Melbourne to Mt Gambier

Location: Melbourne

Miles: 693

The Great Alpine Road was covered in snow so I can only hope The Great Ocean Road won’t be covered in Ocean. With Australia being the lowest continent on the planet and polar caps melting rapidly it won’t be that long before much of coastal Australia is awash and forming new reef systems.

My time in Melbourne was productive and educational. This should ensures a smooth passage into and out of the city for our riders and a comfortable nights rest following the chance to taste what makes Melbourne such a popular destination.   Being in Oz in the midst of the closest general election for years is interesting; particularly as the current Prime Minister Julia Gillard was born in South Wales not far from GlobeBusters HQ.   I caught up with Rod Chapman the night before leaving Melbourne. Rod is a journalist down here and has worked with Globebusters on a couple of trips. The Great Ocean Road is possibly Australias best motorcycling route and is a dream ride by anybodys measure. Today that dream was a very wet and windy one. It is a pleasure to ride no matter what the weather and time spent on a bike is always far better than time spent sat in a car in my book. So I battled the stormy systems that kept rolling off the Southern Ocean and across Bass Straight as they unloaded heavy rain and squalls along the length of today’s ride.

Winter has its benefits and today I was in for a rare treat. I pulled over at a particulary scenic lay-by for a snap and was waved at by the fins of  4 or so frollocking Southern Right Whales. Frollocking might not be quite the correct description of what they were doing, but they seemed happy enough rolling and diving just beyond the breakers quite close to shore. I observed their display from the comfort of the GS with camera poised hoping for the sought after tail shot, but it wasn’t to be.

With the wet conditions today, traction control and ABS were good options to have on the bike. I had the back end break lose briefly on a straight but very slippery road at one stage. The front stayed planted thankfully but as the rear end waggled power was disrupted and control regained thanks to BMWs clever system.

West of Apollo Bay are the famous 12 Apostle limestone formations. I think we are down to 10 nowadays thanks to erosion and it’s not that surprising with the stormy seas they have down here. Their days are certainly numbered, so I would get here soon for a view or flight over them in a helicopter.   So tonight I am in Mount Gambier. Tomorrow I will run North and inland through some serious grape country ending up in the Barossa Valley with some luck maybe for a glass of Aussie Chardonnay?

Jeffrey Condon