Perth to Melbourne

[MrTim_imp]

So I mentioned way back when I made my first post in the New Members section that I was looking forward to taking my CB out on some across Australia trips, this is one of them.
I'm originally from Tasmania but I've been living in Perth, WA for almost four years now and found myself getting stuck in a rut. When I was a kid I always wanted to live in Melbourne for a period of time and I figured that if I didn't do it soon I probably never would.
This is the route that I took, showing the places where I pulled over to rest my weary head.
http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af17...rhurry.jpg
Before leaving WA I wanted to check out a small town called Denmark. It used to be a bit of a hippy commune and there are still shops selling "healing crystals" and other assorted gibberish, the place has a really nice vibe and quite a lot of stunning scenery.
These photos don't do justice to the beauty of Wilson Inlet, those cliffs are truly impressive and it's quite a juxtaposition to see the waves from the Southern Ocean breaking on the beach just in front of the perfectly calm inlet and sleepy little town just beyond.
I stayed at the pub in Denmark for two nights, unlike a lot of WA there are good riding roads around Denmark and I saw two large motorcycle groups come through (I was there for Saturday/Sunday), one a group of sports-bikes the other some 1%ers.
I left early on the Monday morning heading East.
http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af17...164143.jpg
http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af17...165137.jpg
I made good headway on the Monday, this was the first sign I saw with a distance to the next capital city from Perth.
I pulled up at a dirt car park just outside a town called Norseman, the starting point for "crossing the Nullarbor" if you're heading West to East. I slept in what we call a swag which is basically a small one-man, canvas tent that rolls up, it's what you can see on my luggage rack.
You can see in the second pic a hill, once I had pitched my swag I climbed to the top and watched the sunset, which was lovely. However it wasn't as nice climbing back down using the torch app on my phone to guide me, I came *this* close to walking face-first into a spider waiting in it's web.
I cuss hate spiders.
http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af17...163118.jpg
http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af17...062755.jpg

[redbirds_imp]

Good pics and write up Tim. Thanks for posting.

[Elipten_imp]

That is one heck of a trip!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Cormanus]

Great report and photos Tim. Well done. I hope you enjoy Melbourne.

Tell me, how did you go for fuel across the Nullabor? Did you have to carry extra?

[Pterodactyl_imp]

Well done Tim. I enjoyed the trip report.

Great report and photos Tim. Well done. I hope you enjoy Melbourne.

Tell me, how did you go for fuel across the Nullabor? Did you have to carry extra?

How did you go for fuel? What was your maximum distance between fuel stops?

Cheers

[Pterodactyl_imp]

By the way, you can post your photos into your posts. Like -

[/img]

You can also resize to better fit the forum format ( I didn't do this to the above).

Sorry if I'm telling you how to suck eggs

Cheers

[MrTim_imp]

Sorry everyone I was only halfway through my report when a friend came over for the weekend, here is the rest of it!
Quoteosted by Cormanus - 07-04-2014 02:04 PM
Great report and photos Tim. Well done. I hope you enjoy Melbourne.

Tell me, how did you go for fuel across the Nullabor? Did you have to carry extra? I did bring along a 5 litre jerry can, although I didn't have to use it. The longest distance I went between petrol stations was only a bit over 200km. I knew when I left that I probably wouldn't have to use it but I guess it's nice to have that reassurance, especially with the awful fuel gauge on our CBs. Petrol is pretty damn dear though:

(Cheers for the tip Pterodactyl)
Tuesday was entirely on the Eyre Highway, doing long distances like this make you appreciate the small things, stopping to fill up becomes something that makes you scream with excitement inside your helmet. Despite being rugged up it's pretty damn freezing in the mornings as well.
This was the section containing the 90 Mile Straight which, as you can imagine, is pretty straight. I think people who call it the "Nullarboring" perhaps lack a bit of adventure, you see things that prick your interest, the mind wanders to strange places and you can't help but raise a little grin when you realise that you're crossing the continent astride your steel horse.
You'll also see these bad boys everywhere on the Nullarbor, I'd say they outnumber cars (nearly all of which are towing caravans).
[url=http://s1005.photobucket.com/user/MrTim42/media/CB/20140617_105039.jpg.html]
Not too long past the border I bought myself a chicken roll at the Nullarbor road house and pulled over for the night at a car park not far past that.
Another long day on Wednesday but finally crossed the Nullarbor! Although I was stoked to be done with it it did feel a little bit strange to not have every single car and truck wave at you as you ride past.
Port Augusta is the first "big" place I reached after entering SA, after that it was South to Adelaide. This photo was taken just outside of Adelaide.
[url=http://s1005.photobucket.com/user/MrTim42/media/CB/20140618_163448.jpg.html]
I stayed for three nights with an old mate while in Adelaide, as luck would have it one of our favourite bands happened to be playing at a local venue on the Thursday (Finntroll: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GclKDei5hHU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GclKDei5hHU if you're interested).
I woke up much later than originally planned on the Saturday, this may have had something to do with a big Friday night of beer, whiskey and heavy metal.
I rolled into Mount Gambier early on the Saturday night where I booked myself a room at the pub. Sampling a couple of beverages at a few of the local establishments it seemed to me like a pretty nice little spot, think I might head back there one day.
I did make the mistake of leaving Mount Gambier before dawn on the Sunday, not long after I had a VERY close encounter on a wet road with a large, bouncing marsupial while trying to wipe fog off my visor.
If anyone is after a Fairmont Falcon I did see this one just after the Victorian border, though for some reason I doubt that he's willing to negotiate on price:
[url=http://s1005.photobucket.com/user/MrTim42/media/CB/20140621_160743.jpg.html]
Before too long I was onto the Great Ocean Road and pretty damn excited to tick this one off the "must do list". The road starts off a touch lacklustre but soon enough you come across the mandated stop off at the twelve apostles:
[url=http://s1005.photobucket.com/user/MrTim42/media/CB/20140622_102746.jpg.html]
Not long after that it gets much more Great, with a twisting section with some nice elevation changes through the bush. But just as Great and much more Ocean are the sections around Lorne, really ideal motorcycle stuff. Sadly the surface of the GoR itself is horrible, really deep ruts and even some potholes that are so large that if you hit them on a bike you'd come off. It's pretty disgraceful that a significant tourist attraction and war memorial is kept in such a poor state of repair.
After the GoR the ride became much more "normal", though the road did offer up one last memory for me: a magnificent view of the Melbourne skyline lit up at dusk as I rode across the West Gate bridge to my new home.

[the Ferret]

Very cool..that Apostles thing is awesome .... for not being a mountain

[Cormanus]

Fantastic report, Tim. Thanks. I love the picture of the road train: viewing it on my phone it looks like a city behind the first trailer. Amazing you can get across the Nullabor without needing to carry fuel.

Good luck in Melbourne.

Ferret, one of those 'apostles' crumbled in to the sea a couple of years back.

[MrTim_imp]

Quoteosted by Cormanus - Today 10:47 AM
...
Ferret, one of those 'apostles' crumbled in to the sea a couple of years back.
That one was Judas.