Byron Bay to Coffs Harbour

30th April

Welcome to Australia - sorry this place is currently under construction! there is an unbelievable amount of roadworks, even on the roads you'd not expect to find them, sometimes its hard to see any road "works" just the road cones and barriers, maybe the odd mount of soil here and there. I guess with the Aussie tax year coming to a close, they need to spend the money quick, or the councils will be fighting to get their levvy next time. Its a bit stop - start, especially when the sun's beating down and the fan keeps cutting in and out on the bike, you just need to get going and keep going sometimes.

Anyway a good time in Byron Bay, I do have a soft spot for that place now, but on I go and no real destination today except to make some progress down the coast towards Sydney.Coff's Harbour seemed a good stop, so its across country a bit, inland towards Casino, no, its not like Vegas, at all! Just a country town, but would take me away from the mundane main highway. I could have kicked myself really, I wanted to visit Nimbin, famous for its, well shall we say relaxed atmosphere. Apparently this place held the Aquarius festival in 1973 and some of the revelers never left and kept the new age festival feel going to this day and you know what kind of festival that would have been in '73! I had the day to myself yesterday and never thought about going there, but I really didn't have time today and needed to keep going south, bugger!It was a good road from Casino down to Grafton though, nothing spectacular, then out onto the main coastal highway. I did go through a town called Woolgoolga and came across this magnificent Sihk temple on the outskirts, seemed quite out of place really.

Just a few K's down the road into Coffs and found the backpackers, a good one too called the Ausitell (I think) where they run scuba diving courses (PADI) for the guests.I met another guy on an old Kawasaki GT550, Ben from just down the road in Newcastle (NSW not Teeside) a seventeen year old on his way to Brisbane to a convention for tall people! he was 6'10" and still growing! maybe we should have swapped bikes? :)

Kingscliff to Byron Bay

28th April

I know what some may be thinking and you'd be right, its only a stone throw away, under an hours ride to Byron, but I'd intended to meet up with John, my boss at Thunderbike, as he was going to be staying there for a few days and we'd agreed to catch up. Consulting the bike atlas gave a great ride through the Gold Coast Hinterland, that would loop me right back to Kingscliff and on down to Byron, what a ride!

Heading about 20k's west to Murwillumbah, then swiching onto highway 97 taking me back over the state border into Queensland, a fairly steep climb too to reach the border, stopping for coffee and cake on the way at the Chillingham store. Apparently its called the Hinze Raceway after the minister of main roads had it built and drove it frequently, I can see why, through really beautiful rugged scenery the road starts to open out from the initial tight and narrow NSW side, some of these corners were just built for sportsbikes and I have to admit that I wish I was on one through here. Great riding surface, well sign posted corners (which again dictate that its a motorcyclist accident spot) and some of the 180 degree (which there must have been 20 or more!) loops were amazing and just begging for some kneedown action!Like I said, it would eventually bring me back out in the heart of the Goldcoast, following my tracks again through Southport & "Surfers" I stopped again for a few more photos.

Traffic was slow and out on the Pacific highway it was hot too, miles and miles of traffic pouring slowly through the seive of traffic lights, endless bloody traffic lights! until it all starts to thin out further down the coast, off the main highway, back into NSW and to my starting point this morning, Kingscliff, except this time I keep going. Its only a short hop to Byron, but this place is so much more natural and inviting than Surfers was, much more my scene. I'd describe this place as a wee bit like a smaller version of Queenstown in NZ, with surfboards! Lots of travelers here, lots of accents, sand, sea, surf and all that goes with it, I expected this place to erupt at night, but it was surprisingly calm, even the Aquarius backpackers where I stayed was relativley quiet to what I'd expected, I guess its getting a little late in the year and its definately getting cooler further south! My dorm was shared with a couple of lads from Manchester, two from Sweden, both of whom spoke amazingly good English and Lorenzo from Italy, a good bunch of guys too.
Out in the evening for a great Thai meal and a bottle of red with John, that with the beers I'd sunk at the backpackers made my steps slightly sideways on the walk back :)I hung around Byron for another day, didn't really do much, watched the surfing on the beach for a while, but I could have gone out to Nimbin, the hippy place only about an hour away, I never thought about it until later, when it was too late! as I was off to Coffs Harbour the next day and really wouldn't have time to detour to see it, I'm a bit gutted, cos apparently its a must see on your travels, I guess I cant see it all! But all that said, Byron Bay is definately the nicest place I've visited so far. Looking at the map shows I've really not gone very far yet, about 3000K's altogether so far, be time to change the oil soon!

Basecamp to Kingscliff

27th April

Its the second leg of the journey, the real one now, no turning back. With some adjustments done to the bike, like refitting the airbox snorkel! Not the brightest tool in the box when it comes to the actual mechanics of motorcycling, I read that it may run better with it out, getting more air to the carb, but, when I actually thought abot it, it seemed logical to me that the bike would run a lot leaner, therefore run hotter, no wonder the exhaust was melting everything, including me!Its running a lot better now, though I still don't have that elusive 16 tooth front sprocket yet, Caboolture m/cycles were supposed to txt or call me when it arrived, they haven't done so, bloody bike dealers, never get back to you when they say they will!

Anyhow, I digress, travelling a wee bit north to join the D'Aguilar highway as it seemed to look an interesting ride on the map, took me a few k's north west to D'Aguilar before hookin a left and droppin south and over mount Wee, an obvious bikers road, judgin from the amount I saw and the motorcyclist warning signs of accident black spots. All the while I'm edgin my way towards Brisbane city, a few glimpses of the skyline in the distance confirmed I was heading in the right direction...for once, even though it was a few photo opportunities missed.

Brushin the outskirts of the city was a bit of a lottery to the direction I needed to go, signs for my route were few and far between, so it was more guesswork really, but I got through it and headed to the Ipswich motorway so that I could cut back and join the Logan motorway to get on the Lindesay highway to continue heading south avoiding the main highway and to make things a little more interesting.Beaudesert was the lunch stop, even if it was a burger :) then to cut back across east towards the Goldcoast via some great twisty roads and over the Darlington Ranges, finally emerging at Nerang.

Next was Southport on the north side of the Goldcoast, I could see the highrise skyline of the coast for a few miles away, as it got nearer I was really shocked by how big it was, South Port and all the way through Surfers Paradise is a mass of highrise hotels and business centres, a little like the beach front in LA, kind of :) golden beaches, palm trees with the highrise backdrop, surfers, skater boys and golden tanned beach babes, handbag pooches, fitness freaks and a fatman :) (I dont mean me either!)very interesting but very plastic, if you see what I mean, not really my scene, so I carried on down the coast.

Light was again my enemy, riding through less privellidged towns, well they actually appealed more to me, more real, but limited accomodation, even the campsites were booked out. My only real option was a motel about 10k's over the New South Wales border in Kingscliff, funny how suddenly all the the vehicle licence plates have NSW on them, it wasn't expensive by motel standards, it was in the budget chain, but lets say that I had to blow the next three night accommodation budget to stay there, but I did get my own room :)

Back at Basecamp

I arrived back here on thursday, a little earlier than planned, but it was just as well really. The rear puncture has been sorted, new heavy duty tube fitted, plus a spare front bought and have patched up the punctured rear. It was leaking in three places! It had been creased in the tyre which had caused it... I think.
Anyway, I also purchased some tyre levers, tube patch kit and had to get a new battery too! I think I must have drained the last gasps out of the old one limping back here on thursday, using the compressor at the side of the road about 6 or 7 times to get me "home". I tried charging it, but it was in vain. By the looks it was a cheap one anyway, I have now got a sealed version, straight off the shelf at Kmart! unbelievable really that they had the correct one, I was very surprised, even though the good fellows on KLR650.net said it could be bought off the shelf, thanks once again guys.
Again, a big thank you goes out to my "Queensland fixers" Ian & Paula, who have again extended their tremendous hospitality and h towards me and helping me out and help running me around to get the stuff needed to carry on, what will I do without them now??
Oh, I also "fashioned up" an extended rear carry plate bolted to the original one out of plywood covered in duc tape, as the rear bag I am carrying flops over the sides and covers the rear indicators, cant have that!
Last night here before I make my way towards the Gold Coast and Surfers Paradise, then dropping into New South Wales and Byron Bay.
Tonight was a real treat, Ian has been slaving over the stove and oven this afternoon cooking an incredible roast lamb dinner, it was amazing to say the least, complete with a wonderful Jimmy Ollie inspired gravy (Jamie Oliver to you foreigners!) washed down with some Argie red wine and cheese cake to follow completed a magic dinner, thank you Ian! And thanks to you all, Ian, Paula, Jack, Hannah and not forgetting Rosie the nutty hound, for making me feel so welcome and making my stay very memorable.
Well its pack up time now and an early start in the morning, hopefully this time I'll get my new larger front sprocket from Caboolture Motorcycles too. See you in Surfers!

Bundaberg to Burpengary

April 23rd Bundaberg to Burpengary (Base camp 1)
With my camp packed up and on the road early, I stopped at the shop to get the sprocket fitted, only to find out that the guy had tried to call me earlier to say that he had no luck getting it! So it was back to a search on the net to find out where I could get one. So I headed out of Bundaberg and headed out towards Childers, where I had stopped for breakfast on the way up a few days earlier. Just outside of Bundy, about 100m in front of me I saw a huge Red Kangaroo just going into the bush on my side, broad daylight again and this time he was BIG!
Arriving in Childers and detemined not to retrace my steps coming up, I turned off towards Biggenden, then onto Gympie. At Biggenden I hooked a left onto a minor road, again a good mix of tar and gravel and lots af cattle grids as the livestock were not fenced in, didn't fancy running into one of these beasts either! Out onto the main highway again and arrived in Gympie (not sure how they named this place!) time for lunch and I have to admit, I went to Macca's, but I did have a chicken wrap, which also leads me to say that the weight seems to be coming down too, judging by how loose my clothes are getting, less snacking and more riding methinks? :)

Just of of Gympie I picked up another minor route that would eventually lead me to Kenilworth, where my infamous detour took place the other day, but was determined to ride it the right way around this time! A few k's from Kenilworth I found a great little place called the Bellbird Creek Tea House http://www.bellbirdcreek.com/ which happened to be a motorcycle friendly place, with an old cruiser with a suitably kitted out dummy on board, parked at the gates. Motorcycle art adorned the walls and an old Honda 550 four parked by the side of the cafe. I had a coffee and a natter to the owner about, you know, the usual biker talk, where was I goin etc. and had a chat about his Triumph Tiger 1050 parked outsude with a very nice muffler attached. There I also talked to a couple from Bristol UK, the woman had previously ridden around the world on a BMW K100 as part of a group challenge that were doing it in three months, it was interesting talking to her about the possible perils to come, especially on the Nullarbor plains, with scary stories of roos and roadtrains! So if you ever find yourself on the road near Kenilworth, its well worth the stop in the Bellbird Cafe, its apparently a popular haunt for bikers on the weekend, with bikes taking over the front lawn, oh and yes, you can hear the Bellbirds! although I couldn't see them.

As I approached Landsborough, I was looking for a road that would take me past the Glasshouse Mountains, but I couldn't find it and found myself on the Steve Irwin Highway again, that meant that I couldn't be that far away from my starting point, I had not anticipated being back to base camp so early, but had such a good couple of days riding, where I just seemed to keep going as the roads were so interesting, so I guess I was stopping earlier than planned. I had to turn off the highway right to head towards Caboolture, then Burpengary, as I slowed down to take the turn into the intersection, the bike didn't feel right, as I looked into the junction, there were police and fire crews, there had been an accident (not serious) right on the mouth of the intersection, I was beckoned to turn my the police, as I did, I thought I was riding through oil as the bike went all over the place, the cop pointed to my rear tyre! I quickly stopped, puncture! I thought of calling a recovery truck and all those other things that go through your mind at times like these (it was getting dark too) as i talked to the cop, who was english, (I just find it strange to talk to an Aussie cop with a pommie accent!) I remembered that I had my cheap little mini compressor, if it was a slow puncture, I might be saved. With enough air in the tyre to get me going again, I made it for about 5k's, this was the story all the way back to Burpengary, stopping and pumping air about every 5 k's.

This was definately a warning I was thankful for, thankful that it happened so close to where I was heading and where I had the facility to get it put right, but if it had been anywhere else, I would not have been so lucky. Tomorrow I am buying a tube patch kit, a new tube and a spare for the front, plus some tyre levers, so at least I have some chance of getting back on the road, should I be caught out again!
Back at Ian and Paula's for a "pit stop". Its been good actually to have this chance to ride for a few days then come back here and assess what needs to be done for the rest of the journey. I have mangaged to "lose" the panniers and lots of other stuff I just dont need, like too many clothes, you just wash the bloody things out! So now I will be travelling lighter....and smarter!

Emu Park to Bundaberg

April 22nd
Emu Park (Rockhmapton) to Bundaberg.
The Emu Park backpackers was great $27 for a shared room, but the place was brand new, swimming pool, community room and a bar! at last, a beer :) I also tried the Bundaberg rum which I have to say was very nice with a drop of Coke, so I had two! A good chat around the bar with various people on their travels ranging from an American, Swede and German, all very nice people eager to share their stories and experiences.

So I headed off towards Bundaberg, though not really bent on getting there today, but I had to go and get the sprocket fitted. First was back through Rockhampton to get some jungle juice, then onto the Bruce again, a quick look at the map showed that there was, again an alternative route, and a good one too. A couple of K's outside the city was a turning on the right that would take me over the mount Morgan range into the township itself. A great road as was recommended by the Aussie Motorcyle atlas, although I think maybe a few too many trucks had been up there since it was written, it was very corrugated in places and even the KLR shifted around, so I can only imagine what it would be like aboard a stiffer rice rocket!

I stopped halfway up to look at the view and for a pic or two, then on up the hill as it reached the town of Mount Morgan. An old goldmining town and by the looks of things its all been mined and gold fever was long gone, the lucky few have headed off to greener pastures, only a handful of older houses now stand, but a very pleasant place.

On back down the hill and onto the flat I stopped at a roadhouse/Hotel to grab a cup off coffee and a ciggie break, by now the temperature was really getting up there again. Through the town of Bileola and then down to Monto.Thirty seven kms out of Monto, again consulting the map, there was a road that would take me across east back to Bundaberg, I was having such a good days riding that I decided to keep going. Turning left onto a minor road that was a mix of tar seal and gravel, my first taste of non tar on this trip so far. Some of you reading this will know that I'm less than useless on anything other than good old sticky hard tarmac, so it was with some anticipation that I took this route, but I'm glad I did, about the first 20k's was gravel and pretty easy to manage at around 70kph, the KLR gave me some confidence, which I needed!

Turning back to tar seal I went through the village of Mount Perry, where I filled up, not that it was empty by any means, but I didn't know when the next available fuel would be, so better safe...The road met the main highway at Gin Gin, then another minor road for about 50k's into Bundaberg, by now the light was fading, so I looked for a stop, I stopped at a campsite, but they did not accept tents? oh well, onto the next.

Just inside the city on the north side was a caravan park, with tent pitches,so $19 got me sorted, they even lent me a thin mattress to lie on as I didn't fancy that torture of the back again, so that was a relief.
Up in the morning and get the sprocket fitted.

1770 to Emu Park (near Rockhampton)

21st April
1770 to Emu Park (Near Rockhampton) 320 kms.

Bloody hell its hot today! back on the Bruce Highway, too much traffic and too many trucks! did I mention its bloody hot? The Bruce, unfortunately, is the easiest way to get to Rockhampton from here, so I motored on, stopped at the side of the road for a ciggie and a drink, looked at my thermo' 100+ degs ! back on the bike pronto and into the wind to try and cool off, too may trucks! passing little towns with even more trucks, stop for fuel, more trucks! stop whingin and get on with it! had to re tape my heat deflector sheet back on the exhaust side saddle bag, it s a bit close for comfort really.

Rockhampton, must have something to do with cattle, beef this and that and other claims about beef make this the beef capitol, how many times did I say beef? "Rocky" as its affectionately known by the locals lies right on the Tropic of Capricorn, being a goat myself, it seemed mildly significant, what is the TOC anyway? I know its kinda like the equator, an imaginary line around the earth, well I guess I should find out, I'll get back to you on that one. Not many (or any) backpackers in Rocky, not that I could find anyway, I needed a real bed tonight, my back couldn't take the punishing it did the night before. I pushed on to a place called Yepoon, on the capricorn coast, no backpackers here either, motels etc yes, but I seek meager accommodation, I spotted a packbackers about 20kms earlier at Emu Park just along the coast, so I went back and a very nice shared room and very cheap, and there is a bar here! yahoo!
I need a beer, I didn't get one the previous night. Checked in and just unpacked the essentials from the bike, no point in draggin it all off the bike is there! Well I'll prob be headin back south tomorrow, time is getting on and I dont think I really want to go any further north at this stage. I am really hoping I can ditch the saddlebags when I go back through Burpengary and drop in to see Ian & Paula again, I have just too much shit man! too many clothes and other crap I dont need, so I will see if it can be done anyway. Catch ya on the way down soon.