Slide show of some photos from our Victoria ride in October 2010

Helicopter ride Gt Ocean Rd October 2010

Fun in the snow and the proposal

Days 19, 20, 21 and 22 from home.

I finally arrived home safely last night around 9pm. It was wonderful to be able to see my two kids, Brendan and Cassandra again, and give them both big hugs. These 3 weeks away have been the longest we've ever been apart and I'd been missing them since day 1.

The final few days of the trip were great! The night before we left Wodonga to ride over to Thredbo we met two fellow riders, Alan and Steve, who were from Woy Woy on the NSW central coast. As it turned out, Alan and Steve were also on the last few days of their own two week ride through Victoria, but had toured further into western Victoria following the Murray River.

We met Alan and Steve very briefly on the Tuesday night as Marissa and I were riding out to have diner. They had just checked into a cabin at the same caravan park, and were unloading their gear when we stopped to say "Hi" on the way out. The quick chat lasted all of 5 minutes but we established in that time that we were both heading for home over the next few days, and that I had planned to stay on the central coast for a night on the way back.

For those of you who haven't owned a motorcycle, its difficult to appreciate the level of camaraderie that is shared between motorcyclists. It's a sense of brotherhood (and sisterhood) that transcends age groups, financial circumstances, and even the brand of bike you ride. (though that's not necessarily the case with some Harley riders for some reason?)

Sometimes the camaraderie is just a simple nod of the head, or a wave exchanged between otherwise complete strangers, to acknowledge a fellow rider going in the opposite direction. At other times, it's a friendly enquiry to ask "is everything Ok" as one such fellow rider did for us when he saw us stopped on the side of the road just south of Canberra, when all we were doing was entering a new destination into our GPS unit to direct us to Canberra airport. It's a wonderful thing, and it's something that car drivers don't share.

Well, as if to take that up one level, the following morning Marissa was surprised when Alan came over to our cabin and handed us a small piece of paper with his name, address and contact numbers on it, and told us that if we needed somewhere to stay on the central coast, we were welcome to stay at his place. In the end we thanked him for his generosity, and explained that I had already arranged a place to stay, and gave him our contact details in Brisbane just in case we can someday return the favour.

Day 19

As it turned out Alan and Steve were going the route across to Jindabyne via Thredbo as we had planned, so we rode together for the rest of that day, getting to know a little about each other over lunch at Walwa. As it turned out, Alan and Steve were both members of the NSW Police and Blue liners, which is a motorcycle club for members of Police forces and others who ride.

When we reached Jindabyne we stopped to refuel the bike and Alan and Steve didn't notice that we had pulled into the servo, so they continued on and are probably still wondering where the hell we went. ... lol

We checked into our cabin in Jindabyne for the night then dropped the trailer and went for a ride up to Charlottes Pass. From here we could see whats known as the "Main range" which includes Mt Kosiousko, though it was hidden in the mist higher up the mountain.

. There was a fair amount of snow still on the mountains, and the road leading up to Charlottes Pass through Perisher was brilliant on the bike, with lots of spectacular views as we passed through the different Ski resorts on our way up the mountain.

We headed back down the range to Jindabyne as the afternoon was getting on and met up with a friend of mine John Nagle, who was sharing the cabin with us that night. We headed off to the local pub for diner before grabbing a few beers to take back to the cabin, and looked through the pics we'd taken of the trip so far. 

Day 20

Today we were meeting up with some more friends from Canberra who we were sharing a unit with in Thredbo for the next 3 days during the Snowy ride. Our friends weren't arriving until the afternoon, so Marissa and I decided to get to Thredbo early, then take the chairlift up to the top of the mountain and do the walk up to Mt Kosciusko.

   
The ride up the chairlift was great, as it began to snow halfway up and the trees were all covered by the overnight snow falls.

When we reached the top of the chairlift there was a blizzard happening and it was hard to see much at all. So began the walk along the well defined pathway that leads up the mountains, but that soon reached a point where the path was covered by snow. We continued on as were were well prepared for the cold conditions wearing all our wet weather bike gear, and eventually made it to a lookout that was 2kilometres up the pathway from the chairlift.

From the lookout your supposed to be able to see Mt Kosciusko but we were well and truly fogged in on this day so there was no point to going further, as we wouldn't be able to see anything anyway.

It was originally my intention to propose to Marissa at the top of Mt Kosciusko on this trip. So, since we were pretty close to the summit at the look out, I asked her for her engagement ring back, then got down on one knee and popped the question again. (Got it on video this time too!)

Marissa looking cool!

Beginning of the walk

Us after I popped the question a second time

Lovely stream in the hills

Marissa

The pathway gets covered in snow

Snowball fight anyone?

No we didn't make this snowman! It was already there

Marissa chilly on the chairlift going up

Frozen hair

We headed down the mountain to the Eagles Nest Cafe but found it was closed. So we hoped on the chairlift and headed back down to thredbo and met up with our other friends, then upacked the bike and settled into our unit before heading off to get some supplies (ie: booze)! Later that afternoon we were invited up to the unit of some other friends of one of the guys (Colin) that was staying with us, and enjoyed a great afternoon chatting away and eventually we stayed on and watched a movie that evening before walking back to our unit in the cold foggy Thredbo night air.

Day 21

Today we decided that we would all meet up around 10 am and ride up to Charlottes Pass again. Our new friends from Last night Terri and Yvonne met up with our group and we headed off to Jindabyne, then up the road to Charlottes Pass.

It began to get seriously cold as we headed up the range, and eventually the temperature readout on my bike dropped to zero. The girls had had enough and decided they were going to turn back, but John, Terry and ourselves pressed on steadily to reach the top of the range. It was amazing for me watching the snow build up on the front of the bikes screen as we rode through the falling snow. The chill factor from the bike moving through the cold air kept it there, and I wanted to take a pic as soon as we reached the top. Sadly, we hit a small pot hole as we got there, and that was enough to shake all the snow off the bike.

It was worth it in the end because the sun came out briefly as we approached the top of the road, so we were able to capture some great photos of the falling snow and the snow covered trees.

Lovely scene of Marissa and the bike with the snow on the trees

Leaves heavy with snow and blue sky

Terry and John join us at the top.

Marissa watching the snow falling on her hands

Trees heavy with snow 

 After taking lots of photo's we headed back into Jindabyne and were amazed at how toasty warm  the 6 degree temperature felt after riding in zero degrees. It was funny because you could actually feel each 1 degree rise in temperature as we made our way further down the mountains.

We met up with the rest of the group that turned around and had lunch at the local bakery before buying more supplies (some food this time, but more booze as well), then rode back up to Thredbo and enjoyed another afternoon in the unit. 

Earlier in the morning we had booked a test ride on the new Honda Goldwing. So we went down at the arranged time and took the bike for a ride along the mountain roads. It was a lovely smooth bike, but even if I was able to afford one, I wasn't impressed enough to get my cheque book out. So it remains just a dream for now.

We'll stick with our trusty ST1300 for now.

Day 22. The Snowy Ride

Today was the day of the Snowy Ride. This is a charity event to raise money for The childrens Cancer research institute, and Honda Australia do a fantastic job of sponsoring the event. We had to do a ride along a route of our choosing, but we had pass through at least 3 check points and get our cards stamped at each check point, to be eligible to enter the draw to win a new Honda motorbike at the presentation at the end of the day. 

Some of the bikes at Berridale check point.

Our group at Dalgety

Lionel, Jill, Terry, John, Marissa and Barry

We made it to checkpoints at Berridale and Dalgety before riding back up to Thredbo, which was our last checkpoint. It was a lot shorter ride than we usually did in past years, but still enjoyable, and we made it back in time to take part in the mass ride into Thredbo for the presentation at the end of the day.

Mass ride arriving in Thredbo

Part of the mass ride

The Brewster Brothers (Original members of The Angels) played Saturday night in the village square and put on a great show.

 
Day 22

Finally it was time to head for home after a great 3 weeks away. We packed up early Sunday morning and said our goodbyes, before heading one more time down the mountain into Jindabyne. We stopped to take a few more photos over looking Jindabyne with the snow capped mountains in the background, before heading to Canberra where Marissa was catching a midday flight back to Brisbane, and I would continue the ride north to the central coast for the night to catch up with friends.

Looking over Jindabyne with snow capped mountains in the back ground.

 Marissa had a good flight back, and I had a fairly good run back on Monday morning completing the last 900 k of the trip in just over 12 hours. 

Overall the trip was a  great success and it was a delight for me to be able to share with Marissa some great places along the way. We were blessed with the weather, only having 4 wet days, and they weren't that bad. We didn't camp as much as we originally planned, and that blew our budget. But it was worth it to pay the extra for a cabin or room at a pub, to not have to deal with a wet tent each morning due to the overnight condensation.

The ST1300 performed faultlessly throughout the 8,000 plus kilometres we covered. The new rear tyre we fitted before we left is now 80% worn, probably due to being two up and towing a trailer. The front tyre is still in great condition. Towing the trailer was a bit of a hassle at times, and I'm not sure yet if I'd do it again? Perhaps towing a trailer to camp over a long weekend would be Ok, but when doing a longer ride, I'm now convinced your better to book hard bed accommodation rather than camping.

Many thanks to those people we managed to catch up with, and who offerred accommodation along the way. To Leanne and John B, thank you so much for putting us up for the night when we were in Narooma. It was lovely to see you again after all those years.

To Steve and Jade in Dubbo. great to see you and the kids again guys, and thanks for your hospitality. Hope to see you again soon. 

To Dick and Ella, a special thankyou to you guys for making us so welcome in your home, and for arranging the dentist appointment for Marissa on such short notice. Special thanks to you Dick for showing Marissa and I around the beautiful areas you took us to that are right in your back yard, in that part of Victoria.

Oh, by the way Dick. Now that I'm not in a position to be drinking any more of your beer, I hereby revoke all privileges I bestowed on you to hang shit on my bike while I drank your beer. The St1300 is indeed prettier than the early model. You can't ignore public opinion, that guy at the pie shop was adament that my bike was the nicer looking one.... lol!

Thanks Charlie for letting me stay at your place at Gorokan on the way home. It was nice catching up again.

A great big thank you has to go to my wonderful Mum and Dad, for taking great care of my kids for us while we were away. It goes without saying that without your support the trip simply could not have happened, and I doubt I'd have got that much for the kids on eBay anyway. So thankyou guys, we appreciate all that you have done for us, including mowing my lawns while we were away.

To my darling Marissa, what can I say. It was wonderful to have you all to myself for the 3 weeks of this trip, and to take you to, and share with you, places that were special to my heart. I look forward to sharing many more of these experiences with you in the future. Love you babe xo

Thanks to everyone who followed our journey and sent emails saying how much they were enjoying the ride with us following the blog. I hope you enjoyed some of the photo's we've been able to share.

Till the next adventure starts .....

Regards

Barry and Marissa xo    

   

Days 16, 17 and 18

Day 16

On Saturday afternoon we decided to hire a car to do the Alpine loop on Sunday. The loop starts at Bright then goes over the range to Mt Beauty before the climb to Falls Creek. After Falls Creek the road traverses the newly sealed section of road across the Bogong High Plains to Anglers Rest, before returning to Bright via Omeo, Diner Plains and Mt Hotham.

It was wet and cold when we left Bright and got progressively colder the further we climbed the mountain. By the time we got to Falls Creek we were in thick fog and it was starting to sleet. It turned out a good decision to hire the car to do this section of the trip.

We felt sorry for the guys doing the classic car rally in their open top old cars. It would have been bitterly cold driving in 4 degrees.

After a make shift breakfast we continued on our way over the Bogong High Plains to Anglers rest. Luckily the fog cleared several times along this section of road, and we were able to see the spectacular views the road offers.

We stopped for a coffee at the Blue Duck Inn at Anglers Rest, then onto Omeo and up to Dinner Plains where we had lunch at the pub before driving onto Mt Hotham.

There was still a bit of snow laying around the mountain tops at Mt Hotham. I couldn’t encourage Marissa out of the warm car to have a bit of fun in the snow, so we continued down the mountain to Harrietville amazed at times seeing cyclists riding up the steep narrow road in the thick fog. It seemed to be asking for trouble on such a narrow road.

The pub was booked out for dinner, so we decided to try one of the local gourmet pizza restaurants in town before calling it a night.     

Day 17

We checked out of our motel room in Bright on Monday morning and didn’t have a destination in mind for the day. We needed to be in Thredbo Thursday and have accommodation booked there with friends for the Snowy Ride. It’s an easy days ride to Thredbo from Bright, and we have 4 days now to get there.

We figured we would head over the range to Mt Beauty, and from there head north along the Kiewa Valley highway towards Wodonga. We were told of a good little road that crosses the Kiewa River at Redbank and follows the eastern side of the river all the way up to Tangambalanga and the

Murray Valley Hwy.

From there it’s an easy ride to the town of Tallangatta on the Hume Weir.

I’ve been through this region many times though this was the first time I’d seen the Hume Dam full, and wasn’t aware of just how massive a body of water the dam really is. We decided to stay in Wodonga for the next two nights and booked into a cabin at one of the caravan parks.

Day 18

Today we took a lovely ride along the Victorian side of the Hume dam through to Jingelic and Walwa. We had lunch at the Walwa Pub, then rode out to show Marissa one of my favourite spots in the area, a rest area that over looks the valley heading towards Khancoban. Its simply beautiful out here, and I always enjoy stopping here to take in the views.

After showing Marissa the lookout we headed back into Walwa then rode along another back road that cuts across to the Murray Valley hwy through Guy’s Forest. There was a section of dirt along the road that we weren’t aware of but decided to press on regardless. The ST1300 handles the dirt fairly well for such a big motorcycle, but loose gravel on the corners is sphincter puckering stuff.

We got through the dirt section Ok and the views along the road make the effort worthwhile. The road eventually came out on the

Murray Valley Hwy

near the village of Shelley. From here we rode through a spectacular valley to Tallangatta, before a quick drink at the Tallangatta pub before heading back to Wodonga for the night.

Tomorrow we will head to Jindabyne for the final night before we get into Thredbo on Thursday. I’m hoping we can get to Thredbo early on Thursday morning so we can take the chairlift up the mountain, and hopefully do the walk up to Mt Kosiuosko.

After that we will have three days of catching up with friends in Thredbo and enjoying the Snowy Ride.

On Sunday morning we leave Thredbo and ride back to Canberra airport so Marissa can catch a midday flight back to Brisbane, and I’ll continue up to the central coast to stay with a friend before doing the final days ride back to Brisbane on Monday which will complete what has been an excellent 3 week touring holiday with my wonderful lady Marissa.

We’ve had a fantastic time, had lots of new experiences, enjoyed mostly wonderful weather and seen some spectacular scenery. We’ve missed our kids and are looking forward to big hugs when we get home before we then begin to bore you with the hundreds of photos we’ve taken. So be warned guys! J

Regards

Barry and Marissa  

Days 12, 13, 14 and 15

Day 12

Leaving Halls Gap we headed to Sunbury via the most direct route we could find, as Marissa was fortunate enough to have acquired an appointment with a dentist at 4pm to fix the cracked tooth she got from eating one of the free Minties at the Halls Gap caravan park.

We stopped at Macca’s in Aratat for a coffee then followed the freeway to Melbourne. When we reached Ballarat we realized we had time to spare so did a detour through the Ballarat Avenuue of Honor and the CBD. There is a lot of history in Ballarat from the gold mining days of the early to mid 1800’s, and a lot of the old architecture has been preserved in the city centre. As a result, Ballarat is dotted with lots of lovely old buildings, and a lot of early 1800’s homes still remain today.

From Ballarat we followed the freeway east to the Gordon turnoff. We decided we had enough time to get a little side tracked on some of the back roads, and used the GPS to find a path back to Sunbury avoiding the freeway and major highways. The result was we were taken along a collection of lovely little country roads that were often nothing more than a single lane of bitumen. The scenery along these quaint little back roads and the wonderful historic villages they took us through was wonderful.

We rode along one particularly beautiful road that meandered its way through golden fields of canola, before dropping steeply into an escarpment that offered exceptional views of over the sleepy green valley below and right through to the township of  Bacchus March some 30 kilometres away.

It was lunchtime when we reached Bacchus Marsh and we stopped at the pub for a counter lunch before riding the last 30 or so k’s to Sunbury. It was still early afternoon by this time so it was a good opportunity to give the bike a long overdue tub while Marissa was at the dentist getting her tooth fixed.

Day 13

Today we were in for a treat. My good friend Dick Prisgrove was leading us today on a local ride along Sunbury through the Macedon Ranges and along a lot of backroads out to Daylesford, then eventually onto Maryborough where would have lunch at the recently restored old railway station and café. 

Dick had planned the day well, and led us through some of the most amazingly scenic country roads I have ever traveled in my life. It was one of those days where you couldn’t help but feel privileged to be witnessing nature at its absolute best. . Fields of multi facetted shades of green interspersed with brilliant blues, yellows and reds from the wildflowers growing beside the road, it was a kind of visual sensory overload that was simply, breathtaking, and no amount of photographs can do justice to the majesty of what we were fortunate to be seeing.

Its also days like these that you realize the true value of local knowledge, as I doubt we would have discovered many of these roads on our own.  

We eventually reached Dalyseford which is a wonderful little town that we could spend a week exploring if we had time. Daylesford is known as the spa capital of Victoria and is rich in natural spring water. There is a historic bath house where you can relax in the thermal spring water, and taps in the parks that you can pump the various different spring waters straight out of the ground. Don’t let the fact that some of the springs taste like battery acid put you off. It’s well recorded that these waters are supposed to be good for your health.

After leaving Daylesford we headed to Maryborough and had lunch (Pumpkin soup) at the railway station. The station had been set up in the 1800’s, but was then disused for many years, before being restored recently as a café and antiques shop. One train a day still comes to the station so it’s still used today for its original purpose.

After lunch we began heading back towards Sunbury via a different set of back roads that took us through Malden and towards the town of Castlemaine. We stopped at Malden to check out the lookout, and climbed the tower there to take in the 360 degree views over the surrounding countryside.

We eventually got back into Sunbury around 6pm and enjoyed another good night with Dick and Ella.

The weather forecast was looking a bit crook for the weekend, so we decided it would be a good idea to leave Sunbury the next morning and begin making our way up into the Victorian high country ahead of the change coming through, and wait out any bad weather up there if necessary.

Day 14

We left Sunbury around 9:30 on Friday and with our wet gear on we could feel the heat in the day. The temp was forecast to reach 28 today and stay fine but windy, and windy it was. The road from Sunbury north to Lancefield was a shocker, as we were being blown all over the place by the windy conditions. We refueled at Lancefield then headed east through to Yea, where we stopped for lunch at the local bakery that was packed with tourists, before heading onto Bonnie Doon, then finally Mansfield where we had booked a room at the Commercial Hotel for 2 nights.

It was only around 2 pm when we got to Mansfield, so after checking in at the hotel, we dropped the trailer and went for a ride up to Mt Buller. We were surprised to see that there were still some larger patches of snow dotting the mountain, and we took the opportunity to have a bit more of a play in the snow before making our way back down the mountain. It’s a great ride up and down the mountain for the obvious reason below.

 

As it turned out it was a good night to be in Mansfields as tonight was their annual “festival of lights”, which is a celebration of the local CFA fire fighting groups in the surrounding area.

After diner we wandered outside and joined the surprising crowd to watch the parade of lights including bag pipe band, 30 or more fire trucks, ambulances and SES vehicles all with their emergency flashing lights ablaze. The parade was then followed up by a spectacular fireworks display at the local botanical gardens that was surprisingly impressive given we were at a small country community. It’s just a shame we didn’t take the camera with us.

We had decided to stay in Mansfield for 2 nights because I was hoping to do the ride up to Craig’s Hut near Mt Stirling on the second day. As it turned out, we got talking to the local police at the parade and asked about the road to Craig’s hut are were told the road  closed at the moment because it was badly damaged after the last heavy rains, and there is currently more than 100 trees across the road as well. Serious bummer!                         

Day 15

After a noisy and mostly sleepless night at the pub we decided to get out of Mansfield this morning while the rain was lighter than anticipated and head to Bright. The road from Mansfield to Whitfiled was very foggy and wet, so we took it really easy through here. Despite the weather it was a rather mild 18 degrees, and there were lots of other bikes out today, along with a lot of historic vehicles taking part in a rally held at Falls Creek.

We stopped at Myrtleford for lunch and got talking to one of the rally entrants who owned a car that was one of only two in existence in the world today. We took a few pics of our bike among the cars then headed into Bright and booked into our accommodation for the next two days.

By now the rain had set in so we walked into town and brought two fold up umbrellas, then had a walk through Bright which is a picturesque little place even when it’s raining.

The weather is looking crook for the next two days and we wanted to do a ride the next day over Mt Hotham to Omeo, then back to Bright via Anglers Rest, Falls Creek and Mt Beauty via the Bogong high plains road. So we have hired a car to do the drive and will have a day off the bike for a change.

Following are a few pic's from the last few days. Unfortunately the internet services we are getting are slow, and that makes it hard to keep updating the blog. So we will leave it here for now and update it again when we get back home next week.

We are in Wodonga for teh next two days and will head over to Thredbo for the Snowy ride later this week.

Regards

Barry and Marissa