Great Ocean Road and South Eastern Australia Ride

KMoore · 10-27-2011, 04:47 AM

Jon was going to make thread about this ride, but must have become a bit busy with his fencing job.

Rod suggested we meet at his place and had mapped out an interesting ride schedule. Seeing Rod lives near the beginning of the Great Ocean Road and neither Jon nor myself had ridden that area, it promised to be a nice few days of riding.

KMoore · 06:29 AM

My perspective of the ride.

As we had planned to meet at Rod’s place in Jan Juc, I had close to 1100ks to travel, so, because I’m old, decided to break it into two days.

A bit of preparation.
New front tyre. This was the first time I had anything but a sports tyre on the front and after almost 3000ks I can say that it has performed beyond my expectations.

A little polish to go faster.

Day one, Thursday.

Stop at Goulburn for fuel and an obligatory picture of the big sheep.

Wind Generators near Yass.

HMAS Otway aground at Holbrook

700ks later, arrived at my overnight accommodation at Shepparton.

KMoore · 06:27 AM

Friday.

The original (out of focus) Rockster??? Somewhere between Shepparton and Bendigo.

A few pictures of Bendigo. I had planned to spend a bit more time here and get more pics, but the weather and sky wasn’t what I was looking for.

Ballarat is another place I had intended to get more pics but will wait until next time.

Called Rod from Ballarat to work out a meet point and a little over an hour later rolled into Geelong and saw Rod waiting on the side of the road. Jon had just stopped and was taking his gloves off after travelling from near Bairnsdale. Very well-planned and coordinated on Rod’s part.

A short trip to Jan Juc and a nice relaxed evening watching a replay of some Aussie guy winning another MotoGP world championship.

KMoore · 10:34 PM

Saturday.

Bells Beach, an iconic surf beach, just a short distance from Rod’s place.

Jon doing a bit of land surfing.

The start of the Great Ocean Road.

Arab Café in Lorne. Yes that is a real motorcycle.

Looking up the street from the café.

Mount Defiance Lookout. Rod might correct me if this is wrong.

Rural view.

Castle Cove. Again, might not be the right name?

Rod wrestling his GS back from Jon.

KMoore · 05:37 AM

The Twelve Apostles. A few have eroded away over the years, so not sure exactly how many are left as they are in a line and some are behind others.

Port Campbell.

Lunch at Port Campbell.

Rural view on the return trip.

Martian’s Café at Dean’s Marsh.

Jon makes friends wherever he goes.

KMoore · 03:21 PM

Sunday.

Travelled to Jon’s place at Eagle Point on some lovely roads through areas of Victoria I had not seen before. Very nice. I was surprised at how green the countryside was. Almost too green.

Victorian Countryside.

Jon somewhere in Victoria.

Arrived at Jon’s place, met his family, and yes we also had a look at the postie bikes and a very rare (for Australia) Jeep belonging to Kate, and had lunch.

Jon had to work early the next day, so Rod and I rode on to Mallacoota where we met up with one of Rod’s friends, Pete and stayed overnight.

The road into and out of Mallacoota is a lot of fun.

Monday.

Another road I had always wanted to ride, Imlay Road and on to Bombala.

We separated here. Rod and Pete headed across towards the Snowies and I rode north and turned towards Brown Mountain and Bega.

From Brown Mountain Lookout.

The road down the mountain.

I then traveled up the coast to Nowra and then turned inland towards Mittagong.

Batemans Bay

Over Cambewarra Mountain.

Nowra from the Lookout on Cambewarra.

Over Barrengarry Mountain to Kangaroo Valley, Fitzroy Falls and onto the Hume Highway at Mittagong to home.

All up almost 3,000ks on many roads that were new to me, and with the company of two really nice people. Thanks guys.

wswartzwel · 10-27-2011, 05:24 AM

Subscribed

Guest24 · 10-27-2011, 06:18 AM

The UGLY The Bad-assand The Good

ckcarr · ckcarr's Garage

Great report so far! You always do a great job with the visuals.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KMoore

Jon makes friends wherever he goes.

Must be the leather...

Jeff Williams · 10-27-2011, 07:37 AM

great ride, beautiful country.
btw did you see any sporting activitys or animals

SergioK · 10-27-2011, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nail24

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x249/wrxzook/_PAS7369s1200.jpg

The UGLY The Bad-assand The Good

Indeed!

Beautiful pictures! Thanks for sharing.

Droptarotter · Droptarotter's Garage

I did the Great Ocean Road in 1983........it was an epic trip.
I shipped my R100S there on the plane with me and had a great time.
At that time there where 12 Apostles........I think only 11 are left.

Cheers

RoLoo · RoLoo's Garage

...I think I like those countryside pictures...

dee jones · 10-27-2011, 12:18 PM

Great shots!! thanks for the report

KerQ · 10-27-2011, 01:51 PM

Several years back on a visit to NZ and OZ, I borrowed a pal's beat up old Fiesta (or was it a Rabbit?) for a day and cruised out on the "correct side" of the road west from Melbourne. Stopped in Great Otway, the blowhole near the Apostles, and a few other places.

Nice to see the Apostles again. Pretty as ever. Thanks for the memory tickle.

KMoore · 10-27-2011, 03:44 PM

A few maps.

Sydney to Jan Juc.

Great Ocean Road to Port Campbell.

Great Ocean Road return route.

Jan Juc to Mallacoota. (Not exactly the route, googlemaps not cooperative

)

Mallacoota to Sydney.

AZ-Twin · 10-27-2011, 08:02 PM

Great report and pics, really enjoyed it, thanks.

KMoore · 10-27-2011, 11:13 PM

I know I have commented on the GS on the other thread, but this was my first opportunity to ride one. I had wondered what the attraction was with a bike that to me, only appeared to excel at long distance touring with big load capacity and occasional soft off-roading. I had also wondered why so many people chose to ride the GS when touring the European Alps. How could a big bike with high centre of gravity, narrow rear wheel and compromised tyre selection be so popular for mountain riding with all those hairpin bends? I had also wondered about a few times that I have been passed in the twisties by GS riders that appeared to be doing it quite comfortably when I was pushing as hard as I dare. Good riders, maybe. Surely I had the advantage of a bike that was much more suited and tyres that provided a lot more traction.

After riding Rod's bike on roads that should have been more suited to my R1100S, I have a great admiration for the GS. So easy to ride quickly, so sure footed and confidence inspiring. Steering so much lighter than the R1100S. Falls into corners better. When I got back on mine it seemed like I was riding a big fat ungainly tractor. Of course after a while I fell back in love with the R1100S and am not ready to let it go yet, but, the GS was so nice to ride. I was very surprised I that I enjoyed it so much.

Anyway, just my impressions after a first ride. It could easily be my only bike.

There is one really big problem with the GS... The amount of accessories and bling available for them. Rod has already put a small fortune into his and I reckon he has a way to go yet.

RBMann · 10-28-2011, 01:00 AM

Great photos and report. I guess there is more than one road around the country. Some of your shots remind me of the California coast. So many places to go and see, so little time.

BXR12NT · 10-28-2011, 03:22 AM

Wow, nice ride report guys, you must have nearly gone past my place between Bendigo and Ballarat