Post Moto GP trip: Melbourne - Brisbane - Melbourne

I jumped on the bike on Thursday the 18^th of October to kick off the first part of the trip. This was to be a fairly boring commute from Melbourne up to Sydney via the Hume Freeway. You could almost lock the steering for the first 300kms of the trip, with few corners to keep you amused and more police presence than necessary to ensure the fun factor is kept at zero. Nine hours later I pulled into the hotel in Sydney and checked in. Upon returning to the bike to move it into the car park it wouldn’t start! Turns out the starter motor had gone, thus flattening the battery and causing it to “Fail to Operate”! I put my hand in my pocket again, which seems to be the norm every time I ride this bike.

I worked Friday, Saturday and Sunday which gave Motohansa enough time to fix the bike ready for the next leg of the trip. I was to meet a mate Monday lunchtime to kick off four days in northern NSW, sampling the finest roads they have to offer apart from the Snowies.

Monday 22^nd October: After loading all the gear on to both bikes we got going about 1.15pm from Castle Hill and headed straight up to Hornsby and onto the Old Pacific Hwy. My mate on his ZX12 led out and took us via some nice roads which skirted the Hawkesbury River. We even did a little ferry crossing over the river. The run through the Old Pacific Hwy (Old Rd) and up to Wollombi was fun. It was hot, so we stopped at Wollombi for the obligatory cold one.

From here we headed north to Bellbird, Cessnock, Kurri Kurri, Maitland, Seaham, Clarence Town, Booral, and Bulahdelah and onto Wootton Way. This used to be part of the Old Pacific Hwy and is a hidden gem. It’s totally traffic free and has corners which go on forever. It’s a road which reminds me of the rise up the hill from Whittlesea to Kinglake West but the corners on Wootton Way go on forever! Looooooong, faaaaaast, sweeping turns. On the run up each side of the range it is mostly two lanes also, which makes for a little buffer zone should something go wrong. Then it tightens up in the middle section and then once again opens out into almost never ending sweeper, rolling into almost never ending sweeper. It is only about 20 kms long and you have to do a bit of a commute along the highway to get to it, but it is most definitely worth the kms to do it. From here we jumped on the freeway and cruised up to Port Macquarie for the night.

Tuesday 23^rd October: We got going about 8am and wandered down to Rock Motorcycles to have a new rear tyre fitted to the 12. We finally got going about 10.30 which reduced the kms we could do. We rode straight up to the Oxley Hwy and stopped at Gingers Ck for a drink. It was hot. The road from Pt Macquarie to Gingers Ck is nice with it tightening as it rises up the hills. By the time you get to Gingers Ck some 90kms away, you need a drink. It’s corner after corner. Bloody brilliant! Although, I will say if you are not seat hardened, then perhaps take it easy and allow time to stop and regain your breath! Otherwise, one of the trickier turns may catch you out. My mate couldn’t come to grips with this road. He struggled to maintain a pace and it made going slow. I decided to avoid the Oxley for the remainder of the trip. I’ll do it myself again some other time. I loved it!

We ran up to Walcha and had lunch, then across to Uralla and onto Armidale. We turned onto Waterfall Way from here and rode down to Dorrigo and Bellingen. The road is more open and sweepy in nature, rather than tight and twisty like the Oxley is in parts, which made it a more fun trip now my mate on his 12 was happier. The run from the Nymboida turn off down through Dorrigo and Bellingen is just fantastic. A mixture of rolling hills with corners ranging from 55 indicated to 65 indicated meaning 110-130 gazelles.

Waterfall Way truly becomes waterfall way about three quarters of the way down the range. It tightens up into a series of long sweepers which are sorta 80-120kph in road speed. The tarmac is grippy black hot mix with very little in the way of surface irregularity or surprises to deal with. By the time we got to Nambucca heads it was getting dark. The consensus was that we do Waterfall Way again on the way back.

Wednesday 24^th October: We left Nambucca about 8.30 am and headed back towards Bellingen for the run back up Waterfall Way. It was even better going back up now, knowing the road had no surprises in store. We reversed the previous day’s ride but stayed on Thunderbolts Way rather than turning at Walcha for the Oxley. We ran down to Gloucester and then down to the Highway at Nabiac. The run over the ranges to Gloucester was interesting. A bush fire had ripped through the forest that morning blanketing the place in thick smoke. We were unsure as to whether we would be able to get through. As luck would have it, a massive storm came through soaking the entire bush and turning the blaze into a smoldering, smoking mess. We stopped in at the National Motorcycle Museum for an hour to look about. It’s well worth the nominal entry fee, with lots of unique and interesting bikes. Even some pretty common ones! We then commuted back up the highway to Port for the night. The Port Macquarie Hotel is a nice place to stay with the whole building renovated not long ago. The rooms are large, clean and well appointed, and are only $55 for a double with an ensuite and $30 with a shared bathroom.

Thursday 25^th October: It was another commute up the highway to Brisbane today. Nothing to report; just sat on the limit avoiding the fun police and the tin toppers.

Sunday 28^th October: I had breaky with a mate in Redlciff this morning and got going just after 11am. I did the Freeway out of Brisvegas and down to Surfers. I stayed on the highway until the Grafton turn off and scooted up into Casino and Grafton for the run up to Nymboida.

Heading from Grafton to Nymboida I could hear the thunder and started to see the lightning. About 40 kms south of Grafton and pretty much smack bang on Nymboida township itself the heavens opened up in an almighty rush and the wind became gale force blowing trees over and lifting roof sheets off hay sheds and the like. It was a really intense storm which shadowed me from there till the top of the mountain and then buggered off. There was a lot of water and it got dark awfully quick. In some of the parts of the road where it goes over a causeway or the like there was up to two foot of water running across the roadway! It was interesting!

A little further up a nice Camry driver coming the other way ran over the part of the tree trunk laying on his side of the road, but rather than stop and warn or remove he decided to keep going. I know this as coming the other way, I see a slow moving Camry wobbling around a bit. It didn't flash or warn me, it just allowed me to come around the bend and run straight into a trunk lying across the whole road. I was probably only doing 80-90kph, and had a little time to wash off some speed, and then trail riding paid off. I instinctively stood up on the pegs, bounced the front and clutched it and half monoed over the log. I had squared it up as much as I could in the time I had but even so with panniers and top box loaded, it came down rather hard and flogged about a bit like a wet fish before regaining its composure. I pulled up and removed the offending trunk from both sides of the road and continued. There were loads of wallabies about now as the clouds had darkened the sky (forcing me into a clear visor by 2.30pm!) making the woblies think it's almost dark. Between them and the weather it was a fun day.

I turned down Waterfall Way with the intention of staying in Bellingen tonight. The way was dry apart from the odd patch of damp left over from the storm. (I love how northern NSW and southern QLD roads dry the instant it stops raining!)

I stopped at the Federal Hotel in Bellingen which wanted to charge me $80 for a single bed room with no TV and no Ensuite! Naturally I politely told them “No thankyou”! I then rode down to Coffs where I found a motel room with internet access, a telly, two bathrooms and two bedrooms with a full kitchen for $65!

Not sure which route I'll take tomorrow; I’ll make it up as I go along I think!

Monday 29^th October: I awoke to the sound of rain. Loud, thundery, heavy, constant rain! I packed up and donned the rain suit and the waterproof (so the label says) gloves, and headed south along the highway. The forecast was for rain no matter which way I went until lunchtime, so I just continued on the highway. It also meant that I passed by the start of Wootton Way. I couldn't resist. It had dried up completely by now, and apart from loads of leaf litter which didn't compromise grip too much, it was just as good as last time. So good in fact, that I ran south then turned around and went north and returned.

I turned after Bulahdelah and headed for Booral, then turned south and then right again for Clarence Town. I then ran up towards Dungog but turned left for Vacy and then onto Gresford and into Singleton. I refuelled at the Caltex and while having a drink a girl from Brisbane on an R1150R Rockster pulled in for fuel. It turns out her name was Cath and she was really nice gal to boot. In addition, I later found out along the Putty that she could steer a bit good too! So, we trundled off together and rode the Putty with a stop at the halfway house for another drink. The weather had gone from cold and wet, to cool and dry, to bloody hot by the time Singleton arrived. It stayed this way until I reached Bilpin where it turned chilly again.

After Colo Heights I turned right and went across to Kurrajong and then along the Bells line into Lithgow. The roads were clear of traffic and were nice and dry. Down to Bathurst and then to Blayney (I really like this bit of country. The roads aren't tight, but they are fun. Rising and falling along little hills and with lots of crests with corners on them to make it interesting), Carcoar and finally Cowra where I ran out of energy and pulled in. I was starting to fall asleep on the bike. When I woke up almost in the dirt on the left of the road, I figured it was time to have a kip!

Tuesday 30^th October: This morning I rode across to Young about 8.00am and had breakfast with my Mum, then down to see Dad at the shop before heading over to Cootamundra to see my brother. Phew! It's always a bit busy going through that neck of the woods. The family would be a little upset should they find out I went by without stopping in!

From Cootamundra I went out towards Junee, but this time I turned at Bethungra and headed around to Eurongilly. From here I decided to take a little historic detour, the original "Old Hume Highway" and when I say original, I mean original as in before roads were sealed! It was awesome. It started off as the smoothest fastest dirt a road bike could hope for with long fast well cambered sweepers with just enough loose stuff to allow the old boxer to spin the rear when wanted. It was however, just lulling me into a false sense of security! Pretty soon it tightened up as it rose over a little range. It was real Australian bush, untouched. This little detour popped me back out at a little village (read like two houses) called Mundarlo. I then ran down into Alfred Town and into the back of Wagga.

Next I went out through Mangoplah and Cookardinia and Culcairn, then straight across to Walbundrie. From there it was Broklesby and Howlong where I got fuel. (No premium meant pinging if I opened the throttle too wide too early!) Chiltern came and went, then onto the freeway for the last 250kms to home. I set the cruise control to do 115 on the flats, 120 down hill and 110 up, and then just sat back and enjoyed the views, skirted the camera tapes and arrived home about 6pm.

All up, since departing Melbourne the Thursday after the GP, I've covered 5,000 kms plus a bit and it's been one of the best trips I have done. It included a boring freeway commute, a four day thrash in awesome weather covering some of the best roads in northern NSW and QLD! Two half days of torrential storms with gale force winds, hail, flooded and debris covered roads coming back south. A heat wave lunchtime to the evening, then freezing temps and finally perhaps one of the most perfect weather days for motorcycling I have encountered. 22-26 degree temps, a slight cool breeze with traffic and fun stopping free roads. Just awesome.

Marty Thompson