Review of the AAR22

 The cast in no particular order:

Kathy Manthey - Organiser and support driver.

Pam and Rod Knight - Sweeper crew.

Nicholas Brittain - BMW 800ST

Paul Doran - BMW 1600 (The Mother Ship)

Dave Eardley - Ducati

Wayne and Susie Glew - 2006 Goldwing.

Greg and Sue Henderson - 2021 Goldwing.

Adrian Ikin - 2009 Goldwing.

Graham Merrick - Honda Valkerie.

Erica Sutton - BMW 800 GS.

Steve Wallace - BMW 1200 GSA.

Andrew Manthey - BMW XR 1000.

Tony Raditsis - BMW 800 GSA.

Greg Whitworth - BMW 850 GS.

Alan Bateman - BMW 1200 GS (2010). 

Distance travelled = 14,215 kms (differs from the Blog of 13,840 kms, rounding error??)

Left Sydney: 27th April 2022

Arrived back in Sydney: 29th May 2022

Total 33 days.

Donations received: $8,601.

29th May 2022 - Batemans bay to Elanora Heights

 Distance travelled: 305 kms.

Cumulative distance: 13,840 kms

Sponsored by: Cary Granger.

I had breakfast at the motel and said my goodbyes to everybody. The weather was sunny but cool so I rugged up with extra thermals.

Adrian and I were going to ride to Sydney with Nick along the coast road (Princes Highway). We waited whilst he loaded his bike which looked like an overloaded camel by the time he finished. We headed out of the motel intending to refuel at the Ampol service station just north of the bridge in Batemans Bay. Adrian and I made it but there was no sign of Nick. He must have stopped at a service station in town. We didn't see Nick again. I hope he got home to Bondi Ok. Adrian and I headed north and made good progress as the traffic wasn't too bad for a Sunday. We stopped in Nowra for a coffee and a snack. Because the run to Sydney was only 300 kms that was our only stop. We had a pretty fast run through Wollongong and the F6 freeway until we got to Kirawee and hit the traffic. After that it was pretty slow going. Adrian headed for Botany road whilst I went over the Captain Cook bridge and took the M5, Eastern Distributor and harbour tunnel to arrive home on the Northern beaches at 2pm.

I was greeted by Jacki with a list of all the things that had gone wrong or weren't working since I left on 27th April.

Nothing changes!! 

It thought I'd throw this one in. It's the world's biggest pie shop in Bairnsdale.

28th May 2022 - Bairnsdale to Batemans Bay

 Distance travelled: 468 kms.

Cumulative distance: 13,535 kms.

Sponsored by: Peter Walshaw.

We were meant to have breakfast at our accommodation, Riversleigh at 7am but there were no staff to set it up (continental breakfast) so we were about to jump on our bikes and head down the road to have beeakfast on the way to Batemans Bay. At around 7.30 am a woman turned up to set up breakfast for an 8am start. She hadn't been told that we were breakfasting at 7am instead of the normal time for the weekends at 8am. She did a great job of quickly setting up the breakfast which we all enjoyed.

It was drizzling when I left at 8am with all my wet weather gear on hoping it wouldn't leak. I rode through Bruthen and Orbost to arrive at Cann River at 10am. Andrew was there already so we had coffee and some sustenance. Then the rest of the group arrived and refuelled. I headed off to Eden behind Erica and Graham. It was overcast and there was an occasional light shower but nothing to challenge my waterproof gear. The weather cleared with even some sunshine by the time I got to Eden where I refuelled. There are some really pretty villages on the coast between Eden and Batemans Bay like Pambula, Merimbula, Tathra and Bermagui. I didn't bother detouring to see them as I had been there in March on a mid-week overnight ride. 

I arrived at the motel at 2.30pm and was the first to do so.

In the evening Sue Walter was at the dinner along with Barry the manager of the Steven Walter Chikdrens Cancer Foundation with his wife Chris. Sue said that the foundation has collected more than $10 million in donations since it started in 2001. A new facility is being built at the Sydney Childrens Hospital for research into childrens cancer. It will be the biggest such  facility in the southern hemisphere. One of the laboratories will be named "The Steven Walter Laboratory".

From left to right, Barry the manager of SWCCF, Sue Walter and Barry's wife Chris.

This is Kathey and Andrew Manthey the organisers of the ride.

L to R, Graeme, Suzie and Wayne.

L to R, Sue, Greg H and Greg W.

L to R, Paul and the mad doctor Nick.

L to R, Dave the only Ducati rider, his wife Denby and Ensa Paul's wife.

L to R, Greg H, Greg W and Adrian.

Andrew and Rod the sweeper driver.

L to R, Erica, Pam (Rod's wife) and Andrew.

27th May 2022 - Lorne to Bairnsdale

 Distance travelled: 458 kms.

Cumulative distance: 13,067 kms.

Sponsored by: Paul Margerson.

Up at sparrows (5.30am) to catch the 8.00 am ferry from Queenscliff to Sorrento. Colin thought he was still over the .05 alcohol limit so decided to wait until later. I got away at 6.00 am, still in the dark and roads damp. It was a nightmare riding in the dark on wet twisty roads. A lot of the oncoming traffic had LED lights that caused a lot of glare on my helmet visor. Everybody agreed it was a nightmare riding in the dark on the Great Ocean Road with all the tight corners. We all made it to the ferry on time and the sea was flat calm so it was a smoothe crossing.

The view from the deck of the ferry.

I had breakfast in Sorrento but everybody else motored on. After breakfasting at a trendy expensive Cafe I took  the south Gippsland highway through Foster and Yarram, Sale and on to Bairnsdale. We are staying in Riversleigh a big old house converted into rooms with ensuites, very comfortable. There was a bit of trouble gaining access to our rooms as we had to register on-line to get a code to open our rooms. It was all done by remote control with a little woman on site trying to help us. The SMS with my room code ended up in my Spam!! Eventually everybody got their code and could get into their rooms but it wasn't easy.

We were having a few beers in the carpark when a Tesla turned wanting to use the public charger that we had blocked with our bikes. After we moved them he hooked the car up and started charging. It was a Tesla Model X which starts around A $114,000??? We had a chat with the guy driving the car and he told us it was his daughter's and he didn't know much about the car. He gave a donation to our charity after we offered him a free beer.

Dinner was in a local pub where the food was pretty good.

It is the last official day of the ride tomorrow to Batemans Bay.

26th May 2022 - Mount Gambier to Lorne

 Distance travelled: 388 kms.

Cumulative distance: 12,609 kms.

Sponsored by: Sue Fielding.

I was the last to leave the motel in Mount Gambier and it was pissing down. Last night I managed to fix the tears in my wet weather pants with duct tape provided by Paul from the "mother ship" and it seemed to have worked as I didn't get a wet crotch!! The rain only lasted around half an hour.  I think I got ahead of the weather front so I headed for the "Great Ocean Road" to enjoy the scenery and a few twisties. First I headed for Port Fairy which I'd been to a couple of times before. It used to be called Belfast by the gentleman who settled there, James Atkinson a Sydney solicitor who came from Belfast.  The name Port Fairy was given by the skipper of a sealing cutter "The Fairy". The name reverted to Port Fairy in 1887. It's a trendy place and has a music festival every year. After that I headed to Warrnambool and the start of the Great Ocean Road. The weather was overcast but dry and I stopped at the Bay of Islands for a few pictures.

The Bay of Islands

Another view of The Bay of Islands.

I rode past the "Twelve Apostles", I think there are only nine left. The ride from Lavers Hill to Apollo Bay had mucho twisties but it also was very damp with lots of green moss in the middle of the road making cornering a bit dicey. The scenery was quite spectacular along this stretch of the coastline. When I got to Lorne Colin was already ensconced in my apartment lapping up the luxury. We went to the pub for a few beers before dinner with the rest of the gang.

After dinner a few people came back to the apartment to have a taste of my Bushmills 10 year old single malt Irish whiskey. We have to get up at sparrow's (5.30am) to leave at 6.00 am to catch the 8.00 am ferry from Queenscliff to Sorento so we hit the sack at 11.00 pm.

25th May - Glenelg to Mount Gambier.

 Distance travelled: 475 kms.

Cumulative distance: 12,221 kms.

Sponsored by: Gerry Hood.

Donations to date: $8,410 Target: $10,000 only $1,590 to go so keep it coming!!

Well the weather forecast was spot on, it poured all day except around Talem Bend where we got ahead of the front. What a miserable day. I was hoping to go to Penola but gave that away as I had a wet crotch due to the fact that the plastic liner of my pants had ripped. I only discovered this when I took them off in my motel room in Mount Gambier. I'm getting some Duct  tape to repair the pants. Once more the room is looking like a chinese laundry with riding gear festooned all over it hoping it will be dried by the morning with a little help from the hair dryer.

I went out to dinner with Jacki's cousin Michelle and husband Charlie this evening. She is Aunty Michelle to the local aboriginal community and visits the local schools telling the story of Annie Brice and teaching the Boandik language.

Dinner Port Macdonnell style.

    Off to Lorne tomorrow and hopeful the weather won't be as bad as today.

24th May 2022 - Rest day in Glenelg.

Distance travelled: 0 kms. 

Cumulative distance: 11,746 kms.

Sponsored by: Ian Ralph.

Had a leisurely breakfast in the restaurant on the ground floor of the apartments.  We have a $20 voucher for breakfast and $40 for dinner. The service is still pretty average and it was difficult to tell the waiters from the punters as they don't wear any uniform or name tag.

I took the tram from Glenelg to the city to take in a bit of Adelaide culture. It's a great service and only two minutes walk from the apartments.  I visited the Art Gallery of South Australia  and the Migration Museum, being a migrant myself!! I wasn't quite sure what some of the themes of the exhibitions were depicting at the art gallery ie the "2022 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art" ; Free/State - Contemporary Art. Some weird exhibits and some really clever ones. Yayoi Kusana : "The spirits of the Pumpkin descending into the heavens". There was a room that looked like the inside of a pumpkin all dots and mirrors. There were warnings about leaning over too far and losing your balance!!

Inside the pumpkin exhibit.

 The Migration Museum told the story of the migrants who came from all over the world to South Australia. Unfortunately a couple of the exhibition areas were closed for renovation. I didn't see Gerry's name on the role of honour.

The view east out from my apartment balcony ... more apartments. 

In the evening I had dinner with Gerry at Cardones along Jetty Road from my apartment. The food was excellent and we had a good natter catching up.

Calamari for me and Garfish for Gerry.

Tomorrow we are off to Mount Gambier unfortunately the forecast is for wet weather all day.

23rd May 2022 - Port Augusta to Glenelg

 Distance travelled: 432 kms

Cumulative distance: 11,746 kms.

Sponsored by: Kim Allchin.

Breakfast at Port Augusta was interesting.  It was supposed to be a buffet but they served it. The place is run by Indians and they were very careful and not too generous with the servings. Kathy told me she was given a case of red wine by the management as a donation. She will sell the bottles to us at $20 a pop. I will be interested to see what the wines are as they made an absolute motza out of us.

The run to Adelaide was only 318 kms so we decided to take the long  way round through the Clare valley. The scenery was spectacular and the weather perfect with clear skies, cool temperatures and no wind. All the villages we went through were well kept with most of the public buildings looking as though they've had a new coat of paint. We had a coffee break in the village of Clare which is a neat little place with all the trendy accoutrements. 

Knappstein's winery in Clare.

Some Silo art in Wirrabara.

After Clare we went through Blyth, Balaclava and on to the freeway to Adelaide. I arrived at the Oaks Apartments, Glenelg at about 1.30pm. The booking in process was painful but eventually I got to my room. The room is a serviced apartment with everything that opens and shuts. There was a washer/dryer combined machine so I decided to do all my washing including my jeans which are the only long pants I have. The drying cycle was hopeless as my jeans came out all soggy. I decided to iron them dry and put the rest of the damp washing back in the machine and put it on the "cupboard dry" cycle which came up with a time of 4hrs 50 mins????? After I had  ironed my jeans into submission I went to dinner and left the drying cycle running for the rest of my laundry. When I came back from dinner I took the clothes out of the washer/dryer and they were still slightly damp. What a circus so I have strewn the washing all over the apartment.

There's a lot of Furphy drinkers in the group!!

At the bar in the apartment building they had a special on Furphy beer. Buy a schooner and get a free beanie!!

Tomorrow I'm taking the tram to Adelaide. 

22nd May 2022 - Ceduna to Port Augusta

 Distance travelled: 477 kms.

Cumulative distance: 11,314 kms.

Sponsored by: John Hutchison.

It was pretty brisk this morning at the motel, 3C feels like -3C.

Breakfast was an odd affair with cereal, toast and a light serving of bacon and eggs that appeared intermittently at the bar. I gave up on the bacon and eggs and stuck to the continental. I filled up at the local Shell service station and donned my heated gloves only to find the batteries were flat. I'd forgotten to charge them so with numb fingers I headed out in the rather cool early morning.  I also managed to leave my camelpak at the motel. I was interrupted when getting my riding gear on, which is fatal so I forgot to pick up the  camelpak. I called the motel and talked to Steve who was most obliging and said he would send it to my home address in Elanora Heights. He would email me an invoice which would contain his bank account details. 

Some riders, mainly the latte set, went through Streaky Bay to have a coffee (half an hour after they had breakfast). I didn't bother as I'd been there before in 2010. The road from Streaky  Bay rejoins the Eyre Highway near Poochera. All the small settlements along the highway to Port Augusta are in a pretty sorry state. I went into Poochera, Minnipa and Pygery and all have seen better days. We were meant to refuel at Wudinna but when I went into the town the service station was closed!!! Luckily I found a local who told me the service station was on the highway just out of town. After refuelling Erica and I went to check out the "Australian Farmer Sculpture ". It was very impressive showing all aspects of farming in Australia. 

The Australian Farmers Sculpture. 

Further down the highway there is the town of Kimba with the "Giant Galah". Unfortunately as it was Sunday everything was closed except the Shell service station.  Like a lot of Australian small towns they can't the staff.

I arrived at the motel around 2.30 pm and the people in reception didn't have a booking or a me. When I explained we were a group riding for the Steven Walter Childrens Cancer Foundation it rang a bell and out came a box with all the keys. As I parked my bike in front of my room I noticed that my headlight wasn't working. The globe had blown. Luckily they are pretty common and I found one in the local Shell shop (the last one).

21st May 2022 - Eucla to Ceduna

 Distance travelled: 506 kms.

Cumulative distance: 10,837 kms.

Sponsored by: Johann Schroder.

Donations to date: $8,361. Target: $10,000.

It was pretty brisk this morning outside the Eucla motel so I dug out my heated gloves. Steve was feeling a bit off colour so he did a couple of RATs and both were positive. He has confined himself to his room. Andrew put his bike on the trailer and rode Steve's R1200 GSA. Steve rode to Ceduna in the backup car with Kathy?? I'm not sure what the next move will be.

After leaving the motel and just after we crossed the WA/SA border there was a tourist photo opportunity of the Great Australian Bight. A cyclist, Nick, had pulled into the same viewing spot. He has ridden from Perth and is heading for Newcastle in N.S.W.  He reckons he's mad. I know he's mad.

Nick taking in the view of the Great Australian Bight

The weather warmed up a bit during the day with a maximum of 21C. The breeze was from the N.E. and we were heading east so we had no problems with the road trains heading west. Passing the road trains heading east was interesting as you were protected from the breeze until you hit the bow wave at the front. Then you had to keep the power on and lean into the turbulence.  The weather is starting to get quite cool in the evenings, down to 10C and 5C overnight. Ceduna is a port on the "Far West Coast" of the Great Australian Bight.  The whale watching season starts in June and runs until the end of October.

The highway doubles as a landing strip for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. 

It's the Australian federal election today when we have a choice between two losers. God help the country!!!

We're off to Port Augusta tomorrow before heading south to Adelaide and civilisation. 

20th May 2022 -Balladonia to Eucla

 Distance travelled: 531 kms

Cumulative distance: 10,331 kms

Sponsored by: Terry Fewell.

Left at 8.00 am after a great breakfast put on by the Balladonia roadhouse and headed for Eucla. The countryside was pretty ordinary and repetitive, low scrub right up to the side of the road. As I was heading for the first refuelling stop at Caiguna I passed a number of riders waving at me so I waved back. I learnt later that I was meant to stop for a team photo at the start of the "ninety mile" straight. As the name "ninety mile straight" would suggest there was a lot of boring straight line riding. 

The start of the "Ninety Mile Straight".

Alan fanging past the "photo shoot" at the "90 mile straight"

As I headed on down the road the weather ahead was looking decidedly damp so I stopped and struggled into my wet weather gear. Needless to say it didn't rain. I took one for the team, so they all stayed dry.

There was a time change on the way. We went forward by 45 minutes as we were heading east. My TomTom GPS picked it up immediately but the phone is still working on Western Australia time.

The motel at Eucla was very welcoming and we had a great dinner there. Before dinner a few of us with Enduro (off road) bikes took a gravel road to the beach to check out the old Telegraph Station. Unfortunately it was not protected and had been attacked by the usual losers with grafitti and kilroy was here smart arses. It was basically a pile of rubble as nothing had been done to preserve it.

The enduro riders except one was riding a BMW F800 GT

 

 

The remains of the Telegraph Station??

This is the view out of my room's window. That is the ocean in the distance.

Tomorrow is the real crossing of the Nullarbor to Ceduna. We ride close to the Great Australian Bight and should get some great views of the cliffs and ocean.

19th May 2022 - Esperance to Balladonia

 Distance travelled: 410 kms

Cumulative distance: 9,800 kms.

Sponsored by: Vaughn DeVocht.

I left the motel in Esperance a bit earlier than everybody else. I was a bit nervous about the job I had done replacing the oil seal in the final drive so I thought I'd give it a good workout in case I needed the sweeper truck. I thought also I'd better check my tyre pressures at the service station as the tyre pressure sensors in the wheels were giving all sorts of weird readings. I think the batteries are on the way out after 177,000 kms. When I refuelled on the way out of Esperance I checked the tyre pressures and set them to what I thought were the correct pressures. When I rode out of the service station the pressures were reading 27 psi on the front and 50 psi on the rear! Way out of kilter with what I wanted ie 38 psi in the front and 42 psi in the rear tyre.

The good news for me is the oil seal in my final drive seems to holding up ... no leaks so far.

Sunset at the Balladonia roadhouse.

The route today was fairly simple, ride due north for 199 kms to Norseman and the due west 200 kms to Balladonia. On the ride from Norseman to Balladonia I was getting a bit dozy so I pulled into a rest area and had a quick nap on one of the picnic tables. After that I was fine all the way to the Balladonia roadhouse. After I checked in at the motel I borrowed Dave's tyre pressure guage to check my pressures and found they were correct, 38 psi on the front and 42 psi on the rear.

The Balladonia roadhouse is suffering from drought and has to have water carted from Norseman.  We are the first group to stay there since December 2020.

Tomorrow we head across the Nullarbor to Eucla.

18th May 2022 - Albany to Esperance

 Distance travelled on bike: 0 kms

Cumulative distance: 9,390 kms

Sponsored by: Ross Castorina.

Unfortunately I travelled this leg in one of the support vehicles because of the blown rear drive seal on my 1200 GS. My bike was loaded on the trailer and towed by Pam and Rod by our sweeper van. I went to a supposed local BMW guru to have confirmed that it was the outer seal on my final drive that had failed. I knew more about it than he (Ronny) did though he was very supportive on my suggestion that the outer seal had definitely blown!! I immediately contacted BM Bikes  in Perth to order a new seal. I asked the proprietor, Thorsten Friz whether he could ship me a couple of seals to Esperance by the 2.15pm flight via Rex Airlines. He said he would check it out and call me back. He did just that and said the seals could be shipped to Esperance on the 2.15 pm flight and it would cost $457. The seals were $100 and the freight charge from Rex was $357. I told him to go ahead and organise. Thorsten made sure the seals were picked up and delivered to Perth airport for the 2.15 pm flight. That's what I called customer service! !!

I picked them up at Esperance Airport at 4.15 p.m

The weather today was wet and miserable so not a day to be riding. I was glad of a comfortable ride with Kathy in the support vehicle.

Erica very generously lent me her bike to go to the airport at Esperance  to pick up the seals.

When I got back to the motel in Esperance from the airport everybody joined in the process of extracting the old seal and installing the new one. I have done this repair before on my 2006 R1200 GS but it was a bit more difficult extracting the old seal on this bike.  Eventually I got it out but in the process I scratched the edge of the hub with the tools I used. I managed to get the new seal in place and added 180 ml of gearbox oil to the hub. The only test on how successful I've been is when we ride to Balladonia tomorrow praying no oil will leak from the hub. Andrew the eternal optimist reckons there will be no problems. I hope he is right.

Everybody in the group were very supportive and  a great help. Even the owner of the motel came up with 6mm self tapper screws to help me extract the old seal.

Old seal after being extracted from hub. A bit knarled.

New seal ready to do the job!!!

17th May 2022 Margaret River to Albany

 Distance travelled: 433 kms.

Cumulative distance: 9,390 kms

Sponsored by: Santa Battaglia.

Breakfast was a bit later than usual at 7.30am. We left about 8.30 am and headed for Cape Leeuwin and the lighthouse. Unfortunately the lighthouse is being restored. It is completely enclosed in scaffolding so there was no possibility of climbing it to see the incredible views.

Lighthouse wrapped in scaffolding!!!

We went through the museum with all the history of the lighthouse which was commissioned in 1895. Colin and I managed to climb it in 2010.

They still have Matilda the cow performing. She was here in 2010 as well.

Next we headed to Walpole to see the "Tree Top Walk" in the "Valley of the Giants". Very impressive. First we had a guided tour of the ground cover flora and the various uses the Aborigines made of each plant. They plan to extend the tree top walk in the near future.

This is a Yellow Tingle

Another Yellow Tingle 

The weather today has been perfect riding weather, cool, sunny, no breeze and clear. The countryside was very green so they must have had some pretty reasonable rainfall. 

I had a lucky escape when riding from Denmark to Albany. A truck was coming towards me on the other side of the road when about 150 metres from me a large bucket like a paint bucket flew out of its tray and bounced along the road heading straight for me. I braked as hard as I could and by some miracle it bounced sideways into the bush before it got to me.

When I was unloading my gear at the motel I noticed some oil streaks on the right side of my rear wheel. Unfortunately it looks as though I have blown the outer oil seal on the differential of the shaft drive. It needs to be repaired as I can't ride it in that state. Right now I am trying to source the part. I can do the repairs myself, I just need the part.

16th May 2022 - Fremantle to Margaret River

 Distance travelled: 326 kms

Cumulative distance: 8,957 kms

Sponsored by: Peter Richardson.

I slept in until 7.30am !! I then loaded the bike after riding round the boom gate in the hotel carpark that refused to open. A lot of the riders were having their bikes serviced early but I didn't bother so I rode south to Mandurah where I had breakfast. I was told later that breakfast was included in our room tariff after being told specifically that for the two nights we were in Fremantle we had to fend for ourselves with regards to all meals!!!

Because the run to Margaret River was only scheduled to be  272 kms I took a few detours to Bunbury, Busselton and Cape Naturaliste. Bunbury is a bit like Karratha with modern homes and manicured lawns. In Busselton the long jetty is still there but there has been a fair bit of development since I was there in 2010. The souvenir shop at the start of the jetty has had a lick of paint, there is a boutique brewery and an incredible kiddies playground with a square rigger sailing ship theme. Boutique Brewery only means they charge like wounded bulls for the same beer you can buy in a normal pub at half the price.

Kiddies playground.

Tarted up souvenir shop on jetty.

A view of the jetty from the beach.

Boutique Brewery with punters sitting under sun umberellas.

After Busselton I headed for Cape Naturaliste lighthouse. The weather became overcast so the ocean wasn't looking as blue as it usually does. It is still a great spot.

The lighthouse at Cape Naturaliste

A view of the ocean from Cape Naturaliste

The motel in Margaret River has changed it's name from Quality Inn to Stay so that threw me a bit but I eventually found it.

Off to Albany tomorrow.

15th May 2022 Fremantle - Free day

 Distance travelled: 0 kms.

Cumulative distance: 8,631 kms.

Sponsored by: Rob Toshack.

No riding today, just a lot of housekeeping. I have just completed a load of washing at a local laundrette.  They even have special machines for laundering your pets???

A pet washer and dryer. What will they think of next!!

I have just checked my "Justgiving" donations page and it expired last September so for all you lucky readers of this Blog that would like to donate, I have reactivated it so you can donate now. The link to my Justgiving page is:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/henriosieckmemorialforstevenwalter

Justgiving default the fee charged to 7.5% but you can reduce this to $1.

My target is $10,000 and so far I have collected $8,261. All donations go to the Steven Walter Children's Cancer Foundation.  I cover all my expenses on this ride myself.

When you look at my Justgiving page it shows I have only collected $2,277. The rest of the $8,261 has been collected through a special bank account I set up. The Justgiving page is easier as you get a tax receipt automatically. Please include your name with your donation so I know who not to hassle???

After my excursion to the laundrette I headed to the "Shipwreck Museum". It was very interesting and included part of the stern of the Batavia that was wrecked on 6 June 1629 on The Houtman Abrolhos, a chain of islands and reefs of the Western Australia coast near Geraldton. The Dutch built a replica of the Batavia and I saw it at the Sydney Maritime Museum in 2000. It is now in Lelystad in the Netherlands. Interestingly most of the shipwrecks on the Western Australia coast were Dutch as the Dutch East India Company (VOC) used a route to Batavia (Jakarta) that ran up the Western Australia coast and sometimes because of inaccurate longitude calculations they got a bit too close.

We had a team photo in the lobby of the hotel this evening. I'm not sure how it will turn out as it was a bit chaotic.

Tomorrow we head for Margaret River. It is only a short run of about 270 kms so a number of riders are having their bikes serviced in the morning before they leave.

14th May 2022 Geraldton to Fremantle

 Distance travelled: 464 kms

Cumulative distance: 8,631 kms

Sponsored by: Richard Chaplin

After breakfast at the motel I went to visit the HMAS Sydney Memorial in Geraldton it was only 3 kms from the motel. It is  very impressive with a view out to the Indian Ocean where the ship was sunk on 19th November 1941 and all 645 crew were lost. They have never found the wreck.

This is the view of the memorial as you approach it. The dome is made up of sea birds.

This is a woman looking out to sea waiting for her man to come home.

Next I headed south for Fremantle via the coast road called "Indian Ocean Drive". There are a lot of beach side shacks dotted along the coast. I don't think you are allowed to build any more. They are "off the grid" and some of them look like a good gale off the Indian Ocean would finish them. We all agreed to meet at the "Pinnacles" near Jurien Bay. They are natural limestone structures dating back 25-30,000 years. 

Some "Pinnacles" on the Desert Trail.

A distance view of some "Pinnacles".

I did the "Desert Trail" about 2 kms walking through these strange formations. We were meant to have a group photo at the Pinnacles but the photographer had a flat tyre so couldn't make it. After my "Desert Trail" walk I met Paul and Dave in the carpark as I was about to leave. It was then I discovered I had lost the key to my bike. It must have fallen out of my pocket when I took my phone out to take pictures of the "Pinnacles". Luckily I had a spare key in my tank bag so off I went to Fremantle. When I met Paul in the foyer of the hotel in Fremantle he presented me with my lost key. Someone had found it and handed it into the Gift shop. Denby, Dave's wife suggested they check if the key had been handed in and lo and behold there it was. A new key would have cost me around $180!! so I will be shouting Dave, Denby, Paul and Ensa a few drinks.

There is no dinner or breakfast paid for whilst we are in Fremantle so we are on our own in that regard. I went to Gino's restaurant round the corner from the hotel and had a huge plate of spaghetti bolognese and a couple of glasses of house shiraz. Very good.

13th May 2022 Carnarvon to Geraldton

 Distance travelled : 661 kms

Cumulative distance: 8,167 kms

Sponsored by Peter Whiteside

It rained most of the night and there were some weird noises from outside the motel unit. When I opened the door to see what was causing the noise and alarm went off so I quickly closed the door. We were warned by motel management that we shouldn't leave anything removable on the bikes as there were undesirables everywhere. In the morning I woke to a soggy bike with everything intact. I was last to leave as I had to reorganise all my gear making sure it was dry when packing it in my panniers. I struggled into my wet weather gear as it started to rain AGAIN. The bike made a couple of strange noises when I tried to start it but managed to burst into life eventually. It hasn't seen wet weather for a while so I guess it wasn't used to it. Luckily as I headed south towards Geraldton the sky began to clear and the rain stopped. At the Billabong roadhouse they were playing some great music on outside speakers so a few of us had coffee and hung around for a while.

Enjoying the music at the Billabong roadhouse.

Next stop was the Skywalk in the Kalbarri National Park about 65 kms west of the main highway. Kalbarri was devastated by a cyclone about a year ago. Colin and I visited it in 2010. The "Skywalk" has only just been opened. It ìs actually two platforms jutting out over the Murchison river gorge that give you a spectacular view of the river.

This is one of the viewing platforms being manufactured.

This is the site where they are lowering a platform into position.

 

This is some bloke posing by the railing of one of the viewing platforms.

The Murchison river in the gorge.

Looking back to the cafe from the viewing platform.

Some magnificent bottlebrush nearby.

Afterwards I rode into Kalbarri to refuel and check out the changes since 2010. There are certainly a lot more houses now  A lot of the houses damaged in the cyclone were still being repaired.  I couldn't stay to watch the sunset as I had to get to Geraldton by 5 pm. There are lots interesting rock formations on the coast road heading south and viewing platforms to enjoy them from.

We head to Fremantle tomorrow for two days. The weather has started to get cooler so I have dug out my thermals ready for it. Unfortunately there is rain forecast for the next week.  I think it is a front moving from west to east and we're going to be following it.!!!