Australian Adventures

Sunday 12th September 2010 – my first full day in Australia and my mate took me on a Moto Guzzi Owners Club ride out. At the first stop I found my knees had completely seized up from being on the back of his Rosa Corsa which has pillion pegs about 6 inches below the seat! Noticing that I was having difficulty dismounting, one of the other owners organised for me to go pillion on the back of 2 other rider’s bikes that had more leg room. The first one was a California model and the driver had us sweeping through bends so smoothly I actually forgot my usual fear of cornering.

Sunday 19th September 2010 – My friend that I'm staying with and I managed to have a day out together today. We went to a place called The Homestead and walked around the grounds. In the bush we could see a "mob" of kangaroos so set off in pursuit. We managed to get quite close and there was one giant buck who kept a watchful eye on us while his companions bounced away. As they all bounced off, we changed our direction and started walking away.

Wednesday 15th September 2010 – after 3 days of fruitless searching for a bike, I finally found one today. On Monday my friends took me into Elizabeth Street in Melbourne to look at what the bike shops had to offer. Somewhat tired and jetlagged I found it difficult to put UK prices out of my mind and was shocked at how much Ozzie second hand bikes cost. One guy offered us a 22 year old Honda for $8,000. I just laughed out loud. Getting increasingly depressed and alarmed we eventually came across the Triumph showroom.

Just got a call this morning saying that all my paperwork has been cleared and that I can go and pick up the bike tomorrow. Whey hey, I'll be able to get on the road soon!

Wednesday 22 September 2010 – I’ve got the bike! And its perfect. Took it for an inaugural ride after I picked it up and it runs like a dream. Feels light, holds the road well, and, now that they’ve replaced the exhaust with a quieter one, speeds along like a big yellow stealth bomber! Although I like the name Yellow Peril, I think I’ll just call it Yellow as Peril may prove to be a bit predictive!

Thursday 30 September 2010 – so I left Port Fairy yesterday. It was a fun visit – nice people at the hostel and a disasterous attempt to French plait an English girl’s hair (I warned her I couldn’t do it!).

Wednesday 29 September 2010 - After my first real run of any distance on the bike I found I was quite exhausted so decided to land at Apollo Bay for 3 days. Was amazed at how tired my legs were so contented myself with short walks around the town and along the beach, watching the waves swell and crash for hours on end. Even the weather picked up and I got beautiful sunshine for my last day.

Monday 4 October 2010 – Again, I was exhausted by my long ride on Saturday, so decided to spend a couple of days in Port Elliot. Yesterday I didn’t make it much further than the village shops and the nearest beach, but today, I thought I spotted a whale from the hostel balcony so went charging over the headland to see if I could capture some shots of it. As I approached I realised the mass I’d spotted from the hostel wasn’t really moving or changing shape at all, and upon closer inspection, it turned out, it was actually a rock.

Saturday 2 October 2010 – I rode from Robe to Port Elliot today – a 300-odd km journey. The roads were relatively clear apart from a plague of flying bugs everywhere, presumably brought out by the sunny skies and increase in temperature. By the time I stopped for lunch in Meninges I was covered in the little critters. When I went to the loo, one of them must have got caught in my clothing as when I took my trousers down I got bitten about 5 times on the bum!

Thursday 7 October 2010 – So I waved good bye to my room-mate at the YHA on Tuesday and rode the 60-odd km to Cape Jervis where I caught the ferry to Kangaroo Island. It was a gorgeous sunny crossing and I even spotted a baby dolphin leaping through the waves.

Friday 8 October 2010 – OMG! What a ride from Kangaroo Island to Adelaide. First an unexpectedly twisty road from Cape Jervis, then I had to navigate my way into Adelaide from memorised directions (as I have no GPS or any way of mounting a map onto my bike). Nevertheless, I managed to make it all but one street from the YHA before I had to pull over and check the map. I almost dropped to my knees and kissed the tarmac when I pulled up in front of the hostel I was so relieved to have made it.

Saturday 23rd October 2010 – Adelaide was a wonderful city. If I had to find a word to describe it, I would say EASY. Everything about the city is easy - its easy to get into, its easy to get out of, its easy to get around, its easy to make friends, it easy to find what you need. Its all just so easy. I loved it.

Sunday 24 October 2010 - Riding across the Mallee Highway from Tailem Bend to Ouyen involved travelling through what is obviously flour country - miles and miles of wheat fields criss-crossed by railway tracks and flour silos at each station. But as soon as I reached Swan Hill this changed into fruit country – vineyards and fruit farms for as far as the eye could see. Australia has been suffering from drought for the last 10 years, but this winter, the drought finally broke and the country has been experiencing flooding in a number of places.

Friday 29th October 2010 – Well, there’s a lot more to this house-sitting business than meets the eye – just taking a friend’s dog for a walk once a day is completely different from living with two of them.

Wednesday 3rd November 2010 – So I left Lake Boga on Monday and rode the 366.4 km back to Melbourne. It was a sunny day but quite chilly, but nevertheless I made good progress. Somewhere between Echuca and Bendigo a big orange light started flashing on my dashboard. Thinking this was the oil light, I pulled over and poured in half a bottle of oil. However, on restarting, the light didn’t go out.

Wednesday 10th November 2010 – When I returned to Melbourne I was in a bit of a quandary about whether I should sell the bike and get a car. Because I’d be here for a month, it would give me time to sell it, but, surprisingly, I found I wasn’t that keen to do that just yet. However, I explored all the options, like buying or renting a car, putting the bike on motorail, leaving the bike in somewhere like Brisbane then flying to Whyalla, but none of them were going to be that easy or inexpensive. Then, yesterday, I decided to see what I’d get for the bike if I sold it.

So the last month in Melbourne was lovely. Apart from a few torrential downpours, the weather warmed up and I was able to get out and about and explore the local, and not so local, area. And, of course, I got to walk the doggies every day. They are such delightful creatures – so friendly and obedient and affectionate. A couple of nights they even burrowed under my covers and spent the night keeping me cozy. And the unexpected bonus from all the walking is that I’ve lost about half a stone in weight and am a lot fitter!

Saturday 27th November 2010 – As I have 3.5 weeks before I need to be in Whyalla, I’ve decided to go to Tasmania for 2 weeks instead of going east around the coast to Bateman's Bay (as my friends were going to be away). I could have sworn the ferry was at 5.30pm yesterday and that check-in, being 2.5 hours before, was at 3.00pm. So Lou guided me down to the ferry terminal (thank god, as I’d never have found it myself) and got me there for precisely 3.00pm. However the man at the gate then advised me boarding would commence at 4.30pm.

Monday 29th November 2010 - I awoke this morning to clear blue skies and sunshine, so I packed up the bike and rode the half mile down to the backpackers hostel and checked in there. Then I took the road to Billabong Bay to see the Bay of Fire. This is so named because it is flanked with huge boulders which are covered in a sort of red algae which looks fiery red when the sun shines.