Southern Australia - almost the last leg of our odessy.

Click here to see the first vehicle to drive overland from UK - Aus in 1927

Our journey is not all that is nearing it’s end, Lisa is pinning for a home and B.O.B. (our Buggered Old Bike) is showing the hard miles it’s done. We rode out of Newcastle and into the Hunter Valley for some wine tasting. Lisa and I are both partial to a drop of vino so wine tasting was a reoccurring theme throughout the rest of our time here in Aus. By the end of the afternoon’s tasting Lisa was in good spirits. I however was still cool, calm and collected having spat out all that passed my lips - a necessary evil as we planned continuing south to Sydney that same day.

Other motorcyclists had extolled the virtues of riding the sinuous Putty Road into Sydney through mountainous national parks but alas it was not to be. On our way from Newcastle out to the Hunter Valley our rear shock blew an oil seal which meant any time we hit a bump the suspension would soak it up but then the spring would just keep bouncing for the next 100m or so. Sitting on a bike behaving like a pogo stick was making me feel quite nauseous and wasn’t the safest so we took the most direct route down the freeway into Sydney.

Click here to see Lisa and rellies in cocolate heaven

Lisa was very excited about getting to Sydney to see her relatives and we parked up for a week and spent our time socialising. Besides spending much time with family we also caught up with several friends around town, played tourist and of course repaired the rear shock.

Click here to see surfies at Newcastle

For many years now we have heard of massive droughts throughout Australia but I think the problem may well have lessened during our time here. We had several downpours during our stay in Sydney and much more to come as we worked our way south down the coast. At one memorable stage we took a detour up into the hills and rode up to a lookout. Nothing to be seen from there though as a massive thunderstorm rolled in. The sky turned black and angry, daylight disappeared with visibility dropping to around 5m, massive hailstones started pelting us and the most awesome thunderclaps rolled on for minutes at a time.

On to Canberra, Australia’s capital. Most Aussies have nothing good to say about the place, probably due to it’s being the seat of central government, but we really enjoyed it. Lots of museums and galleries to check out and the city is a small, easily manageable size. It is also the only place where we have ever been able to go to a sportsclub and get free internet access and FREE BEER.

Click here to see quirky shopfront

I replaced my chain and sprockets here as the chain started jumping. I had known since the Northern Territories that my front sprocket was well worn but had thought I could squeeze enough life out of it to see us back to NZ. Not so, in fact when it was removed for replacement there was only one wafer thin tooth remaining on it. I think I got my moneys worth out of that chain and sprocket!

South of Canberra we checked out the Deep Space Communication Complex then climbed up into the Snowy Mountains. We camped here in a peaceful spot beside a river with lots of wildlife around – kangaroos bounding through the camping area and wombats grazing around the tent at night.

Click here to see view from main divide

Having been sedentary for so long it was with great delight that we set off for a day’s walking in the high country and a hike up Mt Kosciuszko, Australia’s highest peak. There are several different approaches to this hillock, from a chairlift ride and short stroll to the 20km route we chose. This took us through some lovely alpine terrain and along the spine of the Great Dividing Range with some beautiful views west over ridge upon ridge of blue hills.

The flies here were horrendous. Never before have I been harassed by swarms of flies whilst walking across snow. We met one hiker who regularly walked in the park – he had a fly net covering his face and didn’t have any exposed skin – both to keep the intense sun off and to keep the biting Mayflies at bay.

Click here for snow

We returned to our peaceful riverside campsite tired from the days exertions and the following day had a delightful ride along the Alpine Way, winding through the forests of Kosciuszko National Park, and then followed the upper Murray River into Rutherglen.

Rutherglen is known as the premier area for fortified wines, so Lisa and I were in our element. Much tasting, and to my disgust much spitting out of fine liqueurs before getting back on the road down to Melbourne.

Click here to see Rutherglen farm buildings

I knew Melbourne was a big city but was still amazed when the motorway finished and we found ourselves in suburban traffic snarl-ups with signs still saying Melbourne 22km. We also managed to get a tad lost around the inner-city so arrived late and found the friends that had invited us to stay had gone out for the evening.

The next few days were spent catching up with our host Alec, who we had met and travelled with in Iran, his wife Vicki, also with Brian and Shirley who we had met in Pakistan. Alec had shipped his bike from Aus to Europe then ridden across Russia to Siberia returning via Central Asia, Iran, Turkey and southern Europe http://users.netlink.com.au/~asimpson Brian and Shirley had shipped their bike from Aus to Europe then ridden back overland following pretty much the same route as us, www.aussiesoverland.com , so it was great to share some tales and ales with all of them. We also had to arrange the shipping of our bike from Melbourne to Auckland in the new year.

Click here to see our hosts on Alec's birthday

Christmas was spent in this delightful company – we were treated to a huge seafood lunch around at Shirley’s house, which is apparently quite a normal Christmas dinner in Australia, then returned to Alec and Vicki’s for a party until the wee small hours in aid of Alec’s birthday.

Boxing Day was a bit of a slow recovery day for all but the day after we were back on the road. I have heard so much about the Great Ocean Road that I could not but check it out while we were so close. However the weather turned decidedly nasty and before we reached the coastline we were caught in a hailstorm. We spent an uncomfortable day in our summer weight riding gear crawling along in holiday traffic so went looking for a campground earlier than normal. We found a nice looking spot on Cape Otway and were directed to where all the other bikes were. Turns out we had stumbled across the BMW Club of Victoria’s Xmas rally so spent the evening talking bikes and travel for a change.

Click here to see BMW club

We awoke to find the rain had thinned out but the temperature was still far from tropical. Continuing west around the GOR brought us to the 12 Apostles and a truly beautiful stretch of coastline. The cold was dampening our enthusiasm for motorcycle travel but we had to push on as we had a restricted timeframe. We finally arrived cold and tired in Penola in South Australia and luckily the campground had a treat in store for us – private bathrooms for each campsite. We soon dived under hot showers and didn’t emerge from that nice warm room until it was time to crawl into our sleeping bags.

Click here to see early settlers houses

Penola has lots of old houses from the early European settlers in the region and we had a look around them in the morning, then we moved on to what had really bought us to the area – more wine tasting. Penola is the gateway to the Coonawarra, another well known region for Australian wines. More warm glow for Lisa, more spitting for me.

The warm glow evaporated when we went to leave our last vineyard and the bike didn’t want to start. The battery was flat and it was apparent we had a problem with the charging circuit. Push starting the bike got us under way but we were still a long way from Adelaide and any motorcycle shop where I could sort out our problem. Each time we stopped for petrol we were having to push start the bike much to Lisa’s great delight, and when we slowed down below about 50kph the bike would cut out.

We eventually made it to Adelaide but when we reached the end of the motorway and our first set of traffic lights the bike died again. We both got off and as we were trying to figure out what to do a bloke pulled up across the road and asked us if we needed a hand. When we told him what our problem was he suggested we return to his place to get a trailer, put the bike on it and come stay at his place while we sorted things out. This was how we met Dean, a lovely guy who really went out of his way to look after us. We put the battery on charge overnight but to no avail – the battery was well and truly stuffed so come the morning Dean’s neighbour gave me a lift to a bike shop where I bought a new one and took it back to charge it up.

Click here to see Adelaide streets

Dean then took us to the airport to pick up our friend Sarah who had flown in to meet us for a few days wine tasting around the Barossa and bought us all back to his place for another night. The following morning Dean ran Sarah down to the bus station as we rode down. We said our goodbyes and thanked Dean for all his help, had a look around town then swung via the Yamaha dealer that had sold me the new battery so they could test out the charging circuit.

The bad news was my regulator/rectifier had died. This seems to be a weak point on the TDM – I have already had to replace it twice before. More bad news – the bike shop didn’t have the correct part. They did however have one for another model that they thought would work so we lightened my wallet some more, hooked that up, tested it and all seemed good.

Back on the road and down to McLaren Vale. You guessed it, another wine growing region. Starting to notice a pattern? Sarah had beaten us down there on the bus but we soon joined her and spent a pleasant evening seeing in the New Year over some mighty fine local wines.

Click here to see Lisa and Sarah wine tasting

One of the guys we were chatting to offered to drive us around the vineyards the following day. Finally I was able to fully enjoy the pleasures of a days wine tasting. Needless to say much fun was had by all.

We then rode on up to Tanunda, heart of the Barossa Valley, and Sarah bussed it up to join us there. Another couple of days discovering new wines and developing silly grins.

Click here to see more wine tasting

All too soon it was time to leave and make our way back to Melbourne to ship the bike across to New Zealand. Minor problem though – flat battery when we tried to start the bike. Not Good. Push started the bike and we were underway again, however just outside Adelaide the bike died completely. We pulled up with a shrill whistle and smoke coming from under the tank. Oh Shit. Ripped off my petrol tank in a hurry, only to find my brand new battery swollen up and boiling. Unimpressed? You bet.

We phoned up Dean and he came out with his truck to rescue us yet again. The next morning we took the bike back to the Yamaha dealership but they had no solution for us. Instead they packed us off to a motorcycle auto electrician that all the bike shops in Adelaide use. There we found that the Yamaha shop had given us a completely unsuitable part – the rectifier they sold us was a very old design and did not also function as a regulator. Time for battery number two and a non-standard regulator. The bike now sports a Honda regulator/rectifier that is rated 35 watts – 10 watts more than standard, so this will never again be a problem. I was told this often happens on Japanese motorcycles as the regulators fitted to them are normally only just up to the job at hand.
Back to Dean’s place to drop off his car and trailer and thank him profusely then on the road to clock up as many miles as we could before sunset.

Click here for 3 wise men - Alec, Rich and BOB

We spent our last night on the road free camping in a reserve between highway and railway then rolled into Melbourne the following afternoon. No time to rest though, I had booked a Customs officer to meet us at the shipping agent the following morning so we were in a rush to wash the bike and all our gear – New Zealand requires everything well cleaned to try and keep nasty flora and fauna out.

Click here to see Brian, Shirleyand Lisa

All done on time – the next morning Alec helped me get the bike down to the shipping agent and crated leaving us with a weekend to finally relax in Melbourne, and relax we did, enjoying the rest of our time amongst good friends and playing tourist around their fair city.