Harbour City ~~> to Geordie-Land

Monday 21st March

Our apparel dried-out reasonably quickly from the previous day's (Sunday-20) downpours and consequent very wet ride up from Batemans Bay NSW; most of our gear, including my undies [oo-er] spread-out around the bedroom of our Ashfield-based B&B lodgings.

For your info, Ashfield is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, and is located about 9 kilometres [5.6 miles] south-west of the Sydney CBD (Central Business District).

The local news bulletins reported that the Illawarra and South Coast region of NSW (New South Wales), and the stretch of road we had just passed through - the Princes Highway - had over 300 mm [12 inches] of the wet stuff falling out of the clouds during Sunday and throughout Monday night.

Luckily we had escaped the worst of it .. yet again .. by leaving Batemans Bay shortly after breakfast on Sunday morning. Had we set-off from there just a day later, then it would have been quite a different story! This is becoming a habit. Fortunately for us we've managed to dodge - more by luck than judgement - all sorts of nasty weather conditions throughout most of our time in and around this huge continent.

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The local bus stops literally right outside our B&B's front door; so rather than ride the bike into the city centre, we catch a 30-minute bus ride instead. Getting our bearings wasn't easy at street level in amongst the city's skyscrapers, but we spotted a sign for Darling Harbour - which is probably Sydney's third biggest tourist destination.

Darling Harbour is basically just a large recreational and pedestrian precinct that is situated on the western outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Tourists flock there like bees to a honey pot .. so we thought we had better go and join 'em!

Darling Harbour Panorama - click on the picture for full view

Not a bad start to our first full day in Australia's largest city, despite the overcast weather conditions.

As an added bonus, we're able to take the ferry around Millers Point from Darling Harbour's nearby Pymont Bay terminal ..

.. and straightaway the Harbour Bridge comes into view, which is probably Sydney's second most famous landmark.

Some brave souls up there taking-in the views. The outlook must be spectacular if you have the time .. and the spare money to make The Bridge Climb. We had neither, especially the latter at AU$198 a go [that's GB£123.50 at prevailing crappy currency exchange rate!]

Bugger that for a lark! Did I ever mention my fear of heights by the way?!

Ellen would have been 'up for it' though .. if that's .. er .. the right expression under the circumstances?

Then the No. 1 star attraction of this busy city comes into view; the Opera House .. and suddenly, as if conducted to do so, all the passengers start clicking away with their cameras. I'm no exception, as you can see!

Iconic

Better take a look then. May as well .. especially seein' as we're here anyway, eh?!

Fascinating architecture, with seemingly endless curves and angles. No wonder photographers have a field day here.

Every corner you turn opens-up a multitude of different shapes and shadows ..

.. and reflections.

Unquestionably worth a lookaround. BUT this is my second visit to Sydney (I was here back in April 1994) .. and so for me it was definitely a case of Déjà vu.

A 'first' for Ellen though .. and therefore far more exciting for her.

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Tuesday 22nd

A day we won't forget.

Little did we know before we set-off from our B&B for Bondi Beach .. on this very sad day, what was about to unfold back home in England.

Without a care in the world, we were quickly changing into more suitable attire on the promenade before setting off for a stroll along one of the most famous beaches in the world.

Bondi Beach, located 7 kilometres east of the Sydney CBD.

Just like we pictured it .. thunderous surf, bronzed bikinied bodies .. and everything!

Factoid: "Bondi" or "Boondi" is an Aboriginal word meaning 'water breaking over rocks or noise of water breaking over rocks.'

Go catch that wave, young Sheila ..

Good onya gal!

'Catcha wave and you're sittin' on top of the world ..'

There's an underwater shark net laid here during the summer months. Surf Lifesavers are always on patrol - and buzzing around in inflatable dinghies barking megaphonic orders .. at the swimmers and surfers in their oh-so cool aussie accents. Yunno what I mean, I'm sure you can hear them now too.

Hunks du Jour [.. lucky bastards!]

Bondi first came to my attention back in the late 60s, when it was featured in the 1966 full-length surfing movie The Endless Summer. I was a mad keen surfer back in those days ..

.. but this is as far as I get nowadays [.. too many frickin' sharks around these parts!]

Here are some of my endearing images of Bondi Beach .. that I shall now carry around with me, in my mind, for the rest of my days ..

.. a cute one!

.. he's gotta be p#ssed, or 'on' something?

.. tweenies' first surfing lesson

.. young love

A great day out at THE beach

About one kilometre long (≈0.6 miles). This is the view right at the north end.

I love Bondi. Such a cool place to hangout, especially if you're under 30-yo.

Time for us ol' timers to get going .. I reckon!

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That evening of Tuesday, 22nd March, Ellen received an urgent phone call from her younger brother, David. Sadly their dear sweet mother had just passed away, aged 91.

A good innings, but a dreadful set of circumstances, when you're 10,500 miles [nearly 17,000 km] from home. It's a worst case scenario for distressed Ellen, who had a very close relationship with her mum.

When something tragic like this happens, during the night time (locally), what do you do?

Well, as upsetting as it is .. you just must get on with sorting it all out.

We were up for half the night on Tuesday / early hours of Wednesday a.m. - calling our airline carrier (Qantas Airways), both here in Australia and back in the UK, and our Bristol-based travel agent, Trailfinders, to sort out an emergency return flight back to England for Ellen.

We did eventually manage to change her itinerary and secure a 'compassionate' flight back to London, which departed from Sydney Int'l Airport on Wednesday at 5:30pm. Thank goodness we were staying in Sydney at the time, which made the whole process that little bit easier. It would have been a nightmare if we had been out 'in the sticks' somewhere!

Qantas were brilliant by the way, and didn't charge us anything whatsoever, not a penny, not even an administration fee, for the urgent travel alterations. It's good to know that some big international corporations out there still have a heart. Ellen secured the very last available seat on the airplane; so I guess she was very lucky indeed to be able to travel at such short notice (like, the same day).

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Wednesday 23rd - the afternoon

Both fatigued from the events of the last 12-16 hours .. with Ellen in quite an understandable state of shock and disbelief .. we take a melancholy last look around Sydney together, before her flight back to London at 17:30.

It's a beautiful day too.

Does this view look familiar? It should. Take a look at the picture at the top of this blog. We're on Garden Island, just a little way north from the Royal Botanic Gardens .. looking across Farm Cove to the classic view of Sydney's skyline.

Panorama - click on the picture for full view

A fitting way perhaps to spend the last hour or two in Australia for Ellen, at least for the time being.

3:45pm. At the check-in desk.

This is one place I didn't think we would be seeing again until mid-May.

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And so I'm on my own again .. :-(

Ellen may, or may not, return to Oz to complete the Australian section of our travels. This will all depend on the circumstances for her back home. We have tentatively agreed that if there is still a month remaining of the aussie tour - i.e. anytime up to mid-April - then she will re-join me, probably somewhere up in the tropical region, like Cairns for instance.

We'll just have to wait-and-see how it all goes.

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Meanwhile I have made my way up to Newcastle, in the Lower Hunter Valley NSW, in order to attend the Ulysses Motorcycling Club's AGM. Riding up, I couldn't help but sing t'meself:

' .. Thou shall hev a fishy on a little dishy,

Thou shall hev a fishy when the boat comes in.'

WHY AYE MAN!

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More news to follow, in about a week's time.

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Getting High in Victoria then a Capital ACT

Tuesday-15th March

Our arrival back on the Aussie mainland at Port Melbourne early in the morning followed a very smooth Bass Straight overnight crossing, with seas (waves) no more than 1-1½ metres high throughout the 9½-hour long voyage; all thanks to the high pressure anticyclone weather system that had settled over the region.

We turn right after disembarking and head southeast for 120 km [75 mi] to the township of Korumburra ..

.. where we had arranged to meet-up with our ol' Honda ST1300-riding cobber, Peter, who had travelled especially from his Adelaide-based home to (a) see us again after nearly 10 months; and (b) ride around the Victoria High Country with us, which is his favourite aussie motorcycling region of all.

It was a good reunion .. and there was much news to discuss and catch-up on. I think it's fair to say that a lot of water had flowed under our metaphoric bridges since last we met back in early May of last year.

The three of us, on our two motorcycles, then continued in a south-easterly direction for another 100 km [62 mi] for Wilsons Promontory - colloquially called 'Wilsons Prom', or more often simply 'the Prom' - which is a peninsula located in the very southernmost part of the Australian mainland.

It's quite sight to look down, and out to the Prom's headland, from its winding approach road.

We soon reach Tidal River; the only permanent camping ground /visitors' facility within Wilsons Promontory National Park.

.. and it's time to set-up our brand new 3-man tent, which we brought with us from England.

I start singing [in my mind]: Ging gang goolie .. to get into the mood; hoping in hope for a good night's sleep ahead.

What erects in five minutes (after a bit of practise); packs away into a carry-bag size of 37cm x 16.5cm, and weighs just 2.95kg .. also comes complete with a decent sized vestibule for storage purposes. A proper little TARDIS.

This will be my/our first foreign night under a tent's canopy for quite some time. Fingers crossed that it all works, eh?!

Supper that night comprises of a really tasty burger from the Tidal River's take-away café ..

.. under the watchful eyes of a handful of quite fearless Crimson Rosella Parrots - all looking for a free and easy snack.

Cheeky little fellows.

Dusk at the beach .. and we go for a walk along the Prom.

A perfect ending to a great day.

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Wednesday-16th

Toast and jams for breakfast - 'al fresco' style - cooked over Peter's little butane gas camping stove ..

' and-a one - two - three - four .. OH! and ' .. "Ging gang goolie goolie goolie goolie whatcha,. Ging gang goo, Ging gang goo .."

AND I got a full night's kip - of around seven hours!

:-)

Time to head for the Victoria Highlands ..

.. up through - and over the top of the Great Alpine Road.

From Bruthen to Mt Hotham a good deal of the road surface is fairly new. The surveyors and civil engineers that built this diamond of a road, were clearly generous with their design. They must have been motorcyclists! It's a very very fast stretch of predictable contra-sweeping curves that goes-on-and-on for the thick end of 100 km [62 mi] - although there are a few corners that can fool you into thinking they're easier than they look.

Riding across Dinner Plain, and we're all-of-a-sudden shrouded in a cool clammy fog for around 25 km [ 15½ mi]. Our speeds were reduced accordingly.

Before too long though, at an altitude of 1,861 metres [6,106 ft], we reach the summit of Mount Hotham ..

.. and then it was if someone had instantly drawn open the curtains .. and lifted the roof off the place. Within a matter of just a few seconds we were bathing in glorious warm sunshine .. and gazing out across a magnificent vista.

Panorama - click on the picture for full view.

See the fog on the right (to our rear .. where we just came from)

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From Mt Hotham's summit down to the township of Harrietville, a distance of around 35 km [22 mi] it is an almost surreal succession of super-tight corners and switchbacks. Lose concentration at this stage for 2-3 seconds and you're likely to come to some serious grief; for more than 3-5 seconds and it could easily be the ending of you (and your pillion).

At the bottom of mountain we stop to catch our breath. There was a distinct smell of burning brake pads in the air!

From our starting point at Wilsons Prom that morning, we had just covered a distance of 480 km [300 mi] along one of the best roads I had ever ever ridden. I'll sum it all up in one word:

.. SMOKIN!

And it doesn't end there.

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Thursday-17th

Another 440-450 km day of mountain twisties and river valley road is in the plans for today .. :-)

Damn! I'm having too good a time.

We're on the road again later than was good for us. Just too tired, I guess, from the previous day's activities.

Within twenty minutes ..

.. we're riding through a 'comparatively' straight stretch of road, as depicted by the display of my GPS unit.

Another glorious day. Our first stop at a lookout and Peter points-out the mountain range where lives Mt Kosciuszko, which is the tallest summit in Australia.

Panorama - click on the picture for full view.

Australia's recent drought problem is now firmly in the past. As becomes obvious along the Riverside Road from Bellbridge to Corryong .. which presents us with a very tempting succession of open sweepers.

But we leave the valleys behind us .. and by mid-afternoon we're climbing again - this time up through The Snowy Mountains (the 'Snowies') ..

.. eventually to reach Cabramurra, Australia's highest town.

The view from the lookout at Cabramurra - on a fine late summer's afternoon.

112 km [70 mi] later - about 1 hr 30 mins' ride - we finish these two magnificent days of motorcycling in Tumut.

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Roll your mouse pointer along the interactive track or elevation profile.

Two BIG days of motorcycle riding. Around 18 hours in the saddle all told. Just look at the stats:

Total distance covered: 918.4 km [571 mi]

Cumulative total height ascended (going up hill): 14,197 metres [46,578 ft]

Cumulative total descended (going down hill): 13,943 metres [45,745 ft]

Thinking about it, that's the equivalent to an ascent up the face of Mount Everest, from sea level (literally) .. over 1.6 times. And roughly the same back down again; much of the time riding in a seemingly endless series of fast sweeping curves and hair-pin bends .. in absolutely perfect motorcycling conditions.

Analyzing the elevation profile (above) shows the big picture .. it was a roller-coaster; one BIG dipper of a ride.

An amazing couple of days, that I'll never forget!

The Three Lucky Ones

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That night in Tumut we see our first live opossum, feeding on the some morsels of leftover cracker biscuits right outside our cabin entrance. We've seen loads of dead 'possums - hundreds (maybe thousands) of the roadkill variety over the course of the last five years during our travels. But this is the very first time we've seen one living-and-breathing 'up close and personal.' About the size of a large domestic cat, they're actually quite cute little critters .. don'tcha think? Treated generally as vermin in these parts though.

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Friday-18th

We exchange farewells with Peter.

I make no secret of the fact that I'm not comfortable travelling in the company of others, especially in a group of motorcycles .. even in the smallest group of all, comprising of just two bikes.

Peter and I had already discussed this between ourselves some time ago .. and had made contingency plans accordingly .. 'just in case it didn't work!' [uh-oh!]

I can honestly say, however, that pairing-up with my ol' cobber, Pete, was one of the best motorcycling experiences I've ever had. I mean .. it really rocked!

Thanks Peter [for everything] - and fair dinkum to ya mate .. let's do it all over again one day, eh?!

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Then Margaret-Ellen and I make our way eastwards towards Canberra ACT, along the Wee Jasper Road ..

.. through yet more outstanding countryside.

Significant sections of this road (like, most of it!) are gravel and dirt, which is .. eh-hem .. a far more 'interesting' surface upon which to ride a motorcycle than plain old asphalt. Fortunately it's mostly rough sand and/or finely-grained gravel, which tends to pack down hard and drain well.

There are quite a few erosion channels, as you can see (above) but these are easy to dodge if you stay alert.

The Transalp's big 21-inch front wheel easily coped with it all though; if there was a weak link along the 50-60 km length of this unsealed surface, then it was the chap gripping the handlebars!

Having said that, Ellen reliably informs me that we were often skipping across sections of the Wee Jasper - especially after an hour or so - at speeds of up to 65-75 km/h [ > 45 mph].

Whatever, it was a nice little excursion, which brought us eventually to the outskirts of Canberra, ACT (Australian Capital Territory). Canberra is Australia's capital city - and its largest inland city .. and the country's eighth-largest city overall.

Where we meet-up with fellow Ulysses Club member ..

.. 'Big-Al', who looks a good 10-15 years younger than his actual age, which I won't disclose here.

That afternoon Al (see, I have spelled your name correctly mate! .. ;-) showed us around his home city.

Al spent 30 years of his working life helping to build his city, through running his own concrete transport business ..

.. and another 25 years keeping it secure, as a full-time security officer.

Both positions he is eager and enthusiastic to talk about.

Al is indeed a proud Canberran.

Canberra is called 'The Garden City', and holds within it's city limits several well planned (from outset) self-sufficient communities that are surrounded by "greenbelts" (parks); each contains proportionate areas of residences, shopping centres, schools, industry, and agriculture.

A fact that you wouldn't believe from its several high vantage points, like the one here at Red Hill (above). But trust me, there's a whole busy world going on under that green canopy of tree tops .. which must make for a hellofa mess [shedded leaves] during Autumn season!

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Saturday-19th

During the following morning of Saturday-19th, we visited the Australian War Memorial, which commemorates the lives of those who died for Australia and aims to create a better understanding of war.

You could easily spend 2-3 days looking around the various museum sections, so the 3-hour quick skim we had wandering around in there hardly did it justice, which was a pity.

The Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier in the Hall of Memory.

You get a sense of soaring height and space within this quiet solemn area, with its rich glowing colours ..

.. for instance, by looking up at the mosaic dome ceiling.

Stained-glass windows. There are fifteen altogether that let light into the Hall.

Just outside the Memorial's Hall of Memory, where the remains of the Unknown Soldier rest, there's the Roll of Honour, which is a long series of bronze panels recording the names of Australia's war dead (over 102,000 souls). It reminded me, very much of 'The Wall' at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC, USA.

There are hundreds, probably thousands, of spectacular exhibits on display, like ..

.. real life [actual size] models ..

.. to the intricate modelling like the one above, which must have taken yonks to construct.

Lancaster bomber

An Iroquois helicopter on display in the Vietnam War gallery

Ellen reads all about the recent history (and conflicts) of East Timor - now called Timor Leste - as this very new country might be the next place we visit .. later-on this year.

It goes on and on. There's far too much to mention here .. even if we had seen it all (which we didn't).

Back outside into the daylight and ..

.. yet another farewell; this time to Big-Al, a veritable gentle giant of a man, with a BIG heart.

[To Al]: Thanks for your time and hospitality mate. And as you know, your lovely missus, Sandra, has probably changed my life forever, especially in respect of my computer's regular daily anti-virus software updates ..

"And About Bloody Time Too!"

;-)

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That afternoon we re-enter the state of NSW (New South Wales); and head down to the coast in search of a small taste of beachside life. We end-up in Batemans Bay, which is on the Tasman Sea coast, about 150 km [93 mi] - approx. a 2-hour ride - towards the southeast.

It p#ssed down with rain for the last hour of the journey ..

.. as it also did, sometimes quite torrentially hard, for the entire 275 km [171 mi] ride up to Sydney, which is where we are now, as I'm updating this blog.

Better weather is due to arrive by the middle of the week though. Here's hoping .. BUT we can't complain, as the conditions have hitherto been quite excellent.

More news to follow in around a week's time ..

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