It took ten days to get my bike through customs and a quarantine inspection, which was longer than I hoped or planned for . I was rather surprised that when I attended the inspection and the officer found some small amount of dirt tucked away, which he said would need to be cleaned off, when I asked if I could do it there and then, one he said I could just wipe it off with a rag and two when I asked what to do with the now "contaminated" cloth, he said "just take it with you". Umm so much for bio hazard!
This was all done on Friday 7th April, however due to the inefficiency of the system, I was unable to collect the bike until after the weekend. So on Monday 10th rented a van, drove to the warehouse, removed the bike from the crate and loaded both up. Once back at Nina's house I had everything unloaded and the bike ready for the next leg of the trip by 5pm.
Tuesday 11th April at 7am I ride out of Sydney, crossing the world famous harbour bridge and getting glimpses of the Opera House. There are few city scales in the world that are so synonymous with a countries identity, but this is one. I take the main hwy towards Canberra and I have covered the 400km to Cooma by 1pm, where I stop for lunch and warm up, as it has been a bloody chilly ride, something that I wasn't expecting. From Cooma I head to Jindabyne in the mountains of Victoria. I punch in the next destination of Buchan which will take me through the Kosciuszko NP and home to Australia's highest mountain at 2229m, more a hill than a mountain ;)
The GPS says its 170km to Buchan, which as its now 3.30pm and it gets dark at 6pm is doable, the map shows this road as small and through the mountains, just the kind of thing I enjoy. It doesn't however show it as a dirt road, which it turns to after 20km. Now that isn't a problem, apart from its slower, which put my hopes of getting to Buchan before dark in doubt. I push on as it is beautiful gum tree covered rolling hills and the road is in great condition. I have my first sightings of wild kangaroos and a few emu. To see Roos hoping around in the forest and some with their baby Joes, it's a truly Australian sight, and is a highlight of the day.
I'm about halfway along the route when the sky darkens and it starts to rain, which puts pay to my idea of camping up by the river. The one golden rule there is in motorcycle travel is never travel at night, it's simply too dangerous, especially when there are large animals bouncing around the place, that when the light fades, are almost impossible to see. Yet this is the scenario I am now left with, ride on in dangerous conditions, or camp up in the rain. Perhaps foolishly I ride on, but at a very slow pace, even then a few times I catch from the corner of my eyes the movement of one of these large marsupials which can stand 6 foot tall. I finally pull in to Buchan at 7.30pm, exhausted and slightly annoyed with myself for misjudging the length of the day and leaving myself in a vulnerable position, I know better.
I quickly set up the tent, ate a small meal, enjoyed a hot shower and was sound asleep by 9pm. I woke at 6.30am the following day, and on my way the the loos almost fell over a kangaroo who was minding his own business in camp, quietly chewing some grass, I'm not sure who was more surprised, but it was a lovely start to the day.
I'm on the road by 8am and heading towards the coast, not that the road really touches the sea, but I weave from small country town to small country town, each Main Street lined with a collection of Utes , while there owners go about some business in town, picking up sillies for the farm, having breakfast with other country folk and chewing the fat of life. The towns do have a similar feel, being built at roughly the same period, they all have a bank, a church, a lawyers office, a general store and now days a cafe. No town regardless of how small is complete without a flat white refill station!
Again the weather is chilly and there are intermittent light shower, but no Roos to hamper the speed. I arrive at Antony's house at 5.30pm, he is one of many fri nods I made while in my two months residency in Mendoza back in 2009, after my accident just outside the town. He's a good lad, despite being from the north of England, no ones perfect I guess. We have a couple of cold beers before heading out for a steak dinner and a good catch up. The following day is a whistle stop tour of Melbourne, which strikes me as a nice town it live, but not a tourist must; but then I'm a hard man to please.
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