G'day,
I get a bit long winded here but how else am I not to embellish my travels.
Dural (NSW) to Honolulu, Hawaii
Dropped the bike off at BMW Sydney for crating and further transport. Next caught the train to the International Airport. As my flight wasn't until 2200hrs and I had 6 hours of mindless activity to consume my time. The internet was free and as was the selection of fat pills ever so available at every vendors counter top. The flight was 9 hours and believe it or not they actually had 2 movies that made sense. No kids or babies within 10 rows (what a Grinch!) so it was a pleasant flight back to traffic, noise, crowds and the tax man.
It was a grand total of 2 months on the byways of Australia.
Let’s do the numbers and final comments.
January Thru March 2008: 15,000km adding 30,000km from last year (2007) and the final tally= 45,000km
2008: Starting from (noted clothes designer for the tennis groupies) Kinglake, Melbourne where I left the bike in September 2007. Traveled to Portland, farmer and wife, next up to Adelaide with the homeless couple. Returned to Melbourne catching the ferry to Tasmania. Around Tassie then back across the Bass Strait into Melbourne staying with the Mafioso of chicken plucker's. Next up and around the Snowy River National Park, Victoria before heading north west into New South Wales and Broken Hill. From Broken Hill my intentions were to head to Birdsville. But road conditions, distance between petrol stations and just a bit of common sense (finally!!) prevailed. Finally decided that I don't need to get myself into trouble at this late of date. So it was off to the east coast, going around in small circles, then down to Sidney for the last week of my stay.
Good:
1. Again I can not stress enough the friendliness of the Australia people. A conversation with strangers was the norm. And if I used enough Yank BS, I had a name and an invite to return and stay with them.
2. The open road, caravan sites.
3. Bakery’s, finally got away from Mrs. Mac's Beef Pot pies.
4. Library's for their broadband Internet access.
5. Caravan Follies: This happens right around 1500hrs and continues for the next 3 hours. People that have been on the road all day come into the caravan sites with every imaginable vehicle possible. Mom gets out and tries to direct dad in parking the caravan into the smallest parking space possible. Now this evolution generally comes to an argument, swearing, cursing your family relations and all to the enjoyment of the neighbors.
The next show time follies are just before dust. Dad comes out of the caravan and sets up 2 chairs and table. Goes over to the cooler and grabs a bottle of cheap New Zealand wine and mom is not too far behind with a platter of food. It is the social hour where the day’s events come to the fore. Discussions center on whether or not it will be plastic plates tonight for tea or the cost of the latest gadget widget that dad thinks is necessary for survival of the specie's.
Bad:
1. Trash: if I had one problem on my travels was the amount of trash (bottles, plastic, etc.) that I saw along the roads. Hawaii has the same problem and it’s not the tourist that is the cause of trash we see daily. It’s your own home grown people that treat the environment as a waste bin. Enough said!
2. Flies and mosquitos: Tasmania was the worst in my travels. I think that Victoria and New South Wales ships the bugs to Tassie just to irritate the locals.
3. There might be a bit of disagreement here all dependent on just how close people got to me after wearing the same clothes......... Where as last year during the winter months when the temperatures where in the single digits life was good. This past trip with temps in the upper 30’s (80-90F). By the end of the day after wearing motorcycle clothing, I believe at times road kill smelled better!
4. Constant pain to both the right and left wrist and hand. The right hand giving me the most problems due to the constant tension of holding the throttle. The right hand even at night would hurt enough to wake me up. Just the joy's of being on the bike.
Motorcycle BMW 650GS
Repairs: Sydney BMW; replacing the front fork seals.
Melbourne BMW; changing brake fluid
Tyres: The Mitas tyres lasted 15,000km
and a new set was put on in Sydney
Oil changes (2) and replacement of coolant
Tools: Bead breaker, 2 tyre irons, front/back tyre tubes, air compressor, tool bag, assorted nuts/bolts, litre of engine oil, can of lubricant, assorted BMW repair parts, 2 litre bottle of coolant.
Motorcycle Clothing:
Dri-rider jacket, BMW trousers, rain gear trousers, suspenders, SIDI boots, Noland Helmet, summer gloves, bright day-glow jacket over motorcycle jacket, ear plugs
Accessories:
4 season 2 man tent, sleeping bag, inflatable air mattress and pillow, 2 one litre fuel bottles, 4 one litre water bottles, assorted nylon ties, clothes pins, washing up liquid, paper towels, Oz Motorcycle Atlas, head lamp, radio, cell, 40 gig hard drive, camera battery charger, plastic bags, rubber mallet, paper back books, 3 leg stool, thongs(flip flops), sandals, 1 long sleeve shirt, 4 T shirts, 3 shorts, toilet kit, towel.
Navigation: Garmin GPSmap 60Cx with Australia Mapsource City Navigator installed.
Cameras:
Canon 20D SLR digital. Camera's digital len's failed had to buy new one in Hobart, Tasmania.
Canon G5 Point and Shoot
Emergency backup:
1. Cell phone (Telstra)
2. EPIRB; emergency satellite beacon
3. Medical Flight Insurance
4. NRMA insurance for the bike along with road side assistance for recovery.
And for your reading pleasure I have the following references for those that have nothing else better to do during your idle hours.........
The Wild White Man of Badu Ion Idriess
The Dig Tree Sarah Murgatroyd
Cattle King Ion Idriess
Cooper's Creek Alan Moorehead
Explorations in Australia John Forest
The Explorers William Joy
Great Australian Explorers Marcia McEwan
Australia's Last Explorer: Ernest Giles
Geoffrey Dutton
The Voyages of Matthew Flinders Max Colwell
Camels and the Outback H.M.Baker
The Men that God Forgot Richard Butler
(Convicts-Sarah Is)
The Fatal Shore Robert Huges
Western Tasmania Charles Waitham
And finally,
The Grey Nomad
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