22 April - Trip to Queensland - Summary

Total Distance Covered ~ 4,500 km

The trip up the coast took 3 full days and a short ride on the 4th day.
The return trip (inland) took 4 full days.

In hindsight in future I would avoid the coast road because it forces you to travel many kilometers on extremely busy and fast moving freeways such as:

 - the Hume Highway from Mittagong to the M7
 - the M7
 - the Pacific Highway north of Sydney
 - the Gold Coast Highway from Tweed Heads to Brisbane
 - the Gateway Freeway around Brisbane
 - the Bruce Highway north of Brisbane.

The logistics of my trip were such that I hit each of these at very busy times.

The inland route via the Newell Highway is much more relaxing despite an occasional concentration of road trains.

Overall I found 4 days continuous riding, alone, to be pretty challenging. It would be a much better experience with a free day or the opportunity for sightseeing.

Another golden rule from this trip: riding at night on busy freeways is not advisable, and when it starts raining quickly becomes impossible. On a bike the vision required to change lanes safely in busy traffic is not there.

Overall, the experience was something like my experience of parachuting out of a plane - really glad I did it but not in a hurry to do it again.

21 April - Home Sweet Home

Left Wandi this morning at 09:30 after a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs prepared by JT.
A bright clear day but the temperature was a brisk 6ºC. The alpine road over Hotham and Dinner Plain is currently closed as a result of recent bushfires and rain so the route home was via Whitfield, Mansfield, Alexandra and Healesville. Stopped only in Whitfield (for number 1's) and Healesville for fuel. Got home at 4 pm.

Total Distance today 474 km
Total Distance for trip 4500 km

20 April - Wandiligong

Left Forbes this morning just after 7 am. The temperature was 7ºC, so it was time to rug up and switch the grip heaters to high. The first stop was Grenfell (Henry Lawson's birthplace) for fuel and as there was no sign of breakfast being served anywhere I continued on to Young which fortunately, featured a McDonalds. Time to thaw out and enjoy a hot breakfast. From here the route was through Cootamundra and Gundagai, at which point I hit the Hume Highway. Fortunately the traffic was light, probably because it is a Saturday. Next stop Holbrook for a photo of the submarine, a toilet stop and an icecream for lunch. Rang JT to see if he was home and in the mood for a visitor and then completed the last 180 km to Wandiligong via Wodonga, Beechworth, Myrtleford and Bright where I topped up the fuel tank ready for tomorrow. Reached Wandi at 3pm, and John and I are heading down to the Alpine Hotel for a few beers and a meal. Tomorrow, weather permitting I'll head for home via Mansfield, Alexandra and Healesville.

Total Distance 541 km.

19 April - Forbes, NSW

Left Goondiwindi at 07:30 this morning after a solid night's sleep. The temperature was 13 ºC, quite brisk, but the sky was blue and it warmed quickly. Within minutes I had crossed the border into NSW.
First stop was for breakfast and fuel in Moree - coffee and banana bread in the local MacDonalds. My route was straight down the Newell Highway which takes you through hundreds of kilometers of the flattest countryside imaginable. The wind is continually pushing the bike in all directions, and at times you're also contending with road trains which invariably travel much quicker than I'm prepared to so when they pass it's like a two story block of flats going by. Generally though the Newell Highway allows you to cover a lot of km's quickly. Stopped in Dubbo for lunch and then pushed on through Parkes - saw The Dish to the left in the distance and then on to Forbes. Forbes is one of the most beautiful country towns in Australia - it has spectacular public buildings everywhere. Got a room in the Lamplighter Motel and had dinner in the NSW Services Club just across the road. I ordered an eye fillet steak and was absolutely amazed when they brought out two large eye fillet steaks on one plate. Apparently that's a normal serve out here, and I felt distressed leaving one of them. Anyway, I hope to get away early again tomorrow and if the weather cooperates I should end up close to home by tomorrow night leaving a shorter ride on the last day - we'll see.

Total Distance 660 km.

18 April - Goondiwindi

Said goodbye to Saskia and Lexi this morning and by 8:40 I was on the Bruce Highway headed for home. I'm travelling the inland route on the return trip, which will hopefully be much more relaxed. The destination for today was Goondiwindi which is located right on the Qld/NSW border and just under 500km distance. First stop was Nanango for a quick comfort stop and an excellent coffee and jam donut at the local bakery. It was endless blue sky all day and hardly any traffic. Stopped for fuel at Dalby and from there to Moonee and Goondiwindi. I've just got back to my motel after a couple of beers at the Victoria Hotel and an excellent Schezuan Beef at the local Chinese restaurant.  Hopefully the weather will hold out for the next three days.

Total Distance 480 km.

17 April - Ulysses AGM Maryborough

Rode to the AGM in Maryborough today to check out the bikes. The test rides were solidly booked until Friday, so I had to content myself with looking at and sitting on bikes. Also watched some great demonstrations of the value of ABS to deal with tricky surfaces such as oil slicks and gravel. Against all odds I ran into a couple of Ulysses members from our own branch and had a good chat. Managed to ride back to Gympie in time to beat the mother of all rain and thunderstorms.

At this stage I've done all I wanted to do at the AGM, spent some quality time with family, so the plan is to start my trip home tomorrow morning. I'll be taking the inland route this time through Dalby, Goondiwindi, Dubbo and Wagga Wagga.

Total Distance 180 km.

16 April - Caloundra - Bike Service

Up early this morning to ride 80km to Caloundra for the 20,000 km service and a tire change. Very impressed with the service at Motolife and by lunch time the bike was ready to go. Despite the weather forecast (rain and possible storms) the weather was great. Had a text invitation to join Saskia and Kate (Peter's daughter) at the Burger Bar in Tewantin. After a pleasant ride up the Sunshine Motorway I arrived just in time and had a very relaxed and pleasant lunch. It was good to see Kate again, she lives on the Sunshine Coast now. By the time lunch was over the sky had started to look a bit dark and by the time I'd got 10km up the road it was looking very grim and a storm was obviously imminent. Quickly stopped at a service station to put on my wet weather gear. This usually ensures that it won't rain, but not this time. By the time I was halfway to Gympie the sky opened and it bucketed down. The wet weather gear worked a treat and got home without further incident.