Adventure Down Under – Part 2
New South Wales and Victoria
Our plan was to get to Melbourne area in time to get to Phillip Island for the Moto GP. Unfortunately, we had to hole up for two days in West Wyalong due to the heavy rain and when we finally were able to move on, the temperature was a mere 5°C and with the chill factor on the bike we were freezing! We overnighted at Shepperton and left on the Sunday morning for Melbourne where we checked into a cabin at a caravan park for two nights. We missed the Moto GP, so we spent our time exploring Melbourne in cold, wet weather.
New Zealand
For the duration of our trip thus far, many people we had encountered said we would be foolish not to visit New Zealand while we were ‘down under’, so we bought return air tickets, put the GS into storage near the airport and caught a taxi to the airport. My cousin Anton, who had lived in NZ for a few years, put us onto a ridiculous special that one particular car rental company runs. It sounded far too good to be true but, to our amazement, it wasn’t! We hired a RAV 4 for 1c - yes - ONE CENT per day! We toured both islands in the luxury of a car and marvelled at the unique beauty of New Zealand for 10 glorious days, but that is another story on its own......
Tasmania
When we arrived in Melbourne, we were collected from the airport by the owner of the storage company where our GS had been, we re-packed our panniers in his driveway and headed towards the dock, this time to catch the ferry to Tasmania. Once on the ferry we collapsed into our pre-booked recliner seats we shared some champagne (Poor Daryl hadn’t had a glass of
her favourite bubbly since leaving SA!). Although tired, we were very excited to be going to Tasmania – also highly recommended by those we had met on our travels. The night crossing took eleven hours - most of which we spent sleeping! The ferry, The Spirit of Tasmania, is the size of an ocean liner with a variety of cabins or recliner seats in travel lounges and onboard entertainment such as television, restaurants, cinemas, bars, shops and gambling. Quite impressive for a mere ‘ferry’!
When we disembarked at Devonport, it was a cool but sunny day and set off for Delorain to investigate a world-renowned creative arts market we had heard about. The market attracts 30 000 people over three days so, understandably, accommodation was in big demand. Every place we tried was fully booked but, eventually, Daryl found a room in the town's oldest hotel which she took - unseen - for fear of finding nothing else. Well, we immediately understood why it had not yet been taken! It was smaller than a garden shed, with nothing but a bed, a basin with intermittent cold water and a 200-year-old sash window which was held up by a stick! Our ‘view’ was an unpainted wall that was close enough for us to touch if we stuck our arms out! All this for the bargain of R 650!
We spent the afternoon exploring some of the many venues around town that housed the market.
In the morning we headed south, over the mountains via dirt roads. We were astonished by the diverse landscape, some of which was surprisingly dry and sparse and - apart from a few wallabies and wombats - there was not much life to be seen. We went through the Lakes District in the Central Plateau where we came across a shanty like town called Breona - apparently a sought-after holiday destination for fishing and boating . We arrived in Hobart late afternoon and checked into a backpackers flatlet near the centre of town - luxury compared to our Delorain room and for the same price!
Tasmania south and east
Hobart is a lovely city, steeped in history, with monuments and pretty parks. There are many pavement restaurants serving a variety of cuisines. We had a delicious dinner at a Thai restaurant and walked through the parks on the way back. Daryl read about Bruny Island and announced that that was where we were going next.
The next morning we found ourselves on yet another ferry (a short 20 minute) to the island. When we arrived on the island we were awestruck by the white beaches, blue water, rain forest and friendly people. However, the cold weather forced us indoors, next to the heater, in a superb privately-rented cottage called The Shed. For us, this was the best part of Tasmania to date and we would highly recommend a visit there.
The following day the weather had improved so we did much sightseeing including a trip along a dirt track to a mountaintop viewpoint, which resulted in a Valentino Rossi-type sprint to make the ferry and made it only seconds before the ramps were raised! We headed up the east coast, sticking mostly to back roads and tracks and enjoyed the rolling green countryside dotted with grazing sheep and cows before checking into a beach motel in the pretty holiday town of Swansea. Our room had a sea view with wild rabbits feeding below our balcony.
We had been looking forward to the much spoken about Bay of Fires further along the coast and we were not disappointed! The pristine beach is rated as one of the world's best for leisure and diving. The area is also well-known for its game fishing and dwarf penguin rookeries. The grey skies and cold did not dampen our spirits and we took two lengthy beach walks.
From the Bay of Fires we had plenty of time to reach the ferry at Devonport, so we once again took every possible dirt track to avoid the tar. This was some of the best adventure riding of our entire trip. Mountains, creek crossings, sand, mud & clay! All in one day! We got ourselves into some rediculous situations which included having a spill on a steep wet clay incline that I attempted to ride down while Daryl made her way down on foot. We giggled like kids as I kept slipping while trying to pick the GS up again!
Tasmania - Melbourne - Great Ocean Road - Adelaide - Perth - Johannesburg - George - Mossel Bay!!!
We boarded the ferry at Devonport for the 11-hour crossing back to Melbourne. Once again we managed to get a reasonable amount of sleep before we arrived in Melbourne at 06:00. Once we had disembarked, we rode eastwards along the coast and checked into a hotel on the beachfront. We took the day to relax and get some washing done and later enjoyed a really good at a Vietnamese restaurant.
The following morning we drove north about 30 km to have breakfast with some friends we had made while in Wellington, NZ. Later we headed west onto the Great Ocean Road at Anglesea. This world-famous road winds along a section of breathtakingly spectacular coastline to the west of Geelong.
Then, suddenly Daryl began hitting me and shouting for me to stop! I did an emergency stop, heart in my throat, imagining all kinds of horror When, to my relief, she excitedly said that she had spotted a koala sitting in a tree near the road. We parked the bike and went back to take photographs of the little fella. The first (and only) wild koala we had seen in 14 000 km! What luck!
We stopped at nearly every viewing point along the coast. It really is something to behold - the impressive sandstone formations carved out over time by the ocean. We found a nice guesthouse called Flash Packers, run by an easygoing guy named Mark. We hit it off so well that he insisted we cancel our dinner plans and proceeded to prepare a roast lamb dinner for us! Best roast lamb that we have had for ages!!!
The following day the weather was good so we headed back to 12 Apostles and took in the dramatic cliffs. Unforgettable! Next, we turned north east and ended up at the Grampians National Park where we spent the night and dined at a lovely restaurant where I sampled kangaroo steak, which turned out to be surprisingly good. Really good.
The next day we set the GPS to avoid tar roads and it took us on an exciting, scenic (and sometimes nerve–wracking) tour in the general direction of Adelaide. Soon we had no option but to stick to the main routes and we arrived in Adelaide two days later, feeling a little sad as we knew our adventure was coming to an end. We found a nice hotel close to BMW where we spent the next two days.
Our last day had arrived and I said goodbye to my faithful GS in the rain at BMW Adelaide. We took a taxi to the airport and took off for Perth. From Perth International Airport we began our 11-hour economy-class endurance test headed for Johannesburg. We arrived at O R Tambo International Airport, totally buggered and un-crumpled ourselves as we waited 70 minutes for our luggage! Five hours later we boarded our plane for George and three hours later we were home – our own personal paradise. What a great feeling after being in transit for nearly 40 hours!
Distances covered:
By air: ± 33 000 km By car (New Zealand): ± 2 200 km. By bike: 15 421 km Total distance covered: 50 700 km
Northern most point visited – Darwin - 12°25’S.
Southern most point visited – Queenstown, New Zealand - 45°02’S
What we have learned:
Australia and New Zealand are fantastic countries with friendly, kind, generous people. They are ideal places for people looking for alternatives. We could easily make the move...
We have learnt things, had experiences, and seen things that will impact on our lives forever,
We have learnt more about each other and the strength of our relationship,
We have again learnt to appreciate what we have,
We have learnt to respect others more than ever.
And.........renewed respect for the incredible BMW R1200GS Adventure!
Australia rocks!! The Aussies have got it right!
However, given all the problems that we have in South Africa, we personally would not want to live anywhere else but in the good old RSA!
New South Wales and Victoria
Our plan was to get to Melbourne area in time to get to Phillip Island for the Moto GP. Unfortunately, we had to hole up for two days in West Wyalong due to the heavy rain and when we finally were able to move on, the temperature was a mere 5°C and with the chill factor on the bike we were freezing! We overnighted at Shepperton and left on the Sunday morning for Melbourne where we checked into a cabin at a caravan park for two nights. We missed the Moto GP, so we spent our time exploring Melbourne in cold, wet weather.
New Zealand
For the duration of our trip thus far, many people we had encountered said we would be foolish not to visit New Zealand while we were ‘down under’, so we bought return air tickets, put the GS into storage near the airport and caught a taxi to the airport. My cousin Anton, who had lived in NZ for a few years, put us onto a ridiculous special that one particular car rental company runs. It sounded far too good to be true but, to our amazement, it wasn’t! We hired a RAV 4 for 1c - yes - ONE CENT per day! We toured both islands in the luxury of a car and marvelled at the unique beauty of New Zealand for 10 glorious days, but that is another story on its own......
Tasmania
When we arrived in Melbourne, we were collected from the airport by the owner of the storage company where our GS had been, we re-packed our panniers in his driveway and headed towards the dock, this time to catch the ferry to Tasmania. Once on the ferry we collapsed into our pre-booked recliner seats we shared some champagne (Poor Daryl hadn’t had a glass of
her favourite bubbly since leaving SA!). Although tired, we were very excited to be going to Tasmania – also highly recommended by those we had met on our travels. The night crossing took eleven hours - most of which we spent sleeping! The ferry, The Spirit of Tasmania, is the size of an ocean liner with a variety of cabins or recliner seats in travel lounges and onboard entertainment such as television, restaurants, cinemas, bars, shops and gambling. Quite impressive for a mere ‘ferry’!
When we disembarked at Devonport, it was a cool but sunny day and set off for Delorain to investigate a world-renowned creative arts market we had heard about. The market attracts 30 000 people over three days so, understandably, accommodation was in big demand. Every place we tried was fully booked but, eventually, Daryl found a room in the town's oldest hotel which she took - unseen - for fear of finding nothing else. Well, we immediately understood why it had not yet been taken! It was smaller than a garden shed, with nothing but a bed, a basin with intermittent cold water and a 200-year-old sash window which was held up by a stick! Our ‘view’ was an unpainted wall that was close enough for us to touch if we stuck our arms out! All this for the bargain of R 650!
We spent the afternoon exploring some of the many venues around town that housed the market.
In the morning we headed south, over the mountains via dirt roads. We were astonished by the diverse landscape, some of which was surprisingly dry and sparse and - apart from a few wallabies and wombats - there was not much life to be seen. We went through the Lakes District in the Central Plateau where we came across a shanty like town called Breona - apparently a sought-after holiday destination for fishing and boating . We arrived in Hobart late afternoon and checked into a backpackers flatlet near the centre of town - luxury compared to our Delorain room and for the same price!
Tasmania south and east
Hobart is a lovely city, steeped in history, with monuments and pretty parks. There are many pavement restaurants serving a variety of cuisines. We had a delicious dinner at a Thai restaurant and walked through the parks on the way back. Daryl read about Bruny Island and announced that that was where we were going next.
The next morning we found ourselves on yet another ferry (a short 20 minute) to the island. When we arrived on the island we were awestruck by the white beaches, blue water, rain forest and friendly people. However, the cold weather forced us indoors, next to the heater, in a superb privately-rented cottage called The Shed. For us, this was the best part of Tasmania to date and we would highly recommend a visit there.
The following day the weather had improved so we did much sightseeing including a trip along a dirt track to a mountaintop viewpoint, which resulted in a Valentino Rossi-type sprint to make the ferry and made it only seconds before the ramps were raised! We headed up the east coast, sticking mostly to back roads and tracks and enjoyed the rolling green countryside dotted with grazing sheep and cows before checking into a beach motel in the pretty holiday town of Swansea. Our room had a sea view with wild rabbits feeding below our balcony.
We had been looking forward to the much spoken about Bay of Fires further along the coast and we were not disappointed! The pristine beach is rated as one of the world's best for leisure and diving. The area is also well-known for its game fishing and dwarf penguin rookeries. The grey skies and cold did not dampen our spirits and we took two lengthy beach walks.
From the Bay of Fires we had plenty of time to reach the ferry at Devonport, so we once again took every possible dirt track to avoid the tar. This was some of the best adventure riding of our entire trip. Mountains, creek crossings, sand, mud & clay! All in one day! We got ourselves into some rediculous situations which included having a spill on a steep wet clay incline that I attempted to ride down while Daryl made her way down on foot. We giggled like kids as I kept slipping while trying to pick the GS up again!
Tasmania - Melbourne - Great Ocean Road - Adelaide - Perth - Johannesburg - George - Mossel Bay!!!
We boarded the ferry at Devonport for the 11-hour crossing back to Melbourne. Once again we managed to get a reasonable amount of sleep before we arrived in Melbourne at 06:00. Once we had disembarked, we rode eastwards along the coast and checked into a hotel on the beachfront. We took the day to relax and get some washing done and later enjoyed a really good at a Vietnamese restaurant.
The following morning we drove north about 30 km to have breakfast with some friends we had made while in Wellington, NZ. Later we headed west onto the Great Ocean Road at Anglesea. This world-famous road winds along a section of breathtakingly spectacular coastline to the west of Geelong.
Then, suddenly Daryl began hitting me and shouting for me to stop! I did an emergency stop, heart in my throat, imagining all kinds of horror When, to my relief, she excitedly said that she had spotted a koala sitting in a tree near the road. We parked the bike and went back to take photographs of the little fella. The first (and only) wild koala we had seen in 14 000 km! What luck!
We stopped at nearly every viewing point along the coast. It really is something to behold - the impressive sandstone formations carved out over time by the ocean. We found a nice guesthouse called Flash Packers, run by an easygoing guy named Mark. We hit it off so well that he insisted we cancel our dinner plans and proceeded to prepare a roast lamb dinner for us! Best roast lamb that we have had for ages!!!
The following day the weather was good so we headed back to 12 Apostles and took in the dramatic cliffs. Unforgettable! Next, we turned north east and ended up at the Grampians National Park where we spent the night and dined at a lovely restaurant where I sampled kangaroo steak, which turned out to be surprisingly good. Really good.
The next day we set the GPS to avoid tar roads and it took us on an exciting, scenic (and sometimes nerve–wracking) tour in the general direction of Adelaide. Soon we had no option but to stick to the main routes and we arrived in Adelaide two days later, feeling a little sad as we knew our adventure was coming to an end. We found a nice hotel close to BMW where we spent the next two days.
Our last day had arrived and I said goodbye to my faithful GS in the rain at BMW Adelaide. We took a taxi to the airport and took off for Perth. From Perth International Airport we began our 11-hour economy-class endurance test headed for Johannesburg. We arrived at O R Tambo International Airport, totally buggered and un-crumpled ourselves as we waited 70 minutes for our luggage! Five hours later we boarded our plane for George and three hours later we were home – our own personal paradise. What a great feeling after being in transit for nearly 40 hours!
Distances covered:
By air: ± 33 000 km By car (New Zealand): ± 2 200 km. By bike: 15 421 km Total distance covered: 50 700 km
Northern most point visited – Darwin - 12°25’S.
Southern most point visited – Queenstown, New Zealand - 45°02’S
What we have learned:
Australia and New Zealand are fantastic countries with friendly, kind, generous people. They are ideal places for people looking for alternatives. We could easily make the move...
We have learnt things, had experiences, and seen things that will impact on our lives forever,
We have learnt more about each other and the strength of our relationship,
We have again learnt to appreciate what we have,
We have learnt to respect others more than ever.
And.........renewed respect for the incredible BMW R1200GS Adventure!
Australia rocks!! The Aussies have got it right!
However, given all the problems that we have in South Africa, we personally would not want to live anywhere else but in the good old RSA!
