I may very well have a great deal more to say about this trip—it’s winter in the northern hemisphere and you folks up there probably need something to help you get off to sleep. There are also bits for which Pterodactyl wasn’t present.
Meanwhile, however, the least I can do is add a couple of photos to Pterodactyl’s post as requested.
He failed to mention in his post that the place we met—the Robertson Pie Shop—sits on top of Macquarie Pass, a wonderful ride up the side of Australia’s Great Dividing Range. While I had had a lousy ride up the hill the day before due to congestion from an accident, he reported having one of the best rides he had ever had.
Courtesy of Google and for Guth, the Robertson Pie Shop atop Macquarie Pass
Outside said Pie Shop. These bikes look so much better with their side covers painted the same colour as the tank
The next photo is included for Inhouse Bob. Somewhere later in the day on which Pterodactyl photographed Bob in the fog, we rode past this place to show him the view. As the conditions were identical or worse to earlier in the day we saw precisely nothing except the drops of rain on our visors. Had it been a better day, this is what we would have seen.
The next photo’s for Bob too: the Loaded Dog where he, Pterodactyl, Tezza and I spent the first night of the ‘rally’ and Bob was introduced to Vegemite. The following morning, Pterodactyl had an unfortunate ride in the dirt.
Pterodactyl’s description of the ride down the hill from Braidwood surpasses anything I could have written. It was hideous. Looking back, the omens were not good. It wasn’t a good morning and we could see the overcast off in the distance. It was also quite cool.
We took breakfast at the café in Braidwood from where we started March’s ill-fated ride into the dirt and to which we repaired afterwards. Outside the bitumen was soggy, a phenomenon I’ve only ever seen in extreme heat. The CB1100 was on a mighty angle by the time I took this. It required a bit of effort to get the stand out of the hole.
The obligatory Phillip Island shots.
Our place in Siberia wasn’t all that conducive to photography, but ...
Jack Miller leads Marquez
A lap later, Marquez leads Miller
Then there was AussieFlyer’s bike.
And Mick’s Suzuki.
AussieFlyer generously fed us fish and chips and beer while we waited to board the ferry. Thanks, mate.
In the next shot, Pterodactyl negotiates a Tasmanian corner in the Hellyer Gorge. I’ve included it because, about the time it was taken, a hoon on a 250 off road beast hurtled past us on what was clearly a regular afternoon blast. We were on our way down into the Gorge. About 10-15 minutes later, just before we got to the top of the other side of the Gorge, he passed us going like a bat out of hell the other way.
My friends Katie and Richard aboard their BMW
Grandpa out the back of the Honda dealer in Hobart
Atop the hill at Cabramurra
Last shot of the bikes together outside the Tarana Hotel
Lunch at Tarana