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.