Ballina to Home

Days 86 to 98
28.4.2009 to 10.5.2009

This period flew and unfortunately, we don't have many photos.

On day 86, we travelled from Nerang to Ballina. We stopped and had ice cream at a great macadamia nut place. When I pulled up and got off my bike, I found 1 panier had fallen off. Fortunately, Chris had seen it fall off and picked it up for me. We eventually worked out the problem, but couldn't fix it until we arrived home. The nut place was great but expensive.

Day 87
We rode/drove from Ballina to Coffs Harbour where we stayed with Bev and Don. Our GPS didn't have the right directions to get to their place, so Bev found us and led us to their home. We had a lovely time and appreciated their hospitality and catching up again. Also caught up with Wayne and his family which was lovely.

Day 88 & 89
We moved to Stoney Park at Telegraph Point. This was a great little place with man made lakes and hardly anyone around. It was quiet and peaceful and I really enjoyed it. We stayed 2 nights here - a lovely break.

Day 90
We arrived at Raymond Terrace but I can't remember anything about it.

Day 91
This was a big day. I didn't have a good start - my driving lights weren't working and when I tried to find the problem, burnt the sleeve of my riding jacket on my muffler. I rode from Raymond Terrace to somewhere near Gosford - Tuggerah. We tried to find a caravan park, but they were all closed on a Sunday. We decided to put my bike on the trailer and just go straight around to see Nigel Woods and his family. We had a great time at Nige's, who also graciously took us out for lunch. After Nige, we took a motorway which bypassed most of Sydney and ended up in Kiama. This was by far the largest caravan park we had laid eyes on. The people were also very lovely and helpful.

Day 92
We travelled from Kiama to Narooma today. On the way, we passed through Ulladulla and dropped in on Aunty Joan and Uncle Charlie. Unfortunately, they were away at the time which was very disappointing.
I really enjoyed this ride. I loved the farmlands and bends in the road etc. It was great for me but not much fun for Chris.

We stayed at a very posh motel for a change - Whale Motor Inn.

Day 93 & 94
We travelled to Bega and stayed for 2 nights. Once again, the riding was wonderful - lots of bends and country side but the driving, slow and not much fun. At Bega, we saw the cheese museum/ shop. We had some morning tea/lunch there and looked around. I was hoping to see the cheese being made but the closest we got to that, was a video playing in the cafe area. Still, it was a nice change. I wasn't very well at Bega and very depressed about going home so soon.

Day 95
We arrived at Orbost today. A really great little town. I had a lovely look around and thoroughly enjoyed it. There was a spot where geese just cross the road whenever they feel like it which made it even more special.





Day 96
We put the bike back on the trailer at Orbost as we weren't sure what was ahead. We drove to Moe and stayed in another motel. The motel was quite nice and our last night on the trip.

Day 97
We drove to Melbourne. I caught the plane home and Chris took the boat.

Day 98
Chris arrived home.

Trip finished.

Nerang - Mum & Dad

Day 81 - 85
23 April, 2009 to 27 April, 2009

For the next 5 days, we stayed with Mum & Dad at Nerang. We met up with Lee and Don & families, went shopping, visited numerous motorbike shops just around the corner from Mum & Dad, saw Outback Spectacular and visited the Q1. Everyone was great and it was terrific to catch up with all.

Australia Zoo, Glasshouse Mountains

Day 80
22 April, 2009

Today we travelled from Mooloolaba to Australia Zoo. We enjoyed the zoo and I particularly enjoyed the elephants, the large tortoises and the lizards wandering around.








We stayed at a caravan park at Glasshouse Mountains. It was ok but sounded better than it was.

Clearview to Mooloolaba

Day 76
18 April, 2009

Geez, if you want a job done, do it yourself!!!! Chris was supposed to get this blog up to date more than a week ago. I am not impressed.

We travelled from Clearview to The Caves, not far from Rockhampton and went on a tour of the caves. They were lovely and I really enjoyed them. We stayed the night in the caravan park there which started out really nice and peaceful, but sometime during the night, a bunch of touring footballers who won their game came back. We heard them until at least 4 a.m.


Day 77
19 April, 2009

We received a refund from the caravan park who were very embarassed and apologetic about the footballers. We then moved to a caravan park in Rockhampton. I rode into Rockhampton to have a look and ended up at the river which was nice and peaceful.

Day 78
20 April, 2009

We travelled from Rockhampton to Bundaberg. Unfortunately, the gps took us to a dead end at a river crossing with no way of getting across. It was a bit of an adventure and we finally made our way back to another caravan park which was very central and great. I went for a walk into town and had a nice time looking around. It's like a big country town.

Day 79
21 April, 2009

Before leaving Bundaberg, I went to Bundaberg Gingerbeer factory which was terrific, and then Bundaberg Rum. Both places were really interesting but Chris didn't want to see either.
First picture was from Bundaberg Gingerbeer.




From Bundaberg, we travelled to Mooloolaba. This was the absolute worst part of the trip for me so far. After passing through Gympie, I developed a migraine - I get the sort where my vision has problems but not so much pain. The traffic was horrendous and I couldn't see well enough to pull over safely. When we finally pulled up at the caravan park, we found the office was supposed to be a couple of kms away and there were all sorts of problems. Chris finally sorted it all out and got us safely to another caravan park for the night. The shock of so much traffic and people everywhere was very horrible. Neither of us enjoyed this area at all.

Townsville to Bowen

Day 75


Townville waterfront is full of construction activity and development.

The climate is cooler now that we have arrived on the east coast and Kim was itching to ride her motorcycle again. She re-started riding from Townsville.

Our first day with the motorcycle again was a fairly easy one from Townsville to Bowen through the sugarcane fields - a bit over 200 klms. We arrived in Bowen late morning and headed out for a snorkel and swim at one of the more remote beaches nearby.



Bowen was a lovely spot which featured fairly strongly in the recent Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman film "Australia". We only stayed 2 days but could have spent alot longer exploring the beaches and sorrounding area.

Alice Springs to Townsville

Day 73
Wednesday 15 April 2009

We left Alice Springs on day 65 and travelled about 500 klms to Tennant Creek for the night stopping along the way at Aileron, Barrow Creek and Wycliffe Wells. Another 500 klms the following day brought us to Mount Isa. As soon as we crossed the border from Northern Territory into Queensland we noticed the roads deteriorated and travelling became less comfortable. If you look closely at the photo below you will see the uneven road surface that started as soon as you crossed the border.



Mount Isa is a hub of activity being the single largest producers of silver, lead, copper and zinc in the world. Signs of mining activity is evident even in the centre of town with huge chimney towers that dominate the landscape.



Day 68 -70

We travelled from Mt Isa to Townsville (another 500 odd klms) and stayed for the easter weekend. We found a caravan park as close to the city centre as possible and commuted back and forth to the centre of townsville several times. Unfortunately, we felt a bit out of place in the caravan park which was a bit upmarket, very busy, very noisy and (I must be getting old) with too many children.

Day 71

We drove north to a rainforest and mountainous area called Paloona. Fortunately, we left the trailer behind as the roads were extremely windy with little clearance. We enjoyed the forest and waterfalls and had lunch at a cafe in Paloona. On the way back to Townsville we had a few annoying incidents -I brushed the camper against a roadside sign on the way down the mountain and then a rock was thrown up and seriosly cracked the windscreen. The following day we left from Townsville for the trip south.

Alice Springs

Day 64
6.4.09

Today we visited the Desert Park. I'd been here previously when I visited Schulzie about 5 years ago. Although it was good, I was a little disappointed as it didn't have any aboriginals talking about their food and medicine etc. like they did previously. The highlight, however, was the birds of prey. A ranger talked about them, and as she did, the various types would fly in and be fed by her. It was great. One of my favourites was a buzzard who wandered off to pick up a stone so it could break an emu egg. In the pic you can see the stone in it's mouth and then on the ground next to the egg.





In the afternoon, we caught up on some shopping, washing and ironing etc.

That night, we had dinner with Schulzie and her 2 sons. It was really nice catching up with lots of laughter.



Day 65
7.4.09

Today, we were supposed to head back towards Tennant Creek but Chris was a bit on the tired side so we're staying in Alice for another night. I went into town to have a proper look around which was really nice. From about 6:30 a.m. until roughly 11:00 a.m. though, all communications in Alice were down. No landlines, no mobiles, no internet, no ATM and no EFTPOS. Most banks were closed because of it and shops could only accept cash. I was really worried about Kieran because he hasn't been well and it was awful not being able to ring him. Fortunately, everything seems to be back to normal now.