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.