We got off to a smooth start just after 8.30am. The weather was slightly overcast and pleasantly cool. The traffic was light and moving well and the Eastern Freeway soon had us on the surface roads of outer Melbourne. A quick stop to top up the tank and we settled down on the Melba Highway to Yea.
Yea services the farms in the area and has a small tourist industry. It is popular as a coffee and lunch stop for bikers, being conveniently located an hour and a half from Melbourne in the middle of some fairly attractive roads. We had our coffee, noticing that there were a fair number of motorcycles parked in, and also moving through, the town. The clouds had broken up and we enjoyed the sunshine and the open country side, passing also through avenues of eucalyptus trees. The country side was quite sere, showing the absence of rain. But it is so dry that the Bonnie Doon arm of Lake Eildon is more dry than wet. If it doesn't fill soon, the bush will once again start growing on the lake bed. Mansfield has grown considerably since our last visit some eight years ago. Being the Saturday morning of a long weekend, the Main Street was thronged with people; and bikers were also much in evidence. One chap engaged us in conversation and offered an opinion as to the merits of BMW's versus Harley Davidsons. He was ok. After a short walk around we decided to have lunch as it was midday. The Mansfield Regional Store has a pleasant ambience and was well patronised. I thought the service was a bit slow. In a few days I will probably feel I am on holiday and adjust my expectations. Back on the bike for the ride to Whitfield. This is a route that is featured in Australia's Top 200 Motorcycle rIdes and I was rather looking forward to it. A good mixture of long sweeping bends and tighter corners with a number of hairpins (switchbacks for my American friends) that required a bit more lean than Liz preferred. I must come back one day by myself :-) We had an incident where a fool in a ute/pickup/bakkie came out of a side road in front of us and had to brake hard so we didn't hit him. I also braked hard and both Liz and I gesticulated at him. He then shouted at us!! I proceeded on my way, a little annoyed, and then noticed in my mirrors that the guy was reversing and coming after us. I did some quick scenario planning, thankfully all for nothing as after about 500 yards he turned around and went his way. Best outcome. We/I enjoyed the rest of the ride into Whitfield, enjoying some really spectacular scenery. A great pity there are no lookouts. It was not really suitable for a heavily laden bike to pull onto rough, unmade shoulders. One feature of the ride was the numbers of other bikes travelling in both directions. Far and away in the majority were Harley Davidsons. All were riding responsibly, which was great. Then there was this one chap on his Ducati....... We arrive in Whitfield, pull into a café, order a cool drink. By now it has warmed up to 30C. The chap behind the counter volunteers that all the hostelries for miles around are full because of the long weekend. Urk. I had forgotten about that. We were on holidays so it was not relevant. Until now. Seriously, nothing in easy reach and nothing further than that, either. We decided that we would turn back, and if worst came to the worst, we would go home and start again on Monday. Back onto the Mansfield road! Yay, twisties! They went very smoothly and we made good time to Mansfield. Arriving there we found the tourism information offices and they found a room for us. And what a room! It is in the original manor house, built in 1896. It is a stately home with stately rooms and a stately view. Tomorrow morning we are looking forward to our stately breakfast because this came at a stately price! Still, it is very pleasant and we have only "lost" an hour of trip time which we can easily catch up tomorrow. (and yes, we have booked ahead for tomorrow night) After a good snooze we went back into Mansfield for a very pleasant dinner at the imaginatively named Harry's Fork - which fork is framed and hanging on the wall - washed down with a local wine. We will shortly turn out the lights and hopefully rest well. Day one. All good!
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For some while we have spoken about the possibility of doing, even perhaps the need to do, a motorcycle trip within Australia. For those unfamiliar with our past, 2013 saw us ship the bike to the USA for the trip of a lifetime. You can catch up with that at www.macofmelbourne.com
Back to the present. Because we both work, annual leave is a precious commodity which is carefully rationed between the various calls upon it. There is invariably at least one trip a year to South Africa to visit family and then the rest is open to negotiation. This year we have allocated two weeks to our first real motorcycle road trip in Australia; and we leave on Saturday! Unlike the USA trip, we have approached this one with the barest element of preparation. Some work on the potential routes and places to stay, yes; packing? Not yet! That will happen on Friday night but we are confident that packing for two weeks is so much easier than two months. There is logic in that. The bike is in good shape and of course very well set up for touring with only minimal preparation required. I did get a new rear tyre this week but that is about it. We will simply pack and go. We will head north for Whitfield, Victoria, and then Tallangatta. After that is still a work in progress. As we did last time, we will keep you posted. |
AuthorDuncan & Liz are keen travellers, doing less than they would like but appreciating what opportunities present. Duncan loves his motorcycle and Liz loves it more at the end of a trip! ArchivesCategories |