Thursday, May 8, 2014

8 May - Philip Island

The weather bureau promised a mild warm day today after a long stretch of miserable riding weather. Woke up this morning and peeked out the bedroom window and hooray! Blue skies and no wind. Time to go for the first decent ride on the VT750 Shadow. Bright weather always attracts me to either the coast or the mountains and at this time of the year the coast seemed a much better choice so I pointed the bike to the scenic route to Philip Island via the Gippsland hills between Korumburra and Wonthaggi. It was one of those sparkling days where everything looks brighter and shinier and with the bike purring away nicely and the sun beating down on my back I was once again reminded of the special joy that is motorcycling.

 Old rail bridge at Kilcunda, South Gippsland

All too soon, I reached the bridge at San Remo which connects the mainland to Philip Island and after a quick stop for a photo it was time to continue.


Cowes, the main town on Philip Island is a very popular tourist destination, but today and at this time of the year there were very few holiday makers so I only had to share with the locals which seem to be predominantly recently retired people. Enjoyed a great coffee and bacon and egg roll at Gullivers - must try one of the other cafes soon.


The return trip was wonderful too. Took the coast road between Cape Patterson and Inverloch which runs right alongside the Bunarong Coastal Marine park. Very beautiful but all too brief. Stopped for fuel at Inverloch and noticed that my phone had gone flat. Time to check out my newly installed power supply so a quick detour to the local discount store for a $4 iPhone cable, plugged it all in and all was well. By mid afternoon, the bright sun of the morning had changed to produce a golden glow over the countryside. There was still no wind and the winding way home through the Strzelecki ranges was absolutely superb.

I must say I'm rapidly developing my relationship with the new Shadow. It has all the comforts and civilised behaviour that my previous Shadow had, but the extra power for passing or going up hill is outstanding. When you twist the throttle to pass someone if feels like the afterburners have kicked in - very reassuring.

I can thoroughly recommend the Honda VT750 for anyone looking for a comfortable, well behaved and easy to ride motorcycle that still has lots of grunt when it is needed.

Another great day on the bike.

Total Distance 335 km

4 comments:

  1. Good stuff Theo. Phillip Island is a wonderful place to visit, even better if its relatively empty of tourists. Sounds like your really getting to know and love the shadow now.

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  2. Yep, the more I ride it, the more I like it.

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  3. Nice pictures of my part of the world. happy riding Theo..

    Gaston

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