The Cormanus Chronicles: While the cat's away ...

[Cormanus]

Day 10

[url=https://postimages.org/]
[url=https://drive.google.com/open?id=1_mAJ21GQ4TSB5ZeNKD5XAhcrSiJPRQUX&usp=sharing]Link to online map. It's the same deal as the map for the outward journey: the entire second part of the ride is on the map and individual days can be toggled on and off.

Time to move on.

A visit to noroomtomove and his wife in Gippsland, Victoria would be a good first stop on the way home. My plan to ride via Walhalla was thwarted by one of the bushfires burning in a number of places in Australia.

I headed south to visit Berwick where I was born.
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Then there was a brief stretch on the freeway. The haze is smoke.
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Then I headed south, almost to Phillip Island, before turning left to run along the coast to Inverloch where I parked next to this Kawasaki. The owner told me he’d thought about buying a CB1100.
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I decided to go to Wilson’s Promontory as I’d never really visited it and rode as far as the road would allow before stopping for lunch at Tidal River where there is a memorial to Australia’s Commandos.
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The remaining photos are of parts of Wilson’s Promontory. I rode to the top of Mount Oberon, but any views were limited by the smoke haze.
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Maybe you can just make out an island in the picture below. It’s very close to the shore, but the smoke haze was such that it was hard to see.[url=https://postimg.cc/NLyhL7q7]

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noroomtomove and his wife provided an excellent meal, a very entertaining evening, and a very comfortable bed. Thank you both very much. It was appreciated.
Day 11

[url=https://postimages.org/]
[url=https://drive.google.com/open?id=1_mAJ21GQ4TSB5ZeNKD5XAhcrSiJPRQUX&usp=sharing]Link to online map.

It was overcast with occasional showers which one could not begrudge because of the help they were giving firefighters who have had a long, hard summer in Australia in 2018-19, so noroomtomove and I drank tea, shot the breeze and then I did a bit of bike maintenance. I was a bit worried about an occasional clunking noise emanating from the region of the chain and checked it over, tightened it, and squirted on some lube.

Thanks, noroomtomove, for the use of the tools and the workshop. Great people CB1100 owners.

NRTM then led me up a very pretty road to Licola. It drizzled a bit of the way so I didn’t take any photos.

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This shot is taken at Licola. The road behind NRTM, leading to Jamieson, looks interesting on the map but is dirt for much of the way. Still, might be worth a ride someday.
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NRTM and I parted company at Stratford and I made my way to the Grand Terminus Hotel in Bairnsdale with a view to seeking out the Honda dealer in the morning. My chain was still making an unhappy noise.
Day 12

[url=https://postimg.cc/47JKkryT]
[url=https://drive.google.com/open?id=1_mAJ21GQ4TSB5ZeNKD5XAhcrSiJPRQUX&usp=sharing]Link to online map.

The mechanic at the bike shop put the bike on the centre stand—complaining because of the weight of the luggage—had a good look at the chain and interrogated me about lubning the chain. I told him I’d done it the day before with Belray lube.

“That dry stuff?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said.

He grunted in the way of mechanics, wheeled the bike inside onto a hoist, got his offsider to help him oik it onto the centre stand again, had a good look at the chain and then gave it a mighty bath in some other lubricant.

“Should be right now.”

I didn’t think he liked me very much, but he gave me a friendly wave as I rode off.

The day started cool and overcast and got progressively hotter as it progressed. I had a fabulous ride to Mitta Mitta along some of the roads I’d ridden on the way down and finally up the Alpine Way which takes one over the Snowy Mountains. By then it was quite late and it was cooling down quickly.

Some pictures of the southern end of the Omeo Valley Highway, one of my all time favourite rides.
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You know it’s going to be fun when you see a sign like this.
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After an excellent new road recommended by noroomtomove, I took breakfast at a café in Omeo where I was confronted by the infuriating view below.
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The road immediately to the north of Omeo passes through open country for a time. Some farmer had his herd in the ‘long paddock’. I tried—I really did—to pass by quietly, but one of the Hereford cows simply did not want to be passed and took off at a gallop up the road. Cows look awkward when they gallop and I feel guilty about making them do it so I proceeded as slowly as I could until I was able to pass it.
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Further up the road, above the snow line, in an unprecedented act of generosity, I stopped to clear some debris from the road in the hope that a fellow motorcyclist wouldn’t be undone by it.
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It really is a glorious ride.
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Further up the road, beside the banks of Lake Hume, there’s a memorial to Murray Grey. Without stopping, one could be forgiven for thinking Murray Grey was a farmer or dam builder; but, no, it is a breed of cattle.
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Even further along, on the Alpine Highway, there is a good view of the Murray No.1 hydro-electric power scheme’s water race.
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A little further along [url=https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Scammell's+Lookout/@-36.3236584,148.2003341,3a,125y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1shttps:%2F%2Fwww.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au%2F-%2Fmedia%2Fnpws%2Fimages%2Fparks%2Fkosciuszko-national-park%2Fkhancoban-area%2Fscammells-lookout%2Fscammells-lookout-03.jpg!2e7!3e27!6s%2F%2Flh6.googleusercontent.com%2Fproxy%2FFtSEuyfXiD4jDMIRRWe7​i5AruUMcu0jX-EDpG6dUsRzmVPxzkvuLpTyNGdCiIeUZbqcYwbu-patTY48XKPKhi1KqV1DflLAUTP9MK7soko2NWTNd9Wfzsb9UeA3pl7XOlbMOuJ3RbLcmV3g2GPVBWLUR​9BbnSQ%3Dw146-h86-k-no!7i767!8i450!4m8!1m2!2m1!1stumut+power+station!3m4!1s0x6b2330a34be2c6af:0x3949​e016d16c59ae!8m2!3d-36.3236584!4d148.2003334?hl=en]Scammell’s Lookout gives a good view of the western face of the Snowy Mountains. There was no snow, but the cloud gathered ominously warning me of a possible dousing later in the ride.
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Sadly, this Siberia is not the area adjacent to the Phillip Island race circuit, but a cold spot near the highest point of the Alpine Way.
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A little further along, this sign marks a high point just before Dead Horse Gap …
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From where one gets a pleasant view down the valley towards the Threadbo Ski Village.
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From here it’s an agreeable and quick ride to Jindabyne where I decided to stop for the night. I tried two pubs. The first was full; the second was too expensive. The third turned out to be largely deserted as it was summer and I collected my key from a machine. It was a way to walk to get anything to eat and drink so I decided to ride out and pick up a pizza and a beer or two, but the rain started to fall. Seriously. The pizza place offered delivery, but not this night because the driver hadn’t turned up for work.

In the end I made do with some porridge from my camping supplies and copious cups of tea.