Motorcycling

Our move back to South Australia started on Thursday November 15^th with the uplift of all our household belongings. I worked back a day as Flights were difficult out of Kununurra and meant I would have either had to overnight in Perth or Darwin. Leaving a day later meant just the one days travel and the day in lieu will be handy to take down the track sometime.

I arrived at Goolwa on the Friday night and my wife and youngest son arrived Saturday evening.

Monday the removalist truck arrived. Busy unpacking for 2 days and I decided that it was time to go for a ride.

Wednesdays at Goolwa means the local group of riders don their riding gear and head out for a ride. I prefer a longer ride and was a little worried that they would just ride 30 minutes up the road for a Latte and then head back.

I took my Vstrom and fuelled it up at the BP service station as they have premium fuel. I do prefer to run the higher octane. Then it’s off to the meet spot at another service station.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We left Goolwa just after 10am and headed for McLaren vale for a coffee.

The lead rider took all the back roads to get there. Some great roads, all full of curves and bends. I had never been on many of them, so I will need to go back sometime to retrace them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped for Coffee at McLaren Vale and had a chat with the other riders. They were interested in the new rider in the group and asked me all the usual questions. They all seemed to be great fellas. I did know one of the rides. Don French. He is a member of FarRides and is a young 80 years of age. Don owns 2 bikes. A BMW K1200RS and a Kawasaki GTR 1400. He believes that Age is all in the mind and thankfully he says, I only started to think 18 years ago.

Don Had electrical problems on the BMW and had to meet us at McLaren Vale on the GTR.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was pleasantly surprised when they asked if I would continue on with them for lunch. I had thought they would be returning to Goolwa.  So we headed off to the Macclesfield Hotel for lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After have a Chicken Schnitzel Burger for lunch we rode back to Goolwa via Milang and Claytons Bay.

Once back in Goolwa some of the group headed to the local brewery for a cleansing ale. I joined them but opted for a coffee.

It was a great little ride. Only rode 185km but it was with great company. I’m looking forward to the next ride.

 

I have named this FarRide “FarTrot”

I had about 4 different plans made for this ride and in the end I used none of them and planned a 5th route on the Friday morning.

On the Thursday I had to go to the Doctor as I had a problem with an ingrowing toe nail. It had been troubling me for over 3 months and was now becoming quite infected. The Doctor prescribed a course of antibiotics. Yep that will fix the infection but I have a reaction to antibiotics. They tend to loosen me up a bit my regular habits become a lot more regular.

I had planned to ride from Goolwa to Cobar via Renmark. In the end my wife talked me into returning to Goolwa on the Saturday afternoon to drive my car to Cobar so I could drive her car back to Goolwa to Register there as we are moving back there in November.

So with a little quick planning I came up with a FR12 Gold that I had registered for.

My ride started from Goolwa and I grabbed my start receipt from the BP service station 15:56 and off I rode. I had planned to head north from Goolwa up through the Adelaide hills and then head through to Port Pirie. After heading towards Strathalbyn I turned towards Meadows about 14km from the start of my ride. These roads are normally bliss to ride through but with battling the wind as far as Hahndorf I made the decision to get onto the south eastern freeway and head into Adelaide and then up to port Pirie from there. This was not a major change to my plan really but I thought it safer due to the amount of debris blowing off the trees. I had been thinking that one bit of bad luck with a limb falling into path was not worth the ride up through the hills, no matter how remote the odds were.

The ride into Adelaide was made in heavy rain but once off the freeway the weather eased heaps and it was a comfortable ride through to the northern outskirts of Adelaide. Once out of the town limits and riding north with the gulf not to far to my left I was again battered with heavy cross winds however I was still able to make good time and was arrived at Port Pirie to refuel and have something to eat. I was booked into the Hotel at Wilmington but they had told me that the kitchen would be closed by 8pm I knew I would not Make it until after then. So  it was food from the pie heater. Always worries me just how long the food has been in them. Anyway I thought after visiting 3 loo’s to get this far I may as well eat. Anyway the food was ok. I talked briefly to a lady in the roadhouse dining room and she had asked if I was on the bike outside and if I had ridden from Adelaide. Yep that was me. She said that she had made a remark to her husband that she was glad not to be on a bike as they were watching me getting knocked about by the wind.

Well time to head to Wilmington. I left the roadhouse and into the darkness of the night again. I tried to find Davo’s  plaque on the way to show my respects as I could not make the ride earlier in the month. Alas I could not find it in the dark. Next time. So off I head through Horrocks Pass. No wonder it was one of Davo’s favourite sections of road. It had not rained for some time here and the wing now behind me had well and truly dry them. I enjoyed  it . Stopped at the top for a FarChallenge picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was then just a short ride to Wilmington and I arrived at about 21:00. As  walked in the door I was greeted by a lady said “Hi, you must be Cliff. Yep that’s me.

The place was rockin’. The locals were have a good time. The owner asked me if I would like to park my bike around back locked in the yard. I said that would be good but I planned to leave early so would need to get my bike out. “No worries mate I will show you were I hide the key. Would have to recommend this place to anyone riding through. Friendly people and the bed was very comfy for a hotel. When I woke at 5am I really didn’t want to get out. But I did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the road again before 6am heading south towards Clare. I really have to go back sometime to explore the area better.

Neared James town and took a snap of a wind powered generator. This area is littered with them

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fueled up at Burra and met Fellow FarRider Nerfarm FR 206 and his Wife (now an exFarVirgin) Annette FR 619. After refueling  headed south to Kapunda and passed through a town called Marrabel. spotted an interesting Statue an stopped for a quick picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Refueled at kapunda although I really just needed the corner docket. (+ another  loo stop)

Then onto our checkin and RTE location. Renmark.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

101 riders completed the FarRide successfully. There were a few who didn’t make it due to breakdowns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

completed My check in but I hadn’t completed my FarRide. so back on the bike but had to pull up before I left town. you can guess why. another loo stop. this was starting to get beyond a joke.

eventually left town and headed south to Pinnaroo. from there I took a right and headed west towards Murray Bridge. stopped at Sherlock to get this photo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

rest of the ride was fairly uneventful and I only needed to stop one more time. Fuel docket at Goolwa.

FarRide 12 Gold successfully completed. total of 1,266 km ridden.

Feb 18^th – Nambucca Heads “The Wall”

I Fuelled up in Cobar and grabbed my start receipt for the FarRide. Time stamp on the receipt was 12:31. Perfect for no start receipt before 12:31.

Left Cobar and headed north to Bourke. Fuelled up at Bourke then headed South East to Nyngan then East to Denman.  It started raining at Dubbo so I pulled up and put the wets on. Arrived at Denman about 8:45pm and I book in there for the night at the hotel. Nothing flash but clean. I even managed to get a meal before the kitchen closed.

Up at about 5am and on the road by 6am. A bit of misty rain but soon cleared up.

Sunrise photo around Singleton.

Pulled up at Telegraph Point for fuel and a short rest as I had plenty of time prior to check in.

Stopped at A servo at Nambucca heads for a finish docket.

Arrived at The Wall and checked in. Time to take a look at a few of the other bikes.

And this was on the finishers list as having done 1032km

A 1942 Harley.

I recall Als (the owner) making the attempt 2 years prior and missing the check in by 15 minutes due to a failed battery. He had ended up putting a 6 volt dolphin torch battery in it to complete the ride.

Check out the seat. True Iron butt material eh.

Some more bikes parked up for lunch.

109 turned up for the FarRide RTE.

Shared a table with several other FarRiders. Malcolm has many IBA rides under his belt and is in his mid 70s. An inspiration to us all.

Time to move on. Many of the FarRiders stay for the evening and enjoy the companionship of the others. I’m sure it is a night of laughter and B.S. just to see who can tell the best lies J. I have stayed back a couple of times but tend to get board so I decided I would keep going after lunch at these rides.

I rode up towards Coffs Harbour turning off to ride up waterfall way. Its a great ride up through the twisties to Dorrigo and then onto Armidale.

I had to make several stops along the way to retention and lube the bike chain as it was showing signs of wear.

I pulled up at Coonabarabran for the night and rode home the next morning. Run out of lube for the Bike chain and pulled up at Warren and bought another tin. By the time I got home the chain was making a terrible sound. Glad it held up at least to get me to Cobar.

Completed 1,287km for the FarRide 12 Gold and a total of 2,215 for the weekend.

My spot unit didn’t perform all that well. But you can see my general track.

For this ride I will ride from Cobar and Start my nominated minimum of 1,200km for the 24hr from Walgett, I will then head up through St George, Roma and overnight in Emerald. I will then head off to the finish location, Eungella. I had prepped My Vstrom for the ride over the previous 2 months. Unfortunately while transporting my bike from Goolwa to Cobar I had broken the screen mounts and lost the windscreen, along with it was my SPOT2 unit. So i purchased a Madstad bracket and Givi screen. Installed them and am very pleased with the results. Not only have I got more wind protection but improved fuel economy. I also replaced the tracking unit with another SPOT2. I gave the drive chain a fair amount of attention also. It is starting to show signs of wear, but should be good for this ride. Bike was good to go.

Woke at about 4am on Friday morning Sept 30th. I had just finished night shift the previous morning and the body clock is still out of wack. Anyway had plenty of time to get ready for the ride. Malcolm had sent me a link to his Spot tracker and I checked this. I knew he had stayed in Cobar overnight by his Spot. He was on the road early and was 2 hours ahead of me. I had no idea of his planned route and assumed he was planning a big day.

Taken about 7am prior to the ride.

Bike packed and ready to go before the scheduled 8am. Odometer reading 83,262km. Needed fuel before I left town so headed off to the local BP station. Fuel receipt said 07:48. Looked like I would have time for a luxurious lunch with a Cappuccino and all.

Off to Bourke. Seen a few goats and Roo’s along the table drains, but no real problems to mention.

Departure side of Bourke heading to Brewarrina.

Refuelled at Bourke and headed for my start location Walgett.

Had some time up my sleeve so had nice lunch with that Cappuccino that I mentioned earlier. Finished lunch and checked the time. Still before 12.00 noon so rode to the servo and was about to fuel up and who turned up behind me? Malcolm. Seems he woke early got bored as you do and took on the goats and Roo’s before sunrise for entertainment. We both refuelled and proceeded to get our start dockets. Seems I timed it just right tax invoice docket read 12:00. Mind you the card receipt read 12:04. Malcolm paid and got his start docket and we proceeded to leave. I was just moving out when I seen a familiar bike parked at the exit to the servo. Seems Gags had the same plan as Malcolm and I. So it seems we had company for the ride. A bit unusual for me as I sure it is for them. So off to St George. Our next planned stop.

A couple of likely suspects at St George.

Refuelled at St George and off we went. Next stop Injune. The road and weather has been good. Dry roads and a good temperature for riding. A bit of wildlife on the road in this section. I was following Malcolm and noticed as we were taking a left sweeper that a snake (a 4’ Eastern Brown I think) just managed to slither from the oncoming tyres of Malcolm’s bike and into the grassy edge. A few lizards also scampered off the road as we approached. Sun was setting as we rode through Roma and pushed onto Injune. Stopped for fuel at Injune.

Refuelling at Injune

We all made our obligatory phone call after refuelling. Prior to leaving a group of young people arrived from the North and gave us warning of Cattle on the road ahead. And right they were. Quite a few cattle. I was in the lead and had my HID’s beaming down the road and managed to spot the groups of cattle in plenty of time. Had to put the lights down due to oncoming traffic. Perfect timing for a mad cow to become skittish and bolt out in front me. Fist full of brakes and the cow had almost past my path so started to ease of the brakes and it decided to do an about turn. Brakes fully applied again. And past it at walking pace. Gags told me later that it changed again and the oncoming truck struck the cow in the head, but did not kill it and it trotted off. Up the road a little further and there were what i thought was several more cattle having a snooze on the roadside, wrong it was cattle carnage. I guess a truck must have cleaned up half a dozen or more at speed. On we pushed to Emerald. Gags had accommodation booked there and I also found accommodation there. Malcolm had accommodation booked further up the road about 60km.

Emerald accommodation prior to departure.

After a good night sleep it was time to hit the road again. so fuelled up an d on my way. Had a great run and stopped for fuel at  …… Nebo I think. To be honest, I’m not truly sure. Just need to ask the other dozen FarRiders that pulled up to refuel .

Last refuel before Eungella

Left here following Malcolm again. Thought I could do some sightseeing and let Malcolm do the navigating. Noticed an increase in temperature after refuelling also. Took a left hand turn and….. found the stuff “Dusty Butts” are made of. Good road though and still made good time to the check-in.

Included a little dirt on the ride. Shaved a few K’s off I guess though.

Arrived at Eungella in plenty of time. What a great spot. But I must say thanks for the warning about the road in.

Thanks Clint, Carlene and Steve for a great location.

I checked in and had a nice lunch. I had itchy feet and wanted to get moving again. I had a quick talk with Clint about wings (sorry to disturb your lunch Clint). On my way again. I planned to get south of rocky and only just achieved it. Ox34 kept me company for about 100 – 150km south of Eungella. Fires on the highway slowed the advance. I met some other FarRiders and we were all held up by the fires. But only for about 30 minutes. Stayed at the Kabra Motel for the night. Booked in and unloaded to the room. Made the usual call to the wife. Noticed that I was sharing the room.

One of the 2 frogs in the room.

Also whle talking to the wife I watched a mouse run from under the bed to the bathroom and make a hasty retreat out the opened window. Window promptly shut. Time for a shower and a feed. Seem someone wanted to share the shower with me aswell.

Peeping frog at the shower window.

Shower window promptly shut. Didnt fancy bending over to wash my feet and have the frog use my bum as a landing pad. Had a great Steak and a few cleansing ales and of to bed. After a good night sleep i was on my way to the second purpose of my ride. Papaya seed dressing from the tropical fruit farm near Murwillumbah.

Sunrise south of Rocky.

Achieved mission B and headed further south to Lismore. Was caught by a little rain but not a lot. What can I say about the ride from Lismore to Tenterfield. Great road. Managed a stop on the way though. Checked out the riders rest. Keep this in the diary for a stopover. Love the antitheft parking.

Headed south at Tenterfield to glen Innes, Coldest part of the trip. Then took a right to Moree.  Past through Warialda on the way. Seen some interesting things made from tin.

More cows

All made by a lady for the honey festival.

Rest of the ride home was uneventful. Home at 6pm on day 4. Completed 4,072km for the trip. Oh and #1 rule obeyed. Home safe.

Not one for writing reports so I just put some pic’s in.

Departed Goolwa about 8am for an easy ride to Port melbourne.

on the pier at Port Melbourne. There was a few HD riders on the pier. there was a rally on the East coast they were heading to. 750km for day one.

Started my FarRide at Elizabeth town at 12:38. started heading towards Devonport and within 10 minutes I stopped to put the wets on. yep heavy rain until I was south of Burnie. Fined up after that for some great riding.

Head west just before Tullah for the Reece dam. some great riding there  . The roads track around the hills all the way.

Reece Dam.

Looks like a few of the HD riders had found there way here as well.

Headed out of Queenstown. 

Just west of Derwent Bridge. It was good to see and ride familiar territory  

that was the last of the pic’s for the day. I just wanted do do some riding.

Not a lot of photo’s the next morning either. stayed at Oatlands overnight at the Kentish Hotel. to late to get a feed so had a packet of chips with a cleansing ale.  . very nice spot for the price.

Rode to Fingal and then to Perth for a rest stop. Then headed south again for Derwent bridge. Done 1,230km for the FarRide.

Yep found them.

A few of the usual suspects.

MildThing said a few word.

As Fattymick said you picked a good spot.

Well i had a burger for lunch that could feed 2 and headed for Ulverstone to spent the night with My Sister and her husband. struck the usual west coast rain on the way.

Spent the next morning at Mum and Dads doing a few odd jobs, had dinner at the inlaws and then on the boat again.

On my way to Geelong.

First thing I had to do after getting off the boat the next morning was replace the rear tyre that I had to much fun on in Tassie.  

After 2.3 hours waiting for a new tyre to be fitted I headed for the great ocean road.

Seen a cute little fury fella on the Great ocean road.

Great scenery along the way.

Sunset over Strathalbyn.

Home

Just over 3,500km for the trip.

Many thanks to all involved for organising it.