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.

Balladonia to Border Village

Storm at Border Village, just as we had arrived, has cleared up now into a nice afternoon.



View from Madura look out.



Royal Flying Doctor Service airstrip on highway, I think that there are a few of these on the nullabor.


A distance of 537kms from Balladonia to Border vilage.
Had a passenger today who ended driving all the way so that gave me a break,it
was nice to have some company. We are trying to organise a photo shoot at the bight tomorrow about 13kms out of town.
Will get up early and set up the video camera to get them arriving and shoot some footage while they are there.
Just finished tea,and it was great,some of the best food has been at these roadhouses,maybe not that fancy,but plenty of it and tasty.
494kms tomorrow,and I think some rain is forecast,so it may slow us down a bit.
plus we will try and go to the head of the bight,might even see some whales, even though it is at the end of the season. Yeehah have actually caught up on the blog.

Esperance to Balladonia

Dried lake full of salt.



Rain Ahead.




the main street of Norseman where fashion is a big thing & hamburgers are better.



Balladonia motel, pretty dam good actually, great meals.



Before the dust storm and then it rained.



Les "muscles" Rides a gold wing with trailer and camps every night.Nice guy.



Mark on left and Wes on right, king of the one liners.


Esperance to Baladonia, a road house where bits of the space shuttle landed near by.
Had a easy drive and then the clouds built up and had a dust storm and then it rained.Gusty hot winds on the ride in.
Not much to report as no one had any dramas.
Bob & Donna stopped at Norseman (home of Norseman Gold) for lunch. had the usual hamburger and there could be a lot of places at home that could take a few pointers from the majority of small towns on how to cook one.
Yep hot & gusty, those winds were!
At around 5.00 there was a huge dust storm followed by lightening then a large dump of rain to settle everything.
This worked out well for the next day as it was cooler in the morning.

Albany to Esperance

TuTu and Y fronts.



A nickel mine that BHP owned but couldn't make it work so they sold it to the Canadians. I think they spent about 2$billion dollars on getting the mine going and sold it for about $100 million.



Another bit of wildlife.



Stirling Ranges



Old Dutch style windmill.



Observatory Island, two French ships took refuge at this island, one was called the Esperance and FK what the other one was called in 1792.



Grain Train.



Super Donna.



Esperance,Bay of Isles.

What a gorgeous coastline, beautiful blue waters & white beaches.Another place on the list to revisit. Found some great coffee, so we had 2 each.
WA has great roads, in good condition, some a little too straight!

Margaret River toAlbany

Tall trees walk, up to 38 metres above the ground.



Very friendly birds.



Some tourists that I found to take photos of,German I think.



Rick and Donna in tree trunk,trees are big here.



Donna climbing Gloucester Tree



Bobby doing the same.



View from Top .



Puffing Billy ( Donna )



View down from tree, bloody high.

Trip from Margaret River to Albany was short, so most riders went to the Gloucester Tree at Pemberton and the on to the Tall trees walk away's down the road.Then on to Albany where we booked in and did some sight seeing.Riders who do some thing dumb or out of the ordinary get to wear a TuTu or Y fronts, depending on Gender, male get the TuTu and females get the Y fronts.You may recognise one in the following blog.

The riders are enjoying the riding and loving being on the road every day.
Albany has some lovely old buildings and a magnificent war monument on top of the hill, definitely some where to revisit.