Day 10 and 11

Day 10

Having camped over night at Apollo Bay we awoke to another fine day to do the second half of the Great Ocean road. We wandered into Apollo Bay and had a nice breakfast at one of the many beach front cafes before packing up our camp and getting under way for the day.

The

Great Ocean Road

leaves the coast just out of Apollo Bay and begins to climb through rural mountain scenery for around 40 kilometres before returning to the coast about just before the scenic 12 Apostles to the east of Port Campbell.

We stopped at the popular 12 Apostles site and walked the short distance from the car park to the numerous viewing areas. It’s a popular scenic stop and there where a lot of travelers taking photo’s.  

We decided to treat ourselves to one of the scenic helicopter rides to get a different view of the coast line. It was a first time experience for Marissa and I and we both enjoyed the experience, and would highly recommend it to anyone traveling through the area, as you gain a totally different perspective on the beauty of this jagged coastline.

After our helicopter ride got back on the bike and rode the final leg to Port Campbell for lunch at yet another café. It’s hard to eat well all the time when you’re traveling, but we’ve been trying to eat healthy at each opportunity we can.

It was only around 3pm by the time we finished lunch so we got the map out and decided to head up somewhere closer to the Grampians for the night. As it turned out we had a delightful ride through some very pretty countryside through the towns of Grassmere and Penshurst before eventually reaching Dunkeld for the night.

The road leading into Dunkeld from Penshust runs through some stunningly beautiful grazing country and offers spectacular views of the Grampians. The setting sun made the colours of the surrounding region look fabulous.

When we reached Dunkeld set up camp at the only caravan park in town, then rushed off to dinner at the only café open in town that we were told closes in 30 minutes. We then took a lovely walk around the Dunkeld Arboretum area that had been recommended by several locals.

The Arboretum is a lovely lake area that was turned into a community park by the locals after bushfires destroyed around 40 homes that once surrounded the lake area. The story goes that the locals had to flee the fire and seek safety in the lake waters, while watching their houses burn to the ground. The park is now a peaceful reminder of that terrible day.

Day 11 

The trucks rolling through Dunkeld throughout the night meant we had a fairly average and pretty cool nights sleep. But after a shower we were refreshed and packed up camp and moved onto Halls Gap in the heart of the Grampians.

When we packed up our tent this morning it was still wet from the overnight dew, and as the forecast was for rain later today, we decided to book a cabin at Halls Gap when we got there. We dropped our gear in our cabin and decided to leave the trailer there too, and thought it would be a good idea to set the tent up to dry out while we went for a ride around the Grampians region.

The road out of Halls Gap towards Zumstiens is a brilliant “bike road” with lots of corners and a smooth surface. I thoroughly enjoyed the climb up the mountain and we stopping in at “The Balconies” and “Boroka” lookouts to take in the views.

The view from Boroka lookout back over Halls Gap township with the town nestled between two mountain ranges with a lake in the background is really something else. It reminded me of scenes you’d expect to see in places like Switzerland. It was unique!

From there we continued onto Zumstiens before heading west again through to Balmoral where we stopped for lunch at a typical country pub. The weather was looking a bit bleak after we came out of the pub, and we weren’t far up the road before the first of the afternoons showers were making things a little cool.

We rode through to Cavendish then took the scenic route back through the mountains to Halls Gap. A heavy shower of rain as we arrived into town ensured all the gear we left out to dry while we were away was now wetter than when you hung it out, but at least we’ll be dry and warm in the cabin.

We strolled across the road to a local café for dinner through the local mob of kangaroos that visit the caravan park each evening.

After a comfy nights sleep we were on the road heading back to Sunbury for a few days with friends, before we then continue the trip heading east over the Victorian high country.      

Regards

Barry and Marissa

Here are a few photos taken from the last few days

Marissa at a rest spot near Orbost

Hanging Rock near Mt Macedon

Cross on top of Mt Macedon 

Marissa GOR 



Day 7, 8 and 9

Friday morning we rode into Merimbula to have breakfast and didn't get back to pack up our camp till around 11am. We refueled the bike in town then headed out the road to Bombaba. The ride through the mountains was great as the road surface was in good condition and very little traffic. As we climbed the mountain the air was filled with the sweet scent of the gum trees in full flower.  

Marissa looking over our pics.

The main channel from the ocean into Merimbula is really clear and makes you want to go for a swim, except its so damn cold.

The channel at Merimbula

Another of the channel

When we reached Bombala we stopped for a coffee at the local bakery and had one of the the nicest custard tarts I'd had in ages. I highly recommend you stop and sample the food if your passing through. 

Main Street Bombala

We looked over the maps and saw that the road from Bombala to Orbost had 2 sections of dirt that we were a bit unsure about riding with the trailer on the back. We got talking to one of  the locals who told us he'd travelled that road that morning and said the dirt sections were in good order, so we decided to take this route as I'd already ridden the Bombala - Cann River road several times on previous trips. We didn't know at that time that we were in for real a treat. 

The Bonang Highway as its called is nothing short of "fantastic" on a motorcycle. The bitumen sections are in great condition, and the dirt sections are good but require some extra caution. The road is approximately 100 kilometres of endless bends. Most of the twists and turns are fairly tight, so it's the kind of road worth taking your time on as the scenery is great. It took us almost 2 hours to cover the distance between Delegate and Orbost, and we had a coffee stop at a lovely little rest spot near the Orbost end of the road.   

  

Farm house and Canola field south of Delegate

Lovely views on dirt road between Delegate and Orbost

Rest stop near Orbost

We arrived in Lakes Entrance around 4pm and decided to stay at a Motel as the forecast was for overnight rain. And rain it did!

Day 8
We awoke Saturday morning to sound of heavy rain outside. It was a job to get our gear back onto the bike without everything getting wet. As the weather was crook, we decided to change plans today and head towards the Great Ocean Road rather than risk riding over Mt Hotham in wet conditions.

We put our wet weather gear on and left Lakes Entrance around 9am and headed straight up the highway through Bairnsdale, Sale. Then skirted around Melbourne to head to our friends house in Sunbury for the night.

After diner Dick and Ella took us for a drive up into the Macedan ranges, it's a truly beautiful area that we have now planned to spend a few days exploring with Dick and Ella on their ST1100 when we get back from the Great Ocean Road section of our trip.

Day 9

Today we were truly blessed by the weather gods. We left Sunbury this morning heading down through Bacchus Marsh and into Geelong before the final section of road that leads to the beginning of the Great Ocean Road. It was a little overcast in the morning, but as the morning wore on the clouds cleared and the coastal scenery along the GOR was spectacular. We stopped at Lorne for a beer before heading onto Apollo Bay where we have set up camp for the night.

Marissa has taken lots of photo's from the back of the bike that we will upload later. Just finished having showers and about to go up town to find us some diner.

All is going really well and we're having a ball.

Regards

Barry and Marissa  



Day 5 and 6

Day 5

After leaving Tumut we headed over the Snowy Mountains highway to Cooma. This is one of the better motorcycling roads our country has to offer, and we were fortunate to have such a great weather today to do the ride.

One thing I had really hoped to do on this trip was have the opportunity to show Marissa snow for the first time. As we climbed into the higher sections of the Snowy Mountains highway closer to the Mt Selwyn and Khancoban turn off we spotted a small patch of snow on the side of the road and Marissa’s voice came over the intercom asking “What’s that”

If you have never seen snow before seeing it for the first time brings out the inner child in you no matter what your age. So we quickly did a u turn and rode back to where the little patch of snow was, and it was great to photograph Marissa touching snow for the first time in her life. We did the obvious things like make a snow man and threw a few snow balls at each other, and it was wonderful just seeing the excitement in Marissa’s eyes. It must have looked a bit weird to the other drivers that passed us seeing these two adults playing in a tiny bit of snow. But it was a lot of fun.

Further down the road we came to a lovely spot where the river flows close to the road, and we stopped to take a few more photos and take in the breathtakingly beautiful scenery. The water flowing in the river was crystal clear and very cold.

We continued onto Adaminaby to refuel the bike and have lunch at the café before continuing on to Cooma, then onto Bega where the hills roll on to the horizon. We headed north for a short time till we hit the town of Narooma. We had planned to stay the night with friends I’d known from my days at school, but hadn’t seen since until we recently reconnected through Face book.

The GPS quickly guided us to John and Leanne’s place at Dalmeny and we enjoyed a lovely night catching up on what’s gone on in the last 30 years.

Day 6

Today was an easy day’s ride along the coast road from Narooma to Merimbula. We turned off the highway at Wallaga Lakes and followed the road to Bermagui and Tathra. This section of the south coast is unspoilt, and there are many pristine deserted beaches to see along the way.

We stopped at a great bakery in Tathra for a pie and pastry for lunch then headed onto Merimbula where we were told of a great caravan park on the headland. We found the park and booked in. The campsite they gave us is one of the best I’ve seen. Our site was right on the edge of the headland over looking the Pacific Ocean. We were lucky enough to watch several groups of humpback whales pass by as they migrated south again for the summer.

Today we head for Lakes Entrance through Bombaba, Delegate and Orbost. We are told there is about 20k of dirt road along this road, but the scenery is worth the effort. So we’re hoping the dirt sections will be in pretty good condition and not too rough.

Regards

Barry and Marissa



Day 4

After drying out our gear after the morning dew in Cowra, we packed up camp and began the ride to Tumut.
Heading out of Cowra on the Boroowa Rd we came across a field covered in yellow wild flowers that looked spectacular. We stopped to take a few photos and noticed there were also flocks of wild Cockatoos in the fields that were the only sounds breaking the silence of this area. It was blissfully peaceful! 

Before we left Brisbane I had mentioned to Marissa how wonderful the fields of Canola look through this area at this time of year. I had expected the ride from Molong to Cudal to be dotted with the golden coloured fields, but the planting much have been a bit later this year as the crops had not flowered at this stage in that area. Luckily further south the crops were looking brilliant in full flower, and the fields looked like a patchwork quilt of green and gold when two crops were sown side by side.

After we arrived into Boroowa we refueled the bike again and then headed across to Harden, then onto Gundagai for a look at the famous "Dog on the Tuckerbox"

 From Gundagai we hit the Snowy Mountains Highway and the road is simply spectacular on a bike (even when towing a trailer). The road is smooth with lots of flowing corners, and the scenery is wonderful. We arrived in Tumut and booked into a cabin for the night at he local caravan park. The park it was looking good considering it had been flooded out only days before. 

It was only early in the afternoon when we arrived in Tumut so it was a good opportunity to catch up on domestic chores and do the washing. We enjoyed a relaxed afternoon by the river, then wondered up town to explore the shops and find somewhere to have dinner that night. 



     We had settled on one of the pubs for dinner and got there just as another group of 8 riders arrived for diner as well. We got talking over dinner and a few beers and discovered that they were doing essentially the same trip as us. It was a fun night chatting and we will likely run into this group again somewhere along the road.

   

Today our plan is to ride across the mountains to the coast at Narooma where we will catchup up with a friend I haven't seen since my days at school. The weather is perfect today, and its getting warmer the further we head south which is kind of odd, but we're not complaining.

Regards

Barry and Marissa

Day 3

After our last update on Day 2 at Narrabri we continued south  enjoying the good weather conditions compared to day one. We cruised our way south to Coonabarabran then onto Gilgandra where we were welcomed by an old friend I had known for years when I lived in Dubbo.

I hadn’t seen Maree for almost 12 years, so it was great to have a few hours to catch up on all that has happened in that time. We then headed onto Dubbo to stay the night with Steve and Jade. While we were there we took the opportunity to take a drive out to the old place I had built on the 25 acre block I once owned.  I was amazed at how the trees in the area had grown, and was happy to see that the old house was still looking good!

After that we returned to Dubbo and settled in for a great night with Steve and Jade and their two kids. It’s funny how young kids are shy at first, but soon come out of their shell. By the end of the evening young Lila wanted me to read her a bedtime story and tuck her in to bed. It was funny how it reminded me of when my kids that age, and how fleeting that time can be as kids grow up so fast. It was a lot of fun to relive those times again, even if for just that night.

Today we left Dubbo heading for Cowra. It was an easy day today and we rode along a quiet little back road from Dubbo to Molong that takes in the quaint little villages of Yoeval and Cumnock. Because we had lots of time up our sleeve today we poked along at a leisurely 80kph most of the way as there was hardly any other traffic on these roads

The countryside just continued to get better as we headed further south. The rain had transformed the countryside into paradise. In all my years of traveling this area I haven’t seen it looking this good before.

We eventually came out onto the Mitchell hwy at Molong and enjoyed a great coffee at the local pie shop. The guy that owned the shop was also a motorcycle enthusiast, and had one of the better collections of model motorcycles I’ve seen on display in his shop.

After coffee we continued onto Cudal, Canowindra and finally Cowra where we are staying tonight. We spent an hour strolling around the JapaneseGardens just on the outskirts of Cowra. These gardens are worth seeing if your ever passing through and are really spectacular.

We setup camp for the night at the Cowra Caravan Park which is right on the river and close to the heart of Cowra so we can walk to dinner. After a refreshing shower we wandered up to town and had dinner at the Chinese resturant that was recommended by the guy that ran the caravan park.

Overnight it was chilly in the tent, and the condensation managed to get through in a few places, so we are drying some gear out this morning in the sun while we have breakfast. It's another clear day here and our plan is to head for Tumut via Boroowa, Harden and Gundagai.

Regards

Barry and Marissa