RAA Varadero

Began today (5th) on a subdued note with a late start at 8am. Rode the twisties to Cann River then on to Bombala for muster & morning tea. On to Nimmitabel to muster again for a police escort to Cooma.





What an emotional rush. To see all those bikes, riders & pillions grouped & riding in formation with support crew at head & tail, all snaking around sweeping bends up & down hills was inspiring.

We had ridden so far together in 33 days we knew what each other was thinking & who would react how. When an interloper cut in to the formation you could see they didn't fit. A stop at the Cooma stockyards to lose the interlopers while the police closed the road to other traffic then a slow procession into the main street for a lap of the town. Clapping, cheering & photos from onlookers, bike horns sounding as we waited for our turn to park up then hugs & tears all round.

On to Thredbo this time with car & bike police escort. Some of the kids we rode for were waving to us from the walk bridge over the road where we parked up together for the final time. Onlookers again clapping, cheering & taking photos. Tears all round & hugs all round as we realised we had all succeeded with no major incidents. Even Tony, who had broken his leg when he slipped in the pindan mud, was able to be there with us as he should.

A BBQ & presentation ceremony was then held where every AAR participant was presented with a personalised engraved medal. Speeches were given & we learned that collectively we had raised well over $300,000 with the final amount still to be tallied.

The Around Australia Ride was officially over after 33 days in the saddle together around this amazing country of ours.

A good run today (4th) with a pre breakfast start to the Sorrento Ferry. Breakfast at a lovely little bakery in Queenscliffe while waiting for the ferry. Great twisty roads out of Lorne to finish the Great Ocean Road. We saw numerous dolphins on the ferry crossing. It was a good thing that the riders had mounted their bikes before the ferry docked because it was a little rough & the bikes would all have been down like a row of dominos.

Off to the Salvos shop for tonights final dinner clobber. What a fun time we had shopping. Not only the shopkeepers but the customers as well were helping us & all were in gales of laughter as the boys found 'suitable frocks' & Chris & I bought shirts, ties & jackets for ourselves.

On the bikes again for a non event ride except for the roads in South Gippsland that consisted of more sweeping & twisty hills, up & down.

We arrived at Lakes Entrance later than we hoped then off to Chris' room to 'dress' for dinner. Last in for a 'fashionably late entrance' for maximum impact. Boy did we succeed. Everyone clapped & cheered with a standing ovation & oodles of photos taken. We were laughing so hard my head muscles hurt & tears of laughter were running down our faces. As Jack said, we “done good”.

A fantastic night with a few teary moments as we realised our surreal adventure was fast coming to an end, especially when Aaron's email to Sue Walter was read out.

It is sad to think that tomorrow sees the end of a magic time in all our lives with some new friendships destined to last a lifetime.

The best words to describe today (3rd) are 'koalas' & 'twisties' followed by 'Great Ocean Road'. The ride began by calling in at Picaninnie Ponds on our way to the Great Ocean Road & Lorne. A beautiful spot. Port Fairy for morning tea, Port Campbell for lunch. All the lookouts along the Great Ocean Road. The 12 Apostles were a bit of a non event as there are very few now left standing. The Grotto & some of the other lookouts were much better in my view.

Cape Otway & the Otway Ranges were fantastic. Tight twisty roads with very little traffic. On the way down to the lighthouse we saw a koala sitting on the ground. On the return trip we saw 16 koalas before stopping where there was one koala that was sitting & feeding on a low branch directly in front of the bike.

We got off & took lots of photos with the koala not appearing to fear us at all, more curious than afraid. Colin picked a small branch & got close enough to feed this wild koala. At first we thought it must be accustomed to people but soon learned this was not so. When a car stopped it seemed nervous then when the people got out it took off up the tree rapidly. What we now think is maybe the bike gear, including helmet made us appear different to it so it didn't know what we were & therefore was not afraid.

More koalas, so many I stopped counting on the way back to the Great Ocean Road. The road to Apollo Bay was excellent with very little traffic, Apollo Bay to Lorne was traffic free & superb.

The views were wonderful, a rainbow visible over the road & ocean for almost the entire length of the Great Ocean Road as we rode along. The music playing suited the ride & it was probably the most memorable afternoon of the entire ride for me.

The day (2nd) began wet again but soon settled into the odd threatening shower that didn't really eventuate.

We began today by riding the Gorge Road from Lyndoch Hill. Highly overrated road with bad surfaces & cambers, shady spots that retained moisture & the most amazing rock walls & steep drops down to the river below to compensate for the road. A slow ride to enjoy the scenery that helped to compensate for the road conditions.

This led to another road that has possibly been the best road we have ridden in the past weeks of our ride. It lead up to Mt Barker, through Montecute & Mt Lofty then down through Uraidla & Summertown, then on to another not quite so good road.

It was a constant series of bends that were cambered perfectly with a surface that was smooth. To quote Colin...”A real sweet road”

On to Tailem Bend via Murray Bridge where the 'mighty Murray' was mighty again. It was chokkers. After Tailem Bend we headed towards the coast. Kingston for lunch & Robe for coffee.

Into Mt Gambier a little after 5pm with a day filled by sights such as a Pink Lake, kangaroos & wallabies, emus, bustards, an echidna & a couple of black kites. There was also a couple of steep vineyards & a christmas tree plantation growing on almost a cliff face.

Today (1st) was spent getting ourselves a pair of Earmold earplugs which are fantastic. We should have done it sooner. We also bought some wet weather pants & Ugly Fish sunglasses each.

An old fashioned bakery for lunch then back to the resort where we spent a bit of time chatting while getting the bike washed & rims polished by Aaron who did a great job for someone only 12 years old.

Dinner was extremely emotional, almost like it was the final night, with an auction for a retreat weekend for 4 with wine tour & bottles of wine included as well. Mat & Joe won the auction (valued at $1500) for $2500 then promptly gave it to Phil, Sue, Allan & his wife for all the organising & assistance they gave the riders. Tears were shed & speeches made as emotions ran high. A number of people pulled money out of pockets to give to Mat & Joe to help them pay for their retreat gift. They in turn wanted to give it as extra to Phil & Allan who declined & put it up as a donation for anyone willing to shave for the cause.


The beardies, Jimmy & Red Rob agreed to shave. Chris stood & said she would shave her head then the Marlboro Man aka Busa Bob also stood. Allan then put in an extra $1000. Rick offered more money as did some others.

Stuart & Emily filmed it all & were also quite emotional, especially when Phil made his speech about Steven & Neil then stood & proposed a toast to Steven which everyone stood & toasted.

An emotional & beautiful night.

The day (31st) threatened to begin badly with heavy dripping skies. In our wets ready for another day like yesterday with the forecast for more heavy rain. We were pleasantly surprised to have another day skirting the wet.




Mat lead Joe, Chris, Mick Colin & I along a goat track of a back road into the Flinders Ranges. What a fantastic ride. After some glorious scenery we rode into a town called Melrose. This is a 'must visit again' town. In fact thee entire area needs to be revisited as there are so many things to see. Accommodation built on old truck bodies gave a different feel to an old idea. Great pub for coffee & short trees with huge trunks. The Clare Valley was spectacular.

Peters home at Gawler for a BBQ lunch supplied by the local Goldwing club was a much appreciated diversion. An auction was held for a bike wash in Cooma by Andrew wearing the tutu, a beautiful etched glass & framed logo of the ride, paintball day for 10 people & cargo pants.

On then to the Lyndoch Hill resort where the gardens contained 30,000 roses, from every country in the world that has produced them. An estimated 2.5 million blooms on any given day when in full bloom. Beautiful.

Only a few words to describe today (30th), 'cold' & 'wet', often with the adjective 'extremely'. Thankfully it was only 469 km today so it wasn't totally unbearable. Even though the weather was the worst we had experienced during the ride so far, we still had occasional joy with views that appeared unexpectedly as we rounded a corner or crested a hill.

Being forewarned by truckies & another biker riding west that there was major water over the road where we were headed we rode very carefully indeed however most of the water was already drained away by the time we reached it.

A jovial destination drink at our car park / laundry party was had knowing all had arrived safely if somewhat cold & wet.

Today (29th) was the Great Australian Bight.

On the road before 7.30am for a quick 13 km trip to the first lookout.Perfect viewing conditions with clear skies, crystal water & sunshine on the cliffs. After this lookout the majority of bikers rode onto other 'official' lookout sites while the more intrepid explorers among us found other tracks to try. This included Mat, Joe, Chris, the Hobbits (Bird Paul, Strom Paul & Antman), Colin & I.

We kept going in & out of a few till Chris, Colin & I found the sheer cliffs I had told them about. We were about to leave this particular spot when the Hobbits arrived. Antman Hobbit went down in a flurry of watery mud & a plume of spray in the huge waterhole that used to be the track in. He thought we had ridden through but as we approached the water Chris noticed a track off to the side that we used, skirting the water.

Chris bounced along the track with daylight showing between bum & saddle & legs flapping as she rode. Ant didn't see the track & thought "if Chris can do it so can I". She didn't try, he didn't succeed.

Next track up the road we found an even muddier Mat with a muddy, sad & damaged Ducati that had tried to be a dirt bike. It didn't cope well with the mud either. A few cable ties later & Mat was able to ride, albeit with no right hand side rear vision mirror.

We rode on along the Nullabor to the roadhouse for fuel for the bikes & us. All joked with Ant & Mat about their muddy escapades.

The Nullabor is so different from from how I have seen it in the past. So many different grasses & shrubby scrub in a huge variety of greens & greys with the occasional reddish Purple tinge.

Windswept plains that went on forever. Beautiful in its cloak of vegetation.

The Eyre Highway across the Nullabor has numerous RFDS (Royal Flying Doctor Service) airstrips on the straight road sections with extra cleared land either side of the road for the panes to turn.

More Nullabor & more Nullabor. Vegetation changes to widswept trees. Finally we rode into Ceduna after getting wet tails from Nundroo Roadhouse.

The Meerkats (Adam & Craig) & Mark rode in at 6:15pm after attempting the even muddier Old Hume Highway. Bad decision. All 3 had offs. Adam 3 times resulting in cracked ribs & broken but rideable bike.

Tally for the day: 5 bikes down in the mud - 2 KTM's, 1 broken but rideable; 1 KLR, OK; 1 BMW GS, OK; 1 Ducati Multistrada, broken a little bit & rideable; 1 person (KTM) broken a little but able to ride; all excited & happy they did it.

Ceduna Bowling Club put on a lovely dinner for us then donated $300 to the ride. Thanks to the people from the Ceduna Bowling Club. What a great night it was.

Today (28th) began fine after last nights electrical light show.

First stop Caiguna blow hole where my sunglasses fell off my head into the hole so Colin went down to retrieve them. As usual he made it fun, calling snakes as you would a cat, & wearing the sunglasses, temporarily minus one lens while still down the blowhole.

These blowholes blow & suck air, not water. It is the way the numerous caves under the Nullabor breathe.

At Caiguna Roadhouse a crow flew in with a beak full of dirty meat. He proceeded to drop it into the roof guttering where he left it to soak. He drank some water then rinsed the meat,lifting it in & out of the water, before eating it. Clever crow - dirty rainwater for the tanks.

A group of us came upon Madura Lookout - a lookout on a plain? Yes it is. It looks down over a lower plain. Stunning views.

Along the plains were a mob of roos a safe distance from the road as well as a few emus a good distance away.

Cloud formations were captivating & looked like big, fat, cottony grubs. I haven't seen anything quite like it before.

There was heavy rain that drowned a lot of the riders, we didn't get a drop   :-)

Left Esperance today (27th) at 10am. A short day today that soon became heavy rain for those that left earlier than us. The rest of the day was spent alternately racing through cool areas with storms all around & warm pockets of air every so often where we sweated in our wets.

Norseman was our only stop & we met a lovely lady in the information centre who loved to chat...& chat...& chat. Norseman was named after the horse of the man who first found gold there.

Dave rode with Colin & I out to Lake Cowan. Dave dug a hole & just under the dry, sandy, seemingly solid surface that was very firm to walk on was a sloppy, muddy bog. Easy to get stuck in, hard to get out of (at your expense).

The last person who got bogged had a huge rescue bill that cost “lots more than his car was worth”. A tow truck was sent. It got bogged. A bigger tow truck was sent. It too got bogged. A big mine vehicle got sent. It pulled out the lot & the original bogged car owner paid for it all.

Lesson: “Don't try to drive on the Salt Lake”

The last 20 km into Balladonia was wet for almost everyone. Once at Balladonia the big storm that the riders had been avoiding hit. Big lightening, bigger thunder & even bigger dust storm with huge winds till the rain laid the dust.

A very yummy dinner that was extremely well prepared home style cooking rather than fancy fare. We ate in 2 sittings because the motel at Balladonia only had enough chairs for 40 people & not enough cutlery for even that many.