Ka Pai Kiwis - Oz again 25

Our final day in Australia. We have packed our bags and are a bit worried we will be overweight, it will be close. I called an uber to take Robyn and the bags to the shipper and I set off on the bike. I only took one wrong turn, the spaghetti junctions do confuse me. Anyway we got there ok. The shipping guys are super helpful and friendly and chatted away while I stripped down the bike to make it smaller. The boss came down and asked what we were going to do and we said we would just uber to the airport hotel. He insisted it was way too early for that, told us of a nice place to look around shops and have lunch and lent us a car to get there! So that is what we did and when we were done he dropped us off at the airport. Great service. 23500km about the same as our 2019 trip from London to Kuala Lumpur! So that’s a wrap. Australia done and dusted. We have had a great time over the two trips, Australia has exceeded our expectations, but we are looking forward to returning home and planni...

We are pretty well ahead of schedule so it really was a day of relaxing. We packed up what we could and I did a bit of extra fussy cleaning of the bike. There is a fabulous coffee shop across the road so a leisurely morning tea was in order. View from the apartment. Robyn wandered around a few shops and I chilled. It sounds very boring but ordinary is just what we need right now. We decided to see the movie “ Small things like these” starring Cillian Murphy. Not exactly light entertainment but a powerful and beautifully crafted movie. We met Elizabeth for a drink and dinner by way of a big thank you for looking after our motorbike these last few months. It is much appreciated.

A cool start to the day at 10 degrees. We decided just to go the quickest way to Melbourne as rain was forecast. So dual carriageway and motorway all the way. In the hills behind Melbourne the temp dropped to 6, so we pulled off so Robyn could install batteries into her heated gloves. She is so lucky her husband had them at hand and fully charged. So into the spaghetti of Melbourne roads we went and after only one misdirection we arrived at our apartment in South Yarra. As luck would have it we were able to check in early and also able to avail ourselves of a covered carpark. We wandered across the road for lunch and luckily have found a carwash in the carpark under the complex we were in. They had never washed a motorbike before but were happy to give it a go . Come back in one hour…. Perfect. 1 1/2 hours later the bike is spik and span and ready for export. At one point three people were working on it. Best $40 spend of the trip. We then walked 3.5 km to Elizabeth’s place to collect ...

We have enjoyed a day off the bike especially with the weather being so nice. After a leisurely breakfast we ubered to the other side of Bendigo to visit a motorcycle accessory store. AMX Bendigo is part of a large chain and most branches are quite big so there is a good opportunity to compare and try on items for several suppliers. Our next trip (watch this space) will be a different style of trip so different gear is needed. So suitably lightened of $$ we ubered back to the hotel to try on our new kit. We then walked a few hundred metres to a tourist tram line which has survived and risen from the ashes of the public tram system which was scrapped many years ago. There is a dedicated group of enthusiasts who have lovingly restored the carriages. The tourist line is not long but stops at points of interest along the way and you can hop on and off as you please. Bendigo is a gold mining town and in it’s day was the most prosperous town in Australia as evidenced by some very impressive ...

We have spent most of the day on the same road we were on a few days ago but the road is good and not too busy. Mostly a farming scene today and being Sunday there were lots of caravans on the road. A pleasant enough days travel with beautiful sunshine and a pleasant 19 degrees We have arrived in Bendigo where we will spend 2 nights . Bendigo has an autumn feel about it now. We feel we are on the home straight now so just want a chill day before we hit Melbourne and get into our work to prepare the bike for shipping etc.

After consulting google maps I decided on the back road today. It looked more interesting than the Silver City highway but it did add 100kms to the day. But first it was a visit to the top of the massive slag heap which overlooks Broken Hill and a visit to the very impressive miners memorial. I think there must have been about 1000 memorial plaques with name, age and cause of death. Lots of falls and crushing injuries but also many many lung related illnesses, especially in the earlier years. Hopefully with better awareness and ppe this is now a thing of the past. We then set off on our adventure ride and it turned out to be a treat. A lovely road winding through a desert landscape, I don’t know why but I’m drawn to this type of environment, some people look and see nothing, but I see a visual kalaidescope of colour and shapes and find it really beautiful. Most of the day was like that, in places there was more scrub in places. Dust storm in the distance. We came to a series of massive...

A relaxing day today. After a bit of a lie in and leisurely breakfast we wandered to the I site. Then it was a nearly 3k walk up and down dale in search of an art museum we had heard about. Pro Hart art gallery and a tribute to his life. The life he lead makes me feel sedentary and inadequate. He lived in Broken Hill for all his 77 years. Worked in the mines for 20 years. Produced an estimated 100000 paintings which are brilliant also a sculptor, car and motorcycle collector, bodybuilder and state level champion pistol shooter and avid art collector. Somehow he found time to sire 5 children. A real treat of a gallery and a highlight for sure. We then wandered back into town and spent the rest of the day between just chilling and wandering around the shops and cafes. Also I enjoyed reading the street signs, Oxide, Chloride, Bromide, Beryl and Sulphide streets to name a few. A memorial to lost miners on top of the huge slag heap. Nice to have a day off the bike without anything in partic...

It was a cloudy start to the day today as we set off on 467km of straight roads. OK there were some corners but none that needed to be slowed down for. What I did need to slow down for was literally thousands of goats grazing both sides of the road. Luckily they are shy and tend to move away, but there is the odd renegade. Lunch was in Wilcannia, just a crossroads town on the Darling river but pleasant enough. The sun was out by now and the goats had thinned out a bit but still quite a few. A few more emu’s around though and these peanut brained birds really do have to be watched. I saw one playing chicken with a landcruiser, it got away with it thanks to the driver’s sharp reactions. Now I know I have commented on roadkill several times before but today topped it off. Mostly kangaroos and a few goats but they stretched all the way to Broken Hill sometimes in their 2’s and 3’s. At one point I thought I was riding through a butchers shop window! The last 80km turned into a bit of a miss...

It rained overnight but it had pretty well stopped this morning. We treated ourselves to breakfast out and found a little cafe around the corner that sold a very healthy looking option called açaí bowl. It was very nice so I should be able to have an extra beer tonight 😂. We then hit the road which was wet and as we left town one of those flashing traffic signs warned us of the animal activity on the road ahead. Wet weather tends to bring them close to the road edge for the moisture and new green shoots of grass. The temperature was 18 and we soon hit 22 so it was lovely riding conditions and I was happy to slow down and avoid any potential disasters. As it happens there wasn’t much roadkill and I only saw one live kangaroo beside the road but that’s one more than any other day on this trip so under the speed limit I stayed. We stopped for morning tea at a town called Nyngan which is where the road turns sharply to the west. Nyngan is in the Bogan Shire and there are signs all over pr...

Woop woop. Our warmest start yet. A balmy 14. We sought out the back roads today and it was just lovely. Over high hill tops ( they call them mountains here😂) and winding through the countryside through small towns and villages. Really pretty. We have made the right decision not to travel further east, the clouds over the Blue Mountains looked ominous. There is flooding occuring in the Hunter area just north of Sydney and things look to get worse in the next day or two. Dubbo is a nice place in the same way Palmy is, unremarkable but a nice enough feel to it. We went for a bit of a wander and it is nice to walk along a town centre with actual shops in it. Obviously no mall here. We wandered past the old Gaol which is in the main st but were a bit too late to take in a tour. With rain threatening we headed to the pub for a drink and dinner. Spot the mistake in this photo, no Mark’s not the mistake😀- (Robyn) The $15 steak didn’t disappoint and Robyn made friends with one of the locals ...

I was going to start by saying groundhog day because that is how it started but actually the riding and the scenery became more and more interesting as the day wore on. Sure, just like yesterday it was cool and windy and much farmland but we entered a section of hilly country with winding country roads which was a real treat to ride through. We passed many interesting old towns, I think the Aussies do original old towns really well, of course many of them are constructed with bricks and they don’t have earthquakes to worry about but nevertheless most of the old main streets are obviously loved and a real treat to visit. Our food stops have been great today, with a delicious breakfast wrap for brunch and then I couldn’t resist the mushy pea pie for late lunch. I didn’t realise how high we climbed today but the temperature slowly dropped and as we passed through the town of Blayney a sign informed us we were at 860 metres, the temperature slowly dropped and was 12! From there it was a ve...

Another cold start to the day. The day dawned crisp and clear, not a cloud in the sky but a very cold southerly wind blowing. We both opted for an extra layer and it paid off I think. Once again long straight roads through pastoral farmland but very dry looking and low stock rates I imagine, at least we saw only small herds of cows and a few sheep. One thing that we saw in abundance was roadkill, in some places there was a dead kangaroo every 100 metres and we saw at least 2 cars parked on the side of the road with extensive frontal damage. I didn’t see any live kangaroos thank goodness but I was on high alert just in case. Just a few emu’s grazing away. We decided on a shorter trip today and we are in a small but very pretty little town called Narrandera. After a quick lunch at a local cafe we checked into our motel and then went for a walk. We must have looked a bit lost as a lady who was also walking asked us where we wanted to go. She was quite helpful and then strode off for her e...