So, it’s clutch out at 0740 for me and Kristy, Denis and Ian. We head down the road a ways to a McDonalds to meet up with the rest of travelling band; Ronnie, Rob, Bob, Wayne, Steve and Frank. It’s out of McDs at 0840 and a’questing we go.
What a day; the Snowy Mountains, beaches, enchanted forests, twisty windy roads, kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, SNAKES, a huge lizard crossing the road. We were even on a dirt road for a while, fantastic. The weather mostly cooperated. It cooled a bit as the day went on and within 50km of our destination there was kind of a freaky rainstorm, but all in all pretty decent. There was a bit of wind, however. We’re not talking about Patagonia type winds (see South by South South - The Broken Compass Tour 2007) but at times it was annoying none the less. Annoying enough that several times I actually did check to see if there were any flying houses from a faraway place like Kansas.
We arrived in Cann River at around 5:30 in the afternoon and at 6:00 we wandered to the Pub across the road. The food was good, I had the lamb shanks; imagine a Turkey drumstick made outta lamb, and Kristy went for the Schnitzel. Beer was good all around; Toohey’s Old for me, which is a lot like Moose Drool and Polygamy Porter, our official Pale Rider tour beers in the U.S.
There was a bit of a lesson in Monkey Shoulder and then a shower and the bed. Good night!
Chapter 6 – Meet the Relatives (520km)
Clutch out at 0750. A beautiful ride outta Cann River though it started out with a little rain. But, that’s okay, ‘cause that’s how you make rainbows and we had our first about an hour or so into the ride. More great roads through the forests and countryside and a ride down to the South Coast.
We lunched in Yarrum where Kristy had her first taste of an Australian pie, which we pronounce as “poy” here down under. Hot and spicy beef pie, and I went for the beef curry pie. Mmmm, good. Kristy likes “poy”.
We stopped for afternoon tea in Tooradin where we met up with some of Denis’ relatives, John and Anna. Very nice. We gathered for a group photo here as we gathered ‘round the bikes.
Speaking of bikes, I’m riding Denis’ BMW 1200GS, the one with the arrow on the windscreen pointing left to remind me that I’m in OZ. We’ve got three more 1200GSs in the group being ridden by Ronnie, Bob, and Steve. Ian rides an 1150GS, Rob is on a Suzuki V-Strom DL1000, Frank rides a V-Strom 650, and Wayne is on a Honda ST1300, for a total of 8 bikes. All the riders are one-up. Denis is driving with Kristy as his passenger for a total of ten of us in the bunch. And what a bunch of riders we have! Everyone is an experienced and expert rider; what a pleasure that is. And, everyone is a “ready” rider; when it’s time to go, you’d better be quick about getting your gear on and starting up.
We spent the night in Mornington which is not far out of Melbourne and right around the corner, literally, from Denis’ brother Bill and sister-in-law Barbara. Bill and Barb had us all over for dinner, and what a feast! Australian beer and wine, sausages served Aussie style and then some homemade rissoles. Did I say there was wine? Oh, so good. I don’t know what story Denis gave them, but all I know is we were treated royally. What gracious hosts; great food and drink, stimulating conversation and plenty of jocularity. On behalf of everyone in the group, “Bill and Barb, thanks so much!”
Chapter 7 – “Oh My” God (460km)
Clutch out in the dark at 0600. Yep, about a thirty minute ride to get to the 7:00 am ferry to take us across Port Phillip Bay, about a 40 minute ferry ride. Then it was more beautiful riding until we got to the “Great Ocean Road”.
Here’s where the “Oh My, God” part comes in. “Great Ocean Road”; spectacular. For those of you back in the States, picture Pacific Coast Highway, the good part, you know, north of Cambria on up to Monterey. Now, try to imagine if it was beautiful, try to imagine perfect twisties, and try to imagine well over 100 miles of it. Pacific Coast Highway is good but sorry, ya gotta face it, the “Great Ocean Road” is, well GREAT.
Anyways, the Road and the entire coastline of the Great Ocean Road is magical; the 12 Apostles, the Bay of the Martyrs, London Bridge. I'm tellin' ya, put that road on YOUR bucket list. Thank me later.
As a personal little added bonus for me, at the very beginning of the GOR, just as I went under the GOR sign and past the first twisty sign, just by pure chance my playlist was at that portion that begins with “Ride of the Valkyries” moving on thru the Doors, Hendrix, Creedence; those songs. Life has a soundtrack, “Ride of the Valkyries” is in mine, and I got a blessing.
It’s overnight in Hamilton where we dine at the “Alexandra House”, just past St. Michaels’s Church. Other Ulyssians have gathered on their way to Mildura and when a newcomer, Graham, seated next to me realized who I was he asked me to autograph his issue of “Riding On” which features me and Denis on the cover. Shucks, I'm totally famous!
After that there was a coin presentation to the newest Pale Riders and then a lesson in the finer points of Liars’ Dice. Then it was back to the motel for another lesson in Monkey Shoulder and a good night!
Chapter 8 – Race Day (520km)
It’s clutch out at 0800 for our ride to Mildura, the site of the Annual General Meeting, or “AGM”. At morning coffee we kiss Ian goodbye as he has to get back to Sydney. Turns out he just wanted to ride with us for a few days before he had to go back to work. We love ya, Ian. Great fun. See you soon!
We ride into Hall’s Gap and through the Grampian Mountains. Twisty turny mountain roads.
Some back story, here in Australia and especially Victoria, there is a zero tolerance policy for speeding. Lots of speed cameras, radar, and even average speed radar camera stretches, and big consequences for getting nipped. Smile. We don’t push the speed limit. Bummer. But for several reasons it’s a little different in the twisties.
Anyways, we’re going up into the Grampians and I find myself in the lead. Two turns and I’ve got nobody behind me so off I go. I do a “stop turn” at a fork and when somebody catches up I’m off again. A few minutes later I see Frank in my mirror and figure the race is on; good I can show him what I’ve got. That thought was fleeting as Frank sped by me. Okay, I can play in second position, I’ll just push him. That thought was as fleeting as Frank was as the harder I pushed the further away from me he got. A minute later he pulls over, I figure so he can collect the trophy, but it turns out there was a side road we were supposed to take that I didn’t know about so Frank was just going in front of me so I didn’t miss the turn off. He wasn’t racing at all; he was just riding. Sheesh. I told you these guys were good.
So we take the side road to the overlook; more spectacular scenery. Back to the road. Going downhill now with Denis and Kristy in the race car, Ronnie behind them and then me, I like pushing on Ronnie a bit. In my mirror I see Frank again so I know what’s coming, but thinking back to the Broken Compass Tour 2007 and that bit of no man’s land in the dirt between Chile and Argentina when I was racing with Sir Gator John (passing him on the outside of a left hand turn and how THAT worked out), this time I took the inside line and Frank and I both leaned hard as he went past me on the outside on the apex. Brilliant. What great fun! When we collected ourselves at the bottom, Kristy confirmed that the only thing we were missing was the pinwheels.
After the Grampians the topography flattens out and the next few hundred kilometers looks a lot like Oklahoma.
We stopped for lunch and fuel at Hopetoun. More poy. There’re two gas stations in Hopetoun; one of them is closed and the other is unattended. Pay at the pump is rare here in Australia, and now I understand why. They haven’t quite got the delivery tech worked out completely yet. Even the Aussies wonder at it and I tried two different cards before I gave up. There was a handwritten sign on the side of the display giving the phone number to call if the tank runs out of petrol. I’m thinkin’, “Where’s the mayor?” Anyways, we resolve it and head to Mildura.
Beginning at the city limits of Mildura there are welcoming signs for all of us Ulyssians attending the AGM, over 4,000 have registered. Some of us are staying at the official hotel of the AGM, the Mildura Golf Club and Resort; very nice. I give myself the self-guided tour of Mildura, then find the resort reception in spite of the scarecrow. I check in to the resort and then meet up with Denis, Kristy and others at the official AGM site for check-in and registration. Done, all good.
It’s back to the room on the fairway for a clean-up, a strategery session, dinner at the club, then a bit of Monkey Shoulder (at which I’m getting quite good), and then it’s off to bed.
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