Thursday 10th September

I have arrived home. After making good time from Canberra to Cooma, to Bombala and then into Victoria, down to Cann River; I was cold and wet again, but realised how close I was to home. So I continued, arriving home about 6:15 pm, in time for dinner.
When I left Canberra it was mainly fine and stayed fine until after Bombala where it showered for most of the way to Lakes Entrance. I say fine, but it was still very windy and bitterly cold, for as I crossed over the Great Dividing Range I had climbed to 1,070 metres above sea level again and the towns here are still promoting the ski season. The roads were very good and this would be a ride I would highly recommend, in summer. As I quickly descended closer to sea level the temperature climbed noticeably and as the rain stopped at Lakes Entrance I had dried out by the time I got home. The road to Lakes Entrance was great, winding its way between the mountains and interesting country side to see. After Lakes Entrance it's just a highway with nothing of any great appeal to motorcycling.
When I left back in August the bike had 70,470 km on the clock, it now has 85,100 km, a total of 14,630 km, in 32 days. The bike is in much need of a good service and clean and a new rear tyre.

Tuesday 8th September

I left Tannum Sands Saturday about mid day, I must admit it was nice having a day off. I soon rode into some dark clouds, but it only showerd a little. The Bruce Hwy was alright apart from a lot of traffic. At Childers I turned inland and the road to Biggenden was great fun. Spent a cold night in a caravan park and continued next morning to Ban Ban Springs where I turned south onto the Burnett Hwy. The day started out sunny and I thought it would warm up but 3 hours later I stopped for breakfast and I put the lining back in my jacket. This road is popular with motorbikes as I encounted a lot of them heading the other way. I have to admit that at this point I was starting to just think about getting home, possibly because it was fathers day. Soon after entering NSW (New South Wales) the roads improved noticably. Spent the next night at another caravan park in Glen Innes, that was a very cold night. I was dressed in tracky pants, T shirt and windcheater and I even had to place my riding jacket over me. The next morning was over cast and I packed up a wet tent. The weather held off until I arrived at the Powerhouse Motorcycle Museum in Tamworth and then the hevens opened up and it poured down. So I spent about an hour or so looking at the private collection of motor bikes, it was well worth the stop. I rode into continous rain for about 130 km but it cleared as I got to Singleton so I continued on and rode the 167 km along the Putty Rd to Windsor. I would have to say Putty Rd is as good as the Black Spur is in Victoria, but with far greater views, the  few photos I took do not do it justice. I got to Windsor about 6 pm cold and still wet, so I spent the night in a Motel room. The next morning was fine and sunny but it didn't last. The road to Lithgow was spectaculer for both the road and the views, but it was freezing cold. At many places along here you are at 1,000 metres above sea level. The great roads just kept on going to Oberon until an incredible, almost sceary, decent down into Taralga. The temperture incressed a couple of degrees thank goodness. I then headed to Goulburn and then to Canberra where I am spending the night with Glenn, one of our God's Squad members, and his family. Tomorrow I head to Cooma, Bombala and then back into Victoria where I should be home Thursday afternoon / night.    

Friday 4th September

I found a Caravan Park and pitched my tent near Stefan who's riding his Swedish registered BMW the same direction round Australia. Left Kununarra heading for the NT (Northern Territory), it wasn't long and I passed into NT with not much in the way of a sign telling you that you had changed states, apart from a speed limit sign stating the speed limit is now 130 kmh. Sorry but there's noway I was going to do 130 on those roads for the further I got into the NT the roads deteriorated. Halfway to Katherine I stopped and camped at an off road camping area called Marys Pool. not much there but a dried up river but still pictures and had clean toilets. Next day I passed through Timber Creek and Victoria River and the country side got magnificent, a lot more rugged, mountainous and interesting. When I left Kununarra I forgot to put on my gloves for the short trip to the servo and when I got there only one glove fell of the bike, so I rode for 2 days without a right hand glove and even with 30+ sunscreen still got burnt. Bought another pair of riggers gloves in Katherine. Next morning headed up to Litchfield National Park, but after seeing a couple of nice waterfalls and some great views I wasn't that impressed with the camping area as it suited vans more than tents, so I headed back to Katherine. The next morning I rode out to the Katherine Gorge and that was magnificent, well worth the ride and steep walk. You can do a river cruise.
Then it was south towards Tennant Creek where the road wasn't to bad but I still continued at 100 kmh and spent the night at a Station house camping ground called Banka Banka, a 100 km north of Tennant Creek, nice spot to. Next morning I continued south to Three Ways where I turned East into a very strong headwind. That was the worst days riding so far. After 700 km I made it to Mount Isa, I'm now in QLD (Queensland).
In the caravan park Mat and his wife Gay invited me to breakfast and Mat also told me where to find K & M Motors and Rod. Who despite hating Harleys, thinks their rubbish, let me change the engine and primary oils on the bike, thank you all for that. It's meeting these people that make the trip so much better. I had decided at this point to change the route a little and detour down to Longreach to check out the Qantas museum there. The ride to Cloncurry was interesting but after a while the country turned to more of what I was expecting, very flat open pasture land with very little to see. Spent the next night at Winton, home to "Waltzing Matilda", then onto Longreach, spent a couple of hours looking through the museum and then onto Alpha where I met Chris riding a Triumph and Robyn riding a BMW. Chris had a regulator problem and they were spending the night at the caravan park in Alpha, so I decided to join them. The next morning I continued along the Capricorn Hwy to Rockhampton where scenery got better but not the roads. Turned south at Rockhampton towards Brisbane but after Gladstone turned left to Tannum Sands, where I'm now, spending a couple of nights with my brother inlaw and sister inlaw Ronny and Carol and their son Chas.

Thursday 27th August

It's been a while but I'm at Kununurra. Thanks to Pam and David Hickingbotham I was able to spend Friday night at David and Maureen Mulready's house in Geraldton, thank you again. I left Saturday morning with overcast skies but the rain held off. The south west of WA farms everything from grapes for wine and other fruits and veggies to Blue Gums and Pine tree plantations, cattle, sheep and goats. I soon left that country behind as the land got flatter and turned more to outback scrub. I think I rode the 2nd longest straight streatch of sealed road after stopping at the Billabong Roadhouse. The weather never really warmed up until the clouds cleared. At this point I was at Carnarvon under bright, clear, blue skies; spending the night in a guest room behind the local Anglican church St Georges. I stayed for the church service Sunday morning and left shortly after a cup of tea. It was at the next fuel stop, Minilya Road house that I met Geoffrey and Daphne Brockman. Nice chatting with you both. It was shortly after I left there that the vastness of the land hit me, it was a little scarry. I spent the next night at Nanutarra Roadhouse, then it was onto Port Headland. I en counted a number of stray cattle, goats and some emus, the only roos I saw were dead on the sides of the roads. The bike scarred all animals but the cattle, they just turned and looked at you with very little interest.
I got to Port Headland mid afternoon where the temperature was a pleasant 29 deg. C where I spent the night with Bill and Jocelyn Ross. All through this area it is obvious it's a mining area, it seems most of the vehicles are operated by the mining companies. The next day was a long ride to Broome and a test for the fuel economy of the bike, there has been a number of stretches where it's been 290 km between fuel stops. I spent that night in Broome at Tim Mildeuhall's house with his father John, wife and four children, another thank you.
The country side keeps changing and after passing Fitzroy Crossing I spent the night camping at Marys Pond, which is just an off road camping spot where I was not alone, as there was plenty of caravans, camper trailers and mobile homes. It was from Marys Pond that I rode to here Kunun urra and the country side has changed again, it is a lot more interesting and the roads are windier and it's also a bit warmer now I'm inland, about 36 deg. C. I have done some shopping and am now going to look for a caravan park, I must give "Internet Is Us" here in Kununurra a very big thank you for the free time they are giving me to update this blog, thank you.

Friday 21 August

Found a nice caravan park on the coast just out of Margaret River and slept well. It rained over night and I had to pack up a wet tent. It started out fine for the first hour but then it rained all the rest of the way around Perth and up to Gingin; where I decided it wasn't worth going any further as I was wet right through. So I got myself a small unit had a hot shower and set up a blow heater to dry everything out. It continued to rain overnight but stopped by morning. Everything was mostly dry by morning and God has blessed me with fine weather to Geraldton. I'm at the local library which is about to close so I'm making this short. The roads in Perth are bad but the highway up to here is very good, slightly rolling hills and gentle curves in the road. I was surprised at the amount of traffic, lots of caravans as well as trucks. I'm having trouble uploading photos, and sometimes the up load is very slow, but I will keep trying and soon hopefully there will be a lot more to see.

Wednesday 19 August

And the prize goes to Renea for guessing whats wrong with Peters' bike, it was the engine mounts, they had seen their last days. They arrived overnight, much to Bernies surprise, God does work wonders. I am now at Margaret River after just being to see Lake Cave, well worth a look. Another big thank you to Bernie and Tracy for their kind help. After I left Esperance in great weather, the wind soon picked up and I was riding with a very strong cross wind for most of the way. Did not quite make it to Albany as the time pasted five thirty I saw a number of Roos crossing the road ahead and as it got darker I realised my head light was not working; I switched to high beam and that didn't work ether. I saw some street lights ahead and pulled into a general store to ask about a head light globe or somewhere to camp. the kind man there suggested just back up the road was a hall and I could pitch my tent there.
In the morning I had a thought and checked the fuse, sure enough it had blown, replaced it with a spare and I headed off. The roads threw to Denmark are great for bikes and the country side is magnificent. The weather turned ugly and I rode into a lot of rain and more wind. It's now fine and hopefully it will stay fine as I'm looking for a caravan park for a hot shower and to do some laundry.

Monday 17 August

From Clare the weather improved and the roads and country side was magnificent. I stopped at a coffee shop in Melrose at the foot of some magnificent hills, and met a number of very nice people. The shop used to be a old blacksmith work shop and it's full of a lot of old blacksmith things from that time. I could spend a few weeks traveling around that area. It was a fantastic ride down a pass through the hills to the main highway at Winninowie.
Suddenly the countryside completely changed, from rolling green pasture, to more arid almost desert like land. After Port Augusta the land looks a lot like the Australian outback. Spent the next night at a small mining town called Iron Knob. From Iron Knob to Kimba the country remains very desert like, but from Kimba to about Ceduna it is very green open pasture land. The thing I noticed now is the roads are straighter for longer with only slight changes and the towns are a lot further apart.
Spent the next night at the Nullarbor roadhouse where I lashed out and got a backpackers cabin; everything at Nullarbor is very expensive. After a good nights sleep headed to Boarder Village and Western Australia. Stopped to look at the Great Australian Bite Where I met Karl. Karl is 58 years old from Brisbane and is riding his pushbike around Australia the oposite way to me. He left on the 1st March and plans to be home in October.
Now in WA, along some of the straight and flat stretches of road you'll come across a set of white lines painted across the road like pedestrian crossings, and then another set further along; it is used as an emergency runway for the Royal Flying Doctors Service.
The bike stated making a funny scraping noise when I went over pumps. I suspected the rear wheel bearings or brake, so I stopped at Cocklebiddy where Tony and Leny helped me out. I continued on to Caiguna, camped the night there and then continued onto Norseman. Buy this time the scraping noise was a lot worse. At Norseman I met Trevor and Karlyne at the servo and Trevor offered to let me use his shed and a jack to see if we could fix the problem. We replaced the rear swing arm bearings and Keith next door let me sleep the night there. Thank you very much to all of you who have helped me it has been very much appreciated.
I rode onto Esperance which is where I am now, still trying to find and fix the problem as it is getting worse.
After asking for help at another servo one phone call (to Kim Couzens) lead to another, where Bernie and Tracy are very kindly helping me and letting me stay in their caravan in the back, thank you again. I am overwhelmed by the kindness of the people I have met, it has been great.
We are now having to wait for a set of engine mounts to come from Bunbury to Perth then here in Esperance, hopefully we'll have the problem fixed in one or two days.

Tuesday 11 August

Ishaaq and I left Sunday at about 9:15 in mainly fine weather. Took the freeway to Geelong and met up with Paul near Torquay. Along the Great Ocean Road we stopped before Lorne to watch a couple of whales. Met up with David and Pam at Kennet River for a coffee and sandwich. Paul left me at Apollo Bay and soon after that it sunk in I was on my own. Enjoyed great country side and roads all the way to Port Fairy, where I spent a very cold night in the grounds of a magnificent old Anglican church, Saint John's, that was built in 1856. From here on the weather got worse; rode threw many showers but managed to stay dry. The country side keeps changing, it's great. Spent the second night at a caravan park in Mt Pleasant. I,m now at Clare where it is still raining on and off. Hope you all enjoy the photos, I'll try to update in the next few days.

Starting off!

Getting ready to leave.



















Saying goodby to family and friends.

















And off down the Greensborough bypass.

Thank you

A very big thank you to all who may have donated to Oxfam Australia. I have no idea who or how much has been donated. But I know some of my friends have, and again I thank you all. It is a very worthy cause and if you take the time to check the links to their web site I think you will agree.
Well it's the day before I leave and I'm now going threw all the stuff again making sure I have everything and trying of anything else I may need. (if I can fit it in, or on)
My next door neighbor and good friend Ishaaq will be joining me for a couple of hours on his Triumph Tiger and one our God's Squad members Paul Conway from Torquay will join us for a while along the Great Ocean Road.
I'm happy for anyone else to join us for a couple of hours or a couple of weeks. It's difficult to say exactly where I will be at any given time but if you follow this blog that should give you an idea of my progress. And if you click on the poster in the top right hand corner you can view photos that I'll be uploading.

The preparations continue. Last week I had fitted new tyres front and rear, and after some alignment, I took it for a ride. The bike handles so much better with the new tyres; you don't notice the change over a long period, but when their both new it makes a huge improvement. Today I did the last of the servicing that should be required; that was changing the engine and gearbox oils.
With only 7 days to go I'll now be concentrating on packing and hopefully I'll remember everything. Since I'm riding by myself (but I hope to meet some riders along the way) and have no backup vehicle I'm having to take some tools, just in case.

Things are progressing and the time is coming.

The time is ticking by, and the fact I will be departing soon is now really starting to sink in. I find my feelings swinging from anticipation and excitement, to nervous and worrying.
I'm slowly getting things together and have packed a number of things into what I'll being carrying them in, just to see how much I can take. Surprisingly I have a fair amount of room, I think that's because I am not taking a lot of clothing.
I have also bought a few things that I know I'll need. For example a compact torch with LED globes, a steel frame for toasting bread, since I plan to cook most of my meals and I've wired a plug into the bike so I can charge AA batteries and my mobile phone while riding.

The last word on the departure date!.

As I have stated before I currently work for Qantas. I say currently for as you may have heard in the news their planning on cutting 1750 staff. In light of this and the effect it may have on my position I have decided to delay the departure of my trip. I have chosen to leave home on Sunday the 9th August, not for any special reason. The only things stopping me leaving on this date, hospitalization, death, an accident that damages my bike or lose of my job. So in light of none of these things happening I hope to see a lot of Australia in August and September.

Preparation for the trip

In preparation for the trip I've started doing some maintenance on the bike. I've started at the front and have repacked the head-stem bearings, changed the front fork oil and added some spacers to the front springs, as I found they were a bit soft. I also lubricated the clutch cable and throttle cables. In doing this I found the plastic part of the throttle grip was cracked about 70% around. I've glued it for now, Super Glue, which may be as strong as new, but I'll replace it anyway.
Next I'll do the back end, re-grease the swing arm bearings and check the brakes. A couple of weeks before leaving I'll have to fit new tyres front and rear.
I also bought a new helmet, after 6 years the old one was a bit loose.

A bit of an idea of where and when I might be there

To give you an idea where I'm planning to be and when. I'm departing Sunday 10 May sometime in the morning and heading to Geelong. Then the Great Ocean Road, hoping to spend the 1st night at Narrawong, just east of Portland. Only about 470 km, thought I'd take it easy the first day, since I have no idea what the weather is going to be like, maybe the draught will have broken and it'll be raining.
Next night hope to get to Kapunda Tourist and Leisure Park, northeast of Adelaide. 3rd night Minnipa Caravan Park, 4th night Nullarbor Roadhouse or Border Village. From here on it depends on how far I got the day before, so the 5th night (thursday) could be Caiguna, Balladonia or hopefully camping at Fraser Range in WA.
The weather will play a large part on how far I get each day, but by Saturday 17th I hope to be at Leeuwin National Park in Western Australia and I want to checkout the Lake Cave. Then it's around the coast to Perth and from here I think I'll have to update as I go, but plan to stop in on Exmouth, might do some snorkling.

Start delayed to 10 May

Due to some personal reasons I will now be leaving Melbourne on Sunday the 10 May 2009; and shortly will give more details of where I will be stopping. I am sorry if this inconveniences anyone who was interested in coming along; I hope you still can.