Aussie Throttle Therapy

[KMoore]

After such a great ride at the end of January, we decided not to leave it too long for the next one. The plan was for four days of riding in the Snowy Mountains and Victorian Alps again. You can not ride these roads too many times. The roads are amongst the best motorcycle roads in Australia and the scenery is beautiful. It won’t be long and some of these roads will be covered with snow and closed for the winter season.

We planned to meet at Mount Beauty on Friday afternoon. Rod was leaving from Jan Juc in Victoria, I was leaving from Sydney in New South Wales and meeting Dave in Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory, then riding together to Mount Beauty.

My ride started at 4.00am on Friday morning for a 250k ride to Canberra. It was a freezing cold ride and when arriving at the meet point, Dave said the forecast was for afternoon snow in the area we had to ride through. Thankfully we didn’t encounter any snow, but it was very cold.

We stopped at Cooma for a quick hot drink and at Adaminiby for the obligatory picture of the big trout.



A little bit of fog and low clouds.



Stopped at the emergency shelter hut at Sawyers Hill. There are huts like this scattered throughout the high country in Australia. They were originally built by our cattlemen and farmers in the days before good roads and access. Now they are used for emergency accommodation by hikers, campers and rescue teams.



Turned onto the road that winds through the Snowy Mountains through Cabramurra and on to Corryong. this is a narrow and twisty road that is a lot of fun, but you have to be careful of vehicles over the centre line on corners and those pesky kangaroos. Dave had a very close call with a little roo that scurried across in front of him. Missed it by millimetres. Their weight is mostly down low and even a small one will easily bring you down.

We stopped at Obrien’s Hut to have a look.



The view from the back yard.



Stopped at Corryong for a well deserved coffee and look around.



While taking a break, a Pike’s Peak Multi Strada rolled in. As he walked into the cafe, he had a grin from ear to ear and looked like the cat that had just swallowed a canary. He obviously loved his bike. One thing I always enjoy is chatting with other people during these breaks. Some have great stories and experiences to share.

Not a clear picture of the Multi Strada, but it is there, behind Dave's R1100S.



Corryong is where Jack Riley, the Man From Snowy River was born. A great horseman who inspired the poem written about the search for an escaped horse by Banjo Patterson. It was put to music/song and also became a drama film starring Kirk Douglas and Tom Burlinson.



Corryong is also a timber town.



From Corryong we took a road that neither Dave or myself had been on before that started on the first part of the Omeo Highway and turned onto Lockharts Gap Road and then onto Gundowring Road to Mount Beauty. Lockharts Gap Road was a nice surprise, with its combination of tight corners and sweeping bends. Well worth the change from the way we normally go.

I’ve said it before, but the R1100S is a whole lot of fun to ride. My thoughts often turn towards getting a new GS, but I can’t see how the smiles could get much bigger than when riding this bike.



We met Rod at Mount Beauty for an overnight stop.

[KMoore]

Up early on Saturday for breakfast and off to beat the tourists on the road to Falls Creek. There was almost no traffic and the road was in excellent condition. A lot of grip and no wet spots on corners.





From Falls Creek across Bogong High Plains Road. You are pretty much riding across the top of Australia on this road.







We don’t stop and ride in to some of the look-out areas so I have taken an image from the net that is from a vantage point in this area.



Where the Bogong High Plains road meets the Omeo Highway.





Then along the Omeo Highway to Mita Mita.

[KMoore]

We think we have finally found a GS with more bling than Rod’s. This one was at Mita Mita.



Not sure what to think about the number plate.





On to Tallangatta for fuel and food.

The staple diet of a true blue Aussie, camel, donkey, horse meat or whatever, and other dubious content, topped off with dead horse.



From Tallangatta along the Murray Valley Highway, turn of to Granya Gap road towards Walwha and then back to Corryong. Lots of corners and riders have to be mindful of speed as the area is well policed.



The Murray River.

[KMoore]

On the Alpine Way to Jindabyne is an area called Siberia.







Ski slopes at Thredbo. In a few months all this will be covered in snow and the road we have just been on will be closed.



Lake Jindabyne



Saturday night in Jindabyne, and then up for an early start towards Bairnsdale. It was foggy early but turned into a very nice day.

Fog covering the small town of Dalgety.



Wind powered generators between Dalgety and Bombala.





Refreshment stop at Bombala.

[KMoore]

And on to probably the most fun road I can think of, the Bonang Highway to Orbost. This road has 105ks of corner after corner with a short section of dirt road. I don’t think we could have pushed the bikes any harder than this time. Certainly for me anyway.





Love the new growth on these trees that have been almost destroyed by fire at some time.





On arriving at Bairnsdale for our Sunday night stop, we had the great pleasure of spending some time with Jon and his lovely family. Many people from this forum will know Jon. Rumour has it that there could be a possibility he might come back to the BMW fold after a flirtation with Honda. We hope so.

Dave and Jon



Early rise on Monday morning to watch the MotoGP. Today, Rod would be heading back home and Dave and I to Canberra and Sydney. Breakfast and on the road before sunrise.





We had a lot of options for the route home, all of them great roads, but couldn’t resist another crack at the Bonang Highway. Almost no traffic, so a clear run and another nice ride.







Fuel at Bombala, a very quick run across towards Dalgety and up Maffra Road to Cooma for a coffee and then on to Canberra where we parted company and I cruised home along the freeway.

2210ks all up for me.

Another wonderful ride with the best of company. Thanks Rod and Dave. Looking forwards to next time.

[Jozef Schumann]

GREAT post, epic views! - Thanks for sharing!

J.S.

[wswartzwel]

Wonderful Trip report. Thanks for sharing! and Nice to see Chewie's face again.

[Droptarotter]

Thanks for posting the photos.
It's been 32 years since I took my R100S through that area, but some of those roads/views still stick in my mind!

Cheers

[RBMann]

Wow, nice pics and it looks like good trip.

[Mitch1100]

Thanks for sharing, great photos..roads much like Tassie's!!

[twodear]

What camera are you using Kev?

[KMoore]

Originally Posted by twodear

What camera are you using Kev?

I am using a Canon G12. I used to carry a dslr, but found it tedious to take pictures whilst riding and with the small camera I have it hanging around my neck and tucked into my jacket. I don't have to remove my helmet or gloves like when using the dslr. So it is easier to stop and take a picture without too much delay when riding with others. I am on the lookout for something better with a dx sized sensor (maybe Nikon Coolpix A or equivalent?). Not too worried about zoom as I rarely use it. There are a few issues with this camera, not the cameras fault though. I leave my gloves on and sometimes inadvertently change settings when getting out of my jacket and don't like the saturation of greens and yellows (probably can change that in settings). Because most pictures are taken while sitting on the bike, I am often not in the best light to view the screen to check if the focus was ok, so have to hope for the best when trying not to hold the ride up.

[KMoore]

Thanks to all for the nice comments.

[KMoore]

Hopefully Rod and Dave will post their pictures and add dialogue when they get a chance.

[RoLoo]

...like those kind of pictures !...

[nuggetrosie]

great ride report - thats a nice looking R1100S Sport - I reckon the original owner must have been a good bloke! Dave, the bike still looks good. Cheers Steve

[pardeepsunny79]

amazing

[nidah]

Hi Steve, I think he was, maybe a bit mad to sell such a great bike. Came away from the weekend with a big grin like Kevin said! It was good to catch up with the guys again.

[Paulaner]

Great pics, I want to ride those roads some day.

[chewie]

Hi Boys, thanks for popping over and visiting after such a long day, which by all accounts should have been longer (from a time perspective not miles) naughty naughty haha

good to see you all and it was really nice to sit down and have a chat. you know, seeing and hearing the bikes, for me and for the kids is great because when they are older they too will look back on their earlier life and remember bikes rumbling in and bike people stopping in to talk and that's a nice memory to have!

now looking at these pics makes me feel sad for not being there with you

happy to report there will be a next time, erm - next time, like next time