see if you are Westbound at the start of the road.

 

All up, an excellent day, until we got to our caravan park. A special shout-out to the caravan park who begrudgingly put us together on one crappy dirt lot right out the back and then charged us $109 for the pleasure… The excuse? It’s ANZAC Day (public holiday). Nothing like turning an important day of remembrance into a cash cow...

Here’s the map;

Tomorrow is our last day on the bikes…

Augo

 

 

 

[Augo73]

Day 19. Torquay to Sale (home).

Distance;  295 km.

Weather; Check the board below (better than my crap weather reports).  

 

Sad day today. The ride is over.

 We departed the caravan park early and headed straight to a bakery for breakfast, then fuel. Simon had been ragging on Nick’s Harley for the whole ride, and on the last day, his V-Strom packed it in, needing a push start from the petrol station. Much laughter from Nick…..

 From Torquay to Queenscliff, where a ferry makes hourly runs over to Sorrento, on the eastern side of Port Phillip Bay. Cuts out significant time and angst navigating through Melbourne.

 

Said our farewells to Simon before boarding the ferry. He would be staying in Melbourne for a few days, before making the final push home.

 

Got off the ferry after 45 minutes of smooth sailing. The crew's forecast about dolphins was right - saw a small pod of them move towards the bow of the boat like they were about to do some bow-wave surfing, but they disappeared at the last minute.

 Through Sorrento, and then an hour of small backroads and tiny towns, prior to going through Drouin in order to get on the freeway.

 Once on the freeway, it was an uneventful and quick return to Sale.

 Whilst I’m sad the trip is over, it is great to be home with the wife and the 2 kids. I have missed them.

The last week has seen me washing the bike, camping gear etc, and trying to convince Mrs Augo that I need a new, bigger bike.....at least the VFR is clean again.

 Here’s the map;

 

 

I’ll put up one last post, wrapping it all up, with distances, overall map etc.

 

Augo

[TomP]

Nice trip -- and your write-up both feeds and increases my own wanderlust.

Any gear you brought that you'd leave behind next time?  (And anything you wish you'd had with you that you didn't bring?)

[Augo73]

2 hours ago, TomP said:

Nice trip -- and your write-up both feeds and increases my own wanderlust.

Any gear you brought that you'd leave behind next time?  (And anything you wish you'd had with you that you didn't bring?)

Tom,

No it was pretty much spot on. I had catered for the weather to be a lot colder, so there were a few sets of thermals that I didn't touch, but these are very small and light. Inconsequential. There were a few double-ups (e.g.; spare kevlar jeans, spare gloves) that I could have done without.....until I needed them.....;-)

I had the usual tools that I didn't use, and I didn't have to get into the First Aid Kit, but I would never leave home without these on a big trip anyway. Insurance.

I was pretty heavy on luggage this trip, but I specifically wanted to document the trip, and once you start committing to cameras, GoPro, Laptop etc, you need all the associated batteries, charging cords and the like, and the mountain of stuff grows......

I did take a really crappy pair of hiking shoes that I knew wouldn't last, and thankfully I could ditch those at Perth when they finally fell apart. Perfect Planning!!

Anything I didn't bring? Next time I'd like my wife to be there - she missed out on a lot of cool stuff. She enjoys touring on the bike, but this was simply too long for two up on the VFR. 

Cheers,

Augo