VICTORIA
Day 9 Mount Gambier to Apollo Bay April 8, 2010 347 Kilometres
What a day it was! Had an unbelievable day today. A cold morning with fog, not the pea soup variety but more like chicken broth. Packed the scooter after wiping away the heavy dew and then on to the road I. Once the sun warmed the fog cleared but still evident when I arrived at the Victorian/South Australian border. Didn't look like rain, at least for a while. No wind to speak of at any time during the day.
Over the South Australian/Victorian border and almost immediately the scenery changed from mainly flat treeless terrain to undulating timbered country along the more winding road. Travelled through Warrnambool and bypassed Portland, stopping at Port Fairy for a coffee. Back on the road on to Port Campbell where I enjoyed a lunch before stopping on a regular basis to take shots of the magnificent coastal scenery along the world renowned Great Ocean Road. This would have to be one of the world's greatest coastal drives/rides and any visitor to Victoria would be missing out on a trip one would never forget.
Travelling further east, I started to climb to ride along the very winding and narrow section of the road high above the Southern Ocean, up over the Otway Ranges. Boy, Was it fun! I would come out of one bend only to lean the scooter the other way to work my way around the next. I did take one corner a little too fast which caused me to take a lot more care on the wet and slippery road. On this section of the road there are a number of signs posted showing a motorcycle on its side. Not being able to recall the exact wording on these signs but they basically drew attention to the fact that there are more motorcycle accidents along this road than any other in Australia and I would not doubt this for a minute.
The end of the best day since leaving Perth sees me in a motel room in Apollo Bay with great expectations about tomorrows ride which will see me finish the Great Ocean Road leg, through Melbourne and arriving at my daughter's place in Hampton Park.
Day 10 Apollo Bay to Hampton Park (South Eastern Suburb of Melbourne) via Ballarat April 9, 2010 341 Kilometres
Set off this morning looking forward to the days ride even allowing for the concern I had for the very wet road with it having rained for most of the night. Thankfully the rain had stopped by the time I was to hit the road. It wasn't long before I was unnerved by the scooter trying to slip out from under me on a tight bend but thankfully I was able to stay upright however was not prepared to go any where near the maximum speed posted of 80 kilometres per hour and fell much lower than most of the recommended speeds of which, most were at 30 k.p.h., through the continuous bends in the road.
I spent a great deal of the time riding far to the left while waving faster moving traffic to pass me when the narrow, wet and very windy road allowed. I was certainly in no rush to add my name as another statistic on this notorious length of bitumen.
With The Great Ocean Road now behind me, I headed north to Ballarat in an unsuccessful attempt to locate a very aged Aunt who I had not seen for many a long year. Being a very keen Genealogist, I was hoping she may be able to pass on any family history and/or photographs she may have in her possession.
From Ballarat, on the Western Freeway to Melbourne approaching the city via the West Gate Bridge which is well known due to high winds coming in off the Southern Ocean. This was a concern I had not need worry about as I was able to ride between to large trucks which protected me from any threatening gusts. Having been born and bred, then later worked in Melbourne and it having been only a couple of years since I was in that city, I was amazed at the changes made to the skyline and the new roads which have seemed to have sprung up from nowhere. Obviously Victoria has been "on the move" as their car number plates tell us.
I arrived at my daughter's place in Hampton Park at a little after 4p.m. with a short wait before she arrived home.
Melbourne Day 1
April 10, 2010
The number one priority was to book the scooter in for a long overdue
service and found prices varied widely, the highest being $380 and the least
$100. Ended up settling on a quote for $150 giving me a few days to run around
the place before the service. After making a few phone calls I was about to hop
on the scooter when I noticed my rear tyre had worn so badly leaving no tread to
be seen. This would certainly account for the effort the scooter made to become
horizontal while I was on The Great Ocean Road. Having found this to be a
problem, I again phoned the place where the scooter was to be tuned to ensure he
had the a tyre in stock to replace the worn one. He explained the uneven wearing
of the rear tyre in comparison to the front possibly due to the cross winds I
fought while crossing the country. I would to have the scooter in the shop
overnight and would be able to pick it up later the next day. With the weather
leaving the roads quite wet and the tyre so badly worn, I was not prepared to
take it out on the road until it was time for the service. This meant delaying
the plans I had to go to visit other family members spread around Victoria.
Still not quite sure about riding back to Perth, I took this opportunity to make
a further few phone calls about the cost of having the scooter transported back
to Perth, this, I very quickly learnt was far more expensive that I had first
thought it would be with one quote being as high as $1,457. A RIP OFF!
Melbourne Day 4
April 13, 2010
Happy Birthday to me, Happy birthday to me, Happy Birthday dear me, Happy
birthday to meeeeeeee! Yes, I have celebrated the 9th Anniversary of my 48th
Birthday. It was great to share the evening with my 2 daughters and their
husbands.
Melbourne Day 5
April 14, 2010
Picked the scooter up this morning before leaving for a ride up to
Heathcote, meaning a ride of about 350 kilometres today for the return trip, to
visit a brother and his family. It was a beautiful warm day and the forced rest
I have had, not only helped my wrist to rest for a few days, but gave me a new
zest to be out on the open road once again. Once I had arrived I was invited to
stay the night returning to Melbourne the next day which I was pleased to
accept.
The next day I left Heathcote to ride back to Hampton Park via Taradale, a town on the Calder Highway, where a Grandfather had been born. I was keen to visit the local cemetery to take some photographs of a few of my ancestors. This was a added a further 60 kilometres to the trip but again, being a warm and dry day, I enjoyed every minute while travelling.
Melbourne Day 6
April 15, 2010
Left Hampton Park to ride out to the Yarra Valley to visit a sister and this
gave me the reason for going up over the Dandenong Ranges, an area of Victoria I
knew so well as I spent most of my childhood days growing up in Emerald. The
scooter ran beautifully around so many bends in the road I had so many times
before travelled on from the time I was about 6 years of age till well after I
had my driving licence. Quite obviously nothing could be more enjoyable than
riding upon two wheels on these roads where I had always previously had four
sitting on the bitumen.
Having already travelled widely around Australia, I have always believed Victoria's roads were the best of all the other states and this trip east has just reconfirmed this, be it a highway, freeway or a more minor a road. They were all a pleasure to ride on and obviously the State Government was not resting on their laurels. The new freeways extending quite a distance out of Melbourne are in first class condition with them being serviced on a regular basis by either McDonalds or KFC restaurants coupled with a service station sitting in the middle of the freeway allowing motorists to stop from either direction. I dare say this idea also gives the driver a reason to stop and rest on those long drives.
This time in Victoria has been most unusual as the days, with the exception of 2, have been without rain and quite warm however, knowing the Victorian climate as well as I do, I knew it just couldn't last and this was confirmed by the weather forecast with Melbourne expected to be hit by buckets of rain over the coming next few days.
I had, if the good weather was to continue, planned to go up into the Great Dividing Range to visit where the other side of my family's ancestors first settled when they immigrated from England to settle in Victoria seeking gold in them thar hills, but this was not to be.
So, it was back to Perth I was to go with the return trip starting off first thing the next morning.
