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How About Some Pics from The Roads Down Under


Kane

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G'day folk's

Well despite fates best attempts to thwart our escape...

ie in the middle of a dose of the lurgy I break another large chunk off an already damaged tooth which was just starting to abscess and turn VERY PAINFUL!This being Tuesday I thought best get this sorted so can getaway at the weekend.Emergency extraction on Wednesday wouldn't stop bleeding so possible stitches...?Thankfully it did stop!

Come Thursday of course the weather hasn't improved much and get drenched heading to mechanic for last minute check up ( bike not me this time ha ha ) but hot shower afterwards and no more pain from tooth cheered me up quite a bit.

Friday weather begrudgingly on the improve and forecast is for a window of opportunity from Saturday with more crap Monday arvo...!

So with accommodation already sorted from the other week and spirits running high, come Saturday morning.....

We got the hell outa Dodge before fate could reconvene and have another crack at us!!

To be continued...

Cheers Guzzler

 

 

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Ouch! I hope you get your tooth sorted, guzzler. So many of these pics look like somewhere in Montana. Or Montana looks like somewhere Down Under.

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17 hours ago, Kane said:

Ouch! I hope you get your tooth sorted, guzzler. So many of these pics look like somewhere in Montana. Or Montana looks like somewhere Down Under.

Thanks mate

Ha ha this morning is the first time I'm able to have a cuppa without a heap of cold water in it....!

But best of all is NO PAIN !!!!

Didn't get many photo's whilst away I'm afraid but will try and post what I did and a  wee review sometime over the weekend if I can get a chance

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Did you get the Eye of Newt...?

Nah!

How'd you go with the Stoats toenail..?

No go!

Yeah and Blackie ( the black cat ) sensed it wasn't a great time to be about either!

So no offerings to the Gods then??

Nope we're on our own.....!

And so it was come 9.30 ish on a damp single digit and overcast Saturday morning we set forth from Drouin ( aka Dodge ) on our quest for the border.

Nice open twisty road on the way up to Noojee let both bikes and blokes warm up,but come the short-cut thru Nayook to Noojee-Launching Place Rd we ran into the first of the  fog for the day.The road was tight twisty and damp so concentration needed.

All good though and popped out onto the Nooj/LJ rd and great open sweepers through the dense forest / bush, up and over the pass and dropping down for the run into Launching Place, then more tight damp twisties thru the Yarra Ranges that ring Melbourne's East and North.Great fun and even got a wee bit of sunshine for a bit!

After an hour or so of this we finally popped out thru Toolangi onto the Yea road and gained a bit more elevation.It was here we ran into the FREEZING FOG...!

Oh dear it was also about here I started to think that fate and the gods hadn't finished with us just yet, and WHY THE HELL didn't I pack let alone wear my THERMAL underwear??The temp was about 3-4 degrees and after about 80-100 kays...I was feeling the cold.

Finally after what seemed an eternity we rolled into Yea and parked up in search of warmth and coffee!

Rich you're bleeding says Dave

Shit so I am says I.

My hands are that cold I can't feel them and cut myself on my jacket zipper...

Anyways we had a great cuppa in a nice and WARM cafe and thawed out over the next 30mins or so.It was about here that Dave starts regaling me about the virtues of electrically heated gloves/jacket and long johns ( with booties none the less ) and how nice and toasty he was and how cold was that last stretch?

I can't believe you're not wearing any thermals....!

Don't go there.

I think it was about Molesworth 30 or so minutes later that the fog cleared and the sun came out and we got to see a bit of the scenery.Pulling into Mansfield later Mt Buller in the distance looked great covered in snow.

We fuel up and just as I was about to leave realise shit I haven't paid for it so rush back in and pay for my gas...Idiot.

From Mansfield we decided to push on to Whitfield for lunch.This road reaches 1000metres so we thought we'd do it whilst the sun's out and relatively warm so to speak.Great 62 k run up and over, very tight & twisty at times and open and flowing in others then dropping down to Whitfield and a bloody good ham cheese and tomatoe toastie at the cafe whilst basking in the warm afternoon sun.

It's now about 2.30pm ish so headed off on the last stretch and not long after the winter shadows start appearing as the sun drops lower likewise the temperature.It all held together as we went  through the towns of Beechworth/Yackandanda/Tangambalanga and finally round Lake Hume to Tallangatta and home base for Sat and Sunday nights.After checking in, getting changed and  freshened up at 4.30pm we headed down to the bar for a few quiet drinks and a meal after a longish day.

All was well till someone fired the juke box up then the shots started appearing on the bar* ( we wisely gave them a miss ) and the place was JUMPING....It ended up being quite a LATE night but a GREAT time ha ha .

*( turns out it was the publican....ha ha )

Sunday

The plan was to ride round the lake and follow the Murray River along the border and loop back, but hangovers meant up late / late brekky walk round the town and come 12 ish what now...?

Lets go for a wobble round the lake for a couple of hours?

Great idea so we did and yep this road was every bit as good on a bike as I thought it'd be...Brilliant.Come 2.30pm we stopped at Walwa for a cuppa / toastie and warm up at the fire.As the shadows were starting and it was getting cooler again we took local advice and headed up Guy's Forest / Shelley road short-cut and found a ripper of a road! The part where it goes up and over the ranges was new and fantastic fun!This dropped us back to the main highway ( saving about 100 or more kays ) and after a brisk ride back to Tallangatta and a shower hit the bar again for a QUIET sherbet and meal...

Monday

Bloody good nights sleep and heard Dave next door heading for the shower, so up cuppa and pack up @ 7.00 ish .

We didn't get any frost thankfully as temp about 6-8 degrees and sunny so headed off after air in the tyres to Yackandanda for brekky.Lovely in the sun at Yack but headed off about 9.30am for the run home.

We pretty much repeated the trip up except for taking the Black Spur into Healesville.As there was talk of storms in the afternoon we pretty much pushed home asap stopping only for gas again in Mansfield ( remembering to pay before trying to leave this time ) and a brief stop for a bite in Healesville so about 6 or so hours pretty much straight home.

Ha ha I really felt it when I got home but we did need to get a wriggle on to avoid the coming weather/storms.

All in all about 1100 kays and a Bloody great time was had and looking forward to the next getaway hopefully not as long a wait this time eh!

Cheers Guzzler

Ps The storms came through about 3am so we could've taken a bit more time in getting home but sure as hell if we did the gods would've decided that we'd gotten away with enough already....

 

 

 

 

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What a great run, :notworthy:   @guzzler!

Makes our "place names", here in The States, seem so plain (for the most part). B)

. . . and those temps in ºC: 3-8? That makes for 37-46ºF!  Definitely "electric vest" territory! Especially considering the "Windchill" at highway speeds . . . :blink:

Thanks for sharing your story, mate! An inspiration! :thumbsup:

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Thanks Doc

Ha ha yeah they are tongue twisters eh...

And the cold,I'm usually pretty good with it but that bloody freezing fog was starting to get to me I must say.

Glad you enjoyed reading it mate as we had a blast eh...

Cheers Guzzler

You know I did a test photo earlier and no dramas with posting photos but you wouldn't read about it, I can't for the life of me get it to work again to post the few shots I did take???

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Phew, finally got it.....

#1 Dave sorting electrical connection for his heated gear in Yea

#2 Parked up in Yea - in search of warmth and coffee

#3 and #4 The cafe in Whitfield

#5 looking up the street in Yackandandah - Dave sorting ear plugs

#6 looking down the street in Yackandandah after brekky on Monday

Bloody hell is it wine o clock yet....?

Think I need one after that!

Cheers Guzzler

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