Day 9: Assessing the Gravity of the Situation

Odo: 13683 day km: 294 trip km: 2701

Brisbane to Maryborough

I woke up this morning to a workshop.  Not your everyday camp site then:

The bike was still in pieces, but somewhat cleaner than before.  I had dropped off the shock absorber yesterday and was eagerly awaiting its return so I could reassemble my bike.

I had loan of a car today in order to collect the shock, and while I was playing the waiting game I thought I'd get a few extra bits and pieces for the trip - camp food etc. to have with me on the bike.  With that done, I drove into the suspension place to see how they were going.  When I turned up, the shock was ready - good timing.  I don't know how long it had been done for, but given I'd asked to be called as soon as it was ready, hopefully it had only just been finished.  All had gone well with the rebuild and it was ready to be installed in the bike.

I arrived back at the bike and got into reassembly mode at 12:50PM.  Everything went according to plan - I even found the nyloc nut I lost yesterday - gripped in one of the heatsink fins of the driving light.  The bike was fully assembled and loaded, and I departed at 3PM to head towards Maryborough.

The trip to Maryborough was mostly good, although there was a fair bit of congestion getting past Brisbane on the highway.  Which reminds me, I have tolls to pay.  Better go do that now...

I stopped for a bite to eat in Caboolture, then for fuel "somewhere", and made it to Maryborough by 7:30.  Long day.  The bike behaved very well, and it looks like it was all put together correctly.  There were no leaks of oil from the shock on the whole trip - excellent news :)

I had heard rumours of a Rekorderlig waiting for me, and part way through maneuvering towards what was either going to be Tim's driveway or a U-Turn, I decided to put the bike up on its *ahem* right-hand-side stand. In the middle of the road.  The right-hand-side stand consists of a crash bar and a pannier.  With the combined effort of my own and all of Tim's strength, we managed to get the bike back off its 'stand' and put it somewhere more appropriate.

All in all I'm glad that Tim was there, and also glad there wasn't a larger audience :P  (oh wait...)

The crash bar did its job well, protecting the cylinder heads and only receiving a tiny graze.

With that out of my system, I parked the bike up properly, and went in to meet Tim's family, who put on a very nice dinner for us, and enjoyed that Rekorderlig (which I well and truly needed).  I then got to see lots of pictures of the flooding around their house in January (which I'm sure will mean more to me tomorrow when I see what there yard looks like in daylight!)

Time to get some rest.  The plan is Rockhampton tomorrow to make an easy trip to Calen on Thursday, where I'll get to catch up with family and then we'll settle in for the Wintermoon Festival for a few days.

Day 8: A Shock to the System

Odo: 13389 day km: 60.1 trip km: 2407

When I set off on Monday, having cleaned up a couple of oil drips off the front mud guard, I didn't expect it was going to result in where I am now: sitting in the garage of a very generous man, cleaning various components of my bike. Where I had envisioned myself right now was at Tim's parents' house, getting ready for a rest day before traveling to Mackay.

As we speak, my bike is in more pieces than I care to count. On the plus side, this makes cleaning it easier than normal as I can get at everything fairly easily. On the other hand, it can't be ridden at the moment, which isn't ideal in the middle of a bike trip.

Late this afternoon, I took the front shock absorber off the bike, and got a lift into Suspension Improvements to drop it off. All going to plan, I will give a man some money, and in return, I will receive my shock absorber in somewhat better condition to when I dropped it off today. I will then be able to return to Les' house, turn my pile of parts into a fully functioning motorcycle, and continue on my way to Maryborough and beyond. All going to plan, this time tomorrow I will have made up for all lost time and be right back on schedule to arrive in Calen on Thursday ready for the Wintermoon festival.

Day 7: And then there were three

Odo: 13329, day km: 384, trip km 2347

Grafton to Brisbane

After a couple of phone calls last night, we managed to arrange a day ride with Les, a BMW enthusiast and Brisbane local. The plan was that he would meet us in Grafton at 9AM and show us some good scenic roads between there and Brisbane.

We thought he was a bit keen saying he would make the trek from Brisbane to Grafton by 9. Needless to say, when he pulled up at the servo at 8 as I was buying milk for breakfast, I was rather surprised.

He followed me back to camp and then prepared a coffee while Tim and I had breakfast and packed up camp. We managed to depart at around 9:05

The morning was a foggy and dewy one. It took a while for the tent to dry off and it is probably still a bit damp. A band of small spiders had been to work between my tent and my bike, and also on the nearby fence. The photos of dew on the webs were captured with my iPhone.

We had a fairly straightforward run through to Casino for coffee, and then on to a whole lot of twisties all the way towards Brisbane. We ended at Les' house around 4:30.

Before we went our separate ways for the evening, we stopped for a while to look at the collection of BMWs among other things at Les' house.

An update on the fluid leak mentioned yesterday: it looks like I have blown a seal on my front shock and hence the oil is shock oil. At this point it is only very slow, but when the oil gets too low, the bike will start to handle badly. This needs to get fixed. Looks like first thing tomorrow I will be on the phone to suspension dealers / BMW / wreckers to try to get it resolved, and still make the music festival later in the week!

Tonight I caught up with Angus, a mate of mine I used to work with, and Tim caught up with his younger brother.

Day 6: Up Clarence River without a Ferry

Odo: 12945 Klm's: 328.9 Trip km: 1963

Tamworth to Grafton via Armidale

Today was a day of delays, but all in all an enjoyable day. We left camp just before 10 after a very relaxed morning, and headed on to our first stop - Armidale.

We stopped at the Goldfish Bowl for morning tea. I had a raspberry friand and hot chocolate, and Tim had a strawberry tart and a 'coffee' - don't know what exactly as I don't drink coffee. There was another bike parked there. A yellow R1200GS in fact. It seems BMWs are popular!

The grub was particularly tasty so we stayed a while. Tim ordered another coffee and we both stayed and admired the scenery.

We eventually headed off to a different cafe for lunch. At this stage it was feeling a bit like a cafe crawl. After lunch we fuelled up and set off on our way.

After an hour or so we stopped for a drink somewhere on the windy road between Armidale and Grafton. During this time, I got a phonecall from a friend and fellow BMW rider, who will be joining up with us for a ride tomorrow. While on the phone, I noticed a small leak at the front of the bike. I haven't managed to work out whether it's brake fluid or oil, but no fluid levels I can see have dropped and everything still works. I have cleaned it up to try to find the source, but it appears a very slow leak so it may be a pain to stop.

We got to Grafton around 4:30ish and had planned to head to Yamba. We took off to go a coastal road and then via a ferry across the river. Along the way we found the bridge was closed and the ferry wasn't operating and so we turned back and ended up staying in Grafton due to diminishing light.

Day 5: The Bevy of Bavarian Beauties

Odo: 12616, Klm's: 419, trip klm's: 1634

Sydney to Tamworth via Putty Road

Today marked the departure of both Tim and I from Sydney, starting the combined part of our journey. At around 10.45, we left from Tim and Lauren's apartment, fuelled up, and hit the road.

The exit from Sydney got quite tedious, with plenty of toll roads, lights that would catch me and not Tim, and yet more roadworks. Once we got to Putty Road, the journey certainly improved.

We stopped for lunch at a cafe on Putty Road, which is apparently a hot spot for motorcyclists. When we arrived, there were probably around 10 or so bikes, including a 79? model Honda CB X 6 cylinder bike that Tim had his eye on. Much to my amusement, most of the bikes were BMWs, including mine, an R1150RT, K1200LT, K100, and an S1000RR.

After an absolutely delicious lunch, we continued on our way toward Tamworth, coming across some absolutely spectacular sections of Tarmac along the way. Unfortunately, time was getting away so we ended up arriving at the campsite in the dark.

We set up camp by torchlight, and Tim finished off his complimentary XXXX stubby that he scored from the site owner, then we had dinner. Afterwards, we had a game of 8 ball on the table on site, then prepared to call it a night.

Day 4: Tourist alert!

Odo and km: whatever it says on yesterday's post.

Today was a 'rest' day in Sydney. This meant time for a nice sleep in, followed by a fairly relaxing trip to the city. After breakfast we walked over the harbour bridge and in to the city. Being Anzac Day, there was a parade through the streets that went on for some time. We watched for a while, and then headed to 'Bon Bon' to give me a taster of their chocolatey goodness. I'm told it was below the usual standard, but based on my experience these must be some high standards.

Around lunch time, Toby arrived at Bon Bon. We all then headed towards the Opera House, which allowed me to take a couple of gratuitous touristy photos, and then on to Bar 100 for a quiet drink.

The evening consisted of nachos and a drink while watching Kickass. It was all in all a nice relaxing way to spend the day, and great to catch up with more friends that I don't get to see very often any more. I look forward to catching up again on the way home.

Tomorrow is when we start again in earnest. Tim is now travelling with me for the next 3ish weeks. It will be awesome to be travelling with a like-minded mate who actually knows what he's doing on a long trip. :)

Time to rest up before we make our escape from Sydney.

Day 3: A day of miserable roadworks; a night of awesome views

Odo: 12197 Klm's: 461

Today was a fairly focused riding day - I wanted to get into Sydney as soon as I could so I missed all of the evening rush hour, and all those people taking a long weekend. I ended up leaving Merimbula at 9 and arriving in Sydney at 5. There was no specific touristy sight-seeing on the trip.

To make the most direct route, I followed Highway 1 pretty much all the way. There were a few excellent sections of road, with 100km/h limits and sweeping corners in interesting terrain, but the overriding memory was of roadworks.

Near Nowra, I spent nearly half an hour doing walking pace through roadworks. This wears thin pretty quickly - like even inner city traffic at 4:50PM seemed very good in comparison. There were heaps of roadworks areas that were massively longer than they needed to be, and all typically 40km/h. And if Sir would like do 41km/h, he is frequently reminded that roadwork limits are enforced, that there are cameras everywhere (I lost count), and that the next 4 days are double demerit points. And to make it even worse, they have sections of 80km/h highway 3 lanes wide that feel so slow. It's almost like they're trying to encourage you to creep over the speed limit and help fill their coffers. OK rant done :)

Once near the city, the Sat Nav (loan courtesy of my uncle) proved useful yet again in making navigating to my final destination in Sydney quite easy. Working out how to pay the tolls I accrued was a little more difficult.

The absolute highlight of the day: I got to Tim and Lauren's place! We went to a local restaurant for tea and then for a walk along the waterfront to see, among other things, the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Very touristy of us :)

A magnum of cider awaited us on our return home. What a good way to conclude the day.

Day 2: No easing in to it then

Odo: 11736 Klm's: 660.1
Spirit of Tasmania Terminal Victoria, to Merimbula NSW

The day started around 5:50AM, with the announcement of breakfast and the schedule for disembarking the Spirit. Last night I spoke to one of the tourism people on board, and decided to flee Port Melbourne without using toll roads. Not long after 6:45 I was off the boat. i collected my gas cylinder and made my escape.

As it turned out, the instructions worked well. No slow traffic or delays to speak of. After a short trip along the Princes Freeway, I pulled into a service station, removed the wet weather gear, and planned a slightly more scenic route.

The route I took today took me through Leongatha, Yarram, Sale, and on to Lakes Entrance for lunch. From there, I stuck to the A1 the rest of the way through Orbost, Cann River, Eden and finally to Merimbula.

I stopped at Leongatha for a stretch, just as it started to rain. Wet weather over trousers back on again... The rest of the morning presented annoying drizzle, wet slippery roads, and muddy spray. Not to mention roadworks.

The afternoon presented dry roads, slightly warmer weather, and more roadworks. I ended up getting in to the camp site around 5:45 and got the tent up with the last remaining sunlight.

I had an LED-lit dinner shortly afterwards, followed by a chat with another person in the park who also used to ride a BMW (a special edition K100).

Time to rest up and try out some of the new camping gear.

The mobile blogger doesn't seem to allow easy inline photos. I will briefly describe each one.

1. Stop off at a scenic lookout. I believe Wilson's Promontory is in the background.
2. Another lookout - this time to Lakes Entrance
3. Schrodinger's bike - it's in two states at once :)

Camp photos will come in the morning when there is some daylight to capture them.

Day 1: Here comes the rain again

12:30PM.  After my second trip to town for some last-minute shopping (out of earplugs), I find myself sitting down to a pie for lunch at home.  The trip is about to actually start - very exciting!  I'm pretty much all packed, the bike is out with all the lockable luggage attached, and now it's pretty much time to wait until it's time to leave.  Well that and wonder aimlessly around the house, wondering how far I'll get before cursing under my breath at some important thing I forgot to do / forgot to pack.

The clouds have been rolling in all morning.  It started off as a clear morning, but the skyline has been getting darker and darker all day.  As I arrived home from town, a few specks of a short drizzle fell upon my windscreen.  I might wait until I put the rest of my luggage on the bike, but otherwise, will I let that put a dampener on proceedings?  Nope.

Hard luggage attached.  Just waiting for tank bag, duffle bag, GPS and rider

Not long until I head off to the Spirit!

3:15PM: And on the bike we go. The trip is officially under way!

4:45PM: The semi-drowned rat finds himself sitting in Herb's Pizza Cafe.
I'd find it a bad sign that I'm the only patron, except I have eaten here before (Lauren and Tim's farewell) so I'm not so worried. A quick, early dinner, then off to queue up for the boat. The bike has just been fuelled up and is ready for a quick getaway tomorrow.

6:00PM: About sick of standing in the rain waiting to be loaded on the boat. Oh well at least my gear is keeping me dry.

8:00PM: We're off!

Odo: 11076, Klm's: 94.4

Camping gear

Part of the ‘adventure’ of the upcoming trip is going to be camping in various places on the way up.  Have I planned where I’ll be camping?  No.  But that’s part of the fun, right?

A number of my mates who have been camping with me know that we tend to go “car camping” – in other words, let’s see just how many luxuries we can take away with us.  On a couple of these trips, as the person providing the 6 man tent for us all to use, I’ve been known to completely fill my car with only one extra passenger and their gear, plus my gear and the big tent.  Extravagant?  Yes.

Luxury.  You were lucky to have a car!  We used to have to put all our gear on our bikes!

I’m not about to get all four-Yorkshiremen on you all, because relatively speaking, I’m not doing it tough.  Want to know the challenging way?  Find out about Tim’s trip all the way around Australia on his learner-approved road bike at his blog, “Riding the Reverend”.  (OK so you can tour around on smaller bikes, but his was not exactly a big touring bike).  In contrast, my bike is better suited to carrying gear and doing long days on the road.

Tim has since upgraded his bike to one more suited to touring – a Yamaha TDM900.  I call it the “tedium”, although the reality is far from it.  In fairness, the name was probably just me retaliating to Tim referring to my bike as a Bison with a BMW badge, or a tractor.  The Rev hasn’t been forgotten; a few issues have been sorted out and it is now in service as my brother’s learner bike.

Back to the gear.  Your standard $30 department store 2 man dome tent may be fine for “car camping”, or even at a pinch, high school camping trips.  But when working with the physical constraints of the bike, it just didn’t cut it.  As a result, my sleeping mat, sleeping bag, pillow and tent are all more specialised hiking fare – chosen with physical dimensions in mind.

For cooking, I’ll be working with a Jetboil Sumo – perfect for hot drinks on the side of the road, or reheating dehydrated meals, or whatever else I see fit to use it for.  My testing certainly shows it is has earned the “Jetboil” tag.  The heat exchanger on the base (they call it the flux ring) certainly does a good job.

Between all of the camping gear, changes of clothes, phone, charger, and all the other bits and pieces I have on the bike, space will be at a premium.  That said, there’s certainly no shortage of space.  The lockable luggage (panniers and top box) add up to around 120L of storage space.  If I need more than that, I’ve also got a waterproof duffle bag that goes over the back seat, and a tank bag for personal effects that I want within quick reach.  It may not be excessive like a Goldwing (particularly with a trailer!), but it is very good.  I’d describe the panniers as having Tardis-like internal space.  It really is amazing what you can fit into them when you pack them properly.

Only one more week to go!