Lakes Entrance to Thredbo

While Bob and Sandy walked up to Mt Kosciusko, Bruce,Doris,Rick and Donna went on the bob sled.



Two Jerks attacking the others, most of the time unsuccesfully.



Some of the riders after the shave.



Bob and Donna do the laps of Cooma.



Riders assemble at Nimitabel.



The four girl riders dress up,all did a great job riding around the country.



The Support crew.



Some cross dressers.



Inspector Clouseau.

The Final Day.
403kms to Thredbo,We had a dress up night on the last night and some good outfits were on show.
Neal (Inspector Clouseau, most everyone had nick names )and I left early so that we could get to Bombala and regroup the riders as they came in. Another regroup was planned for Nimitabel where we where met by a police escort for the run into Cooma and then on to Thredbo.
They closed the main street in Cooma for a while so that all the riders could have a parade and then pull up in the street and do a few interviews and TV coverage.
Then on to Thredbo, we had the film crew filming out of the back of the van as we were driving along. We did this coming out of Nimitabel and then going on to Thredbo.
All riders arrived safely and were presented with commemorative medals to signify the great achievments of all the riders and support crew.
Drinks all round.
When we had stopped in Cooma in the main street, it was quite an emotional time for all once with hugs and kisses all round and also some had family come to visit and join them for the trip to Thredbo.

D & B ~ Had nice blat up through Cann River to Bombala stopped for a coffee & regroup. Some of the group visited with Tony, the rider who broke his leg near Fitzroy Crossing up north. Off again with a final blat to Nimitabel to meet up with the police escort.
The police set a good pace & we were in Cooma in no time. We entered the main street to a rousing reception by the crowd assembled of family, friends, fellow bikers, local dignitaries and film crews. Kristin, Cameron and Naomi had made the trip to welcome us home so tears and cuddles for all.
My dear friend Dene (fellow postie challenge participant), Trish & Marilyn were also in there to show support, thanks girls!
Then on to Thredbo where the temp was 6 degrees , lucky Donna had her heated jacket which she had been wearing since Border Village SA!
Rode into Thredbo with more fanfare, Steven Walter's mum Sue was pillion on the lead bike going up and his dad Phil was one of our reliable support crew.
We had made it, 15000km in 35 days. Time to celebrate!with a beer or two.

Lorne to lakes Entrance

Ferry Terminal



Tyre shop that fixed the tyre for free, gave him a Around Australia Cap and lot of thanks.



Adam , one of the riders who was on KTM (one of the Adventure Twins) and had a bad spill, a few broken ribs etc.



General ferry shot.

Only 445kms, but I had to find a tyre shop to fix a flat tyre on the van. On the way we called in and saw Mark and Cate Hunter from Spot On Lasers, who made B and D coffee. After a short chat Cate took me to the tyre shop at Drysdale where they fixed the tyre for free after he saw the stickers on the van and I explained what we were doing. Many thanks Dale. After that I made my way to the Queenscliff to Sorrento Ferry, only to find out that I had missed the 10 o'clock ferry that most of the Riders had caught. Time to kill an hour. Got of the ferry and took the scenic route around the coast then up to the freeway and on to Lakes Entrance.
Was a long day and didn't get to take any shots of Lakes Entrance, which is a pity because it is a very picturesque place.
On arrival to Lakes Entrance everyone had come to the realisation that this was the last night. With a bit of a fancy dress organised for dinner it was time to catch up with the riders who were camping and normally stayed apart from us.
They are really nice people.
D & B ~ Hard to believe that 70 people from all walks of life can get on so well, none of us wanted the adventure to end. We hope to renew these friendships in the future.
The riders had an eventful day with the GPS, after missing a turn the recalculation took us on a dirt road ( Donna's favourite) and had us bamboozled for a short time.
We ended up in Koo-wee-rup at a organic cafe for lunch & right across the road was an op shop for our evenings attire, 3 outfits for $9 what a bargain!
After deciding that our time for sight seeing was fast running out we made a move to get to Lakes Entrance by a more direct route and headed up to the Princess FWY. Once on the freeway and keeping a steady pace we came over a rise to see a familiar white van ahead of us in the distance, even though he was on the ferry an hour after us. It never ceased to suprise us that no matter what time we left that van would always catch us.

Mt Gambier to Lorne

Jetty at Beach Point?



Blue lake at Mt Gambier, which is their water supply.



Great Ocean Road.



12 apostles or what is left of them.Is it 7 left??, or 6 1/2.



Cray Fisherman weighing their catch,they were a bit cagey about how much it was worth.

Mt Gambier to Lorne, 400kms,
Went to Portland, Port Fairy and then along the Great Ocean Road,and then on to Lorne.
The views along the GOR are spectacular.
The road is fun to drive along in the van as I had no passengers, and I could fling it around the corners,and then stop and fix up all the wine cases that had slipped around.
From Donna & Bob~ One of the highlights was Rebecca's bakery @ Port Fairy were Donna had the best ever Caramel slice, 6cm high x 7cm square - mmmmmm... coffee was good too.
We stopped at some of the viewing spots along GOR and assembled for an aerial shot from the film crew that had rented one of the sight seeing helicopters to video most everyone heading out from the 12 Apostles car park. Once we had traveled in a group for around 3 minutes we went back to normal speed and went "hunting" for the GOR then to Lorne. Through the Ottoways, great bike roads & beautiful scenery, the Ducati W.....s had a blast!
Had drinks & dinner at the pub and bade a final farewell to 'Clint & Kylie' who were finishing thier tour in Melb, a great couple whom we shared many laughs with. Hope to catch up with them in the future.

Lyndoch Hill to Mt Gambier

The Blue Lake which has water fed by pushing up through the water table.



The Coorong



The entrance to Lyndoch Hill.



Pink Lake.


450kms ride along the coast and past the Coorong. The Coorong and Murray Lakes region in South Australia is a vast unspoiled ecosystem comprised of freshwater lakes, wetlands, ocean beach and saltwater.
Also went past the pink lakes as well, which is coloured by Beta Carotene, which is found in carrots.
Mount Gambier was totally different to what was expected. We had always assumed it had been a very industrial town but to everyones surprise it was extremley nice and well laid out. A place that would be well worth a revisit. It also has the "Blue Lake" and a bunch of "Sinkholes" (not stinkholes, I think they got rid of them).

Port Augusta to Lyndoch Hill ( Barossa Valley)

This is the Chateau Barossa that is in the grounds of Lyndoch Hill Retreat where we stayed.Unfortunatly for us we didn't have time to check it out but from all accounts it was a spectacular both inside & out.



This short 307 km day started a bit wet, but soon cleared up to cool and overcast day. We stopped a couple of times and then headed to Peter Cherrys place for lunch time BBQ.
Peter is one of the riders on the trip and he kindly opened up his home for all the 50 odd riders and some guys from the local Gold Wing club. We also had a auction for a signed T shirt , a paintball experience, a bike wash from Andrew ( one of the support crew) which went for about $800.00, also a couple of wine packs. I was bidding on the T shirt and at $500.00 I put my hand up to raise the stakes and not knowing exactly what to do, the auctioneer asked me how much and I said what ever it takes, so he said $1,000 dollars and The T shirt was promptly mine. All the money goes to the foundation, which is such a good cause.
There was a engraved glass Plaque of the Around Australia Ride logo which a member of the local Gold Wing Club had donated as a raffle prize. The auctioneer Tony , also one of the riders, won the raffle and promptly offered it up to auction. Bidding was fierce and it finally sold for $3,000 dollars. There was lumps in the throats all round as the guy who donated it is still going through Chemo etc.(it is an insidious disease )
After that we booked into the motel at Lyndoch Hill, which has new owners about a year ago, they are trying to make the gardens one of the top ten gardens in the world .and currently have a breed of Rose from each Country in the World. I think that she said there was about 30,000 roses in the garden, it is quite spectacular, even though they are still bringing the gardens back to life after years of neglect.
The above 2 photos are of some of the garden.
Donna & Bob did their usual Wine Tour to end all tours loading the bike with a case on the rack plus 2 in the hand. As we rode the bike on this one there was no tasting we bought by name not taste, such as Duck Duck Goose, Seize The Day & Outlaw just to name a few.
You will have to wait till we get home to give us a rating...........

The Resort offered up an auction for a weekend and was sold for $2500 which was then given to Phil (Stevens Dad) and Alan (one of the organisers of the Snowy Ride) as an appreciation for their efforts. when the Resort saw it was for 2 couples they added the extra room and meals to round it out. Mandy & Mark are great people and highly recommend you stay there if you are over that way.

Ceduna to Port Augusta

Woke up to a 470km day which started with rain pelting down and near gale force winds.
Bob and Donna counted about 73 trucks and Road Trains on the way to Port Augusta. Rained off and on all the way there and riders were getting blown around all day.
It was worse when you saw a Road Train coming for you as when they went pass the spray made seeing very difficult, even in the van with the wipers on, so I can imagine it being far worse on a bike.Don't think we stopped for to many photos as It was a case of getting from A to B.

Border Village to Ceduna

A view from The Head Of Bight as it is known, some serious erosion is happening here.



Look closley, there are a couple of heads but no bite.....



Bobby with Rob the Viking originally from Sweeden with his wife Rovena on one of the lookouts at the Bight. Rob also is a Harley rider & rose grower much to everyones surprise, so now he is also called Rosebud & Petal.


494kms to Ceduna, stopped about 13kms out of Border Village to look at the Great Australian Bight, tried to take some photos but card was full, I think that Bob got some. Then it was on to Head of Bight, to try and see some whales but we were about one week to late.It was the end of the season but the views were spectacular.
Arrived At Ceduna and booked into the motel, with security fencing.
We were booked in at the bowling club around the corner for tea.All the cooking staff were volunteers, as in unpaid.
We had a great tea and then they raffled of some oyster trays, which were appreciated by all who won them. they also donated I think about $300.00 to the appeal.Some stayers then had a big night and took on the locals in a pool comp, which they won, the locals were looking on the dark side of things if you know what I mean.
I don't think that the riders were expecting what mother nature had in store for them the next day.