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Terry's Traumatic Tours 2002 - New Zealand
Here as some pics from NZ - with Big Bag Bill and Two Telephones
Terry - having FUN !!
(avoiding the rain)
biking around and Sheila spotting - (What no pretty sheep ?).
Terry's Tales in Chronological
Order
Click the thumbnails for BIGGER pics !
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31/12/2001
Happy New year Everyone,
2001 was a year of VERY great ups and downs. Seeing friends, family and
travelling - especially by motorcycle - were amongst the ups, Tibet was
a high point at 6,000 metres. Getting a new motor home and taking it to
Spain, the new Triumph and touring the Mid - West being up with the
highs, to be followed by the September 11th atrocity - a low point for
all the world.
Recently I lost a good pal (mates since 1960) and I have two others with
health problems.
Exciting plans are already made - although a bit rushed - for 2002,
which I hope to share with you all. I have bought some new technology
this Xmas whilst back in England - a small digital still camera, new
colour printer and my first PDA (small hand held computer PC 2002) . The
new PDA and camera will be travelling with me and should help me start a
Web site later in the year when I buy a new powerful computer.
I leave on Jan 2nd with Bill my motorcycle pal to ride in New Zealand
(his first visit) before meeting up with Di and friends in Western
Australia in March. Then on to South Africa to see the SA Grand Prix for
motorcycles in Welkom in April where they are to race the new class of
fastest racing bikes - exciting stuff. May will be the start of Di and I
living in "Mercie" the motorhome whilst touring Europe to see the Grand
Prix races. That's lots to look forward to and I should find internet
cafes to supplement my portable in sending Emails as I travel. I really
look forward to seeing and hearing from you all around the world . As
ever if you can catch me or us anywhere on the travels just let me
know....................
Keep in touch
HAPPY 2002
Terry
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13/01/2002 |
| 15/01/2002 Hi Everyone It felt somehow surreal to suddenly be in downtown Melbourne (OZ) eating breakfast with super coffee on the sidewalk. A Chinese waiter served us well, a Yugoslav cab driver and later a Greek one who took us FREE to a restaurant - his brothers?? We even saw the Harry Potter movie - great fun. It felt a really short flight to Auckland (NZ) and felt very familiar - my third visit. We collected a Kia rental car and headed S of the city to my pals where my old BMW has lived for 12 months. My friends were away for a couple of days so I drove us to Miranda with its thermal pool. Can you "chill out" in a hot pool? - but anyway we did. Then we picked up the old Beemer - after sulking for some fresh fuel all was well apart from a relay on the starter playing up. Then to NZ bikes for Bill's rental BMW R1150GS with luggage and clothing. Returned the rental car and we were set. Then it rained. We shopped. The following day was brilliant and a visit to Piha beach was a super ride. The sun is VERY powerful - apparently the hole in the ozone layer is bigger this year. A leisurely breakfast after Bill had changed the bike to a bit smaller 800GS and a visit to the internet and at last it stopped raining. We started our trip north over the Auckland Harbour Bridge and it REALLY RAINED. We left the main road for shelter and safety - eventually finding a hot bread shop. Amazingly water was pouring from the ceiling!! Onto another cafe and Bill dropped his bike at zero mph. It wouldn't restart - is this having fun or what? We had a coffee and some date cake and emerged into a drier world (although we were still wet). Why is it that your hair goes so soft in rainwater? The bikes started and we started heading North..... Terry - en route to Cape Reinga (the North tip of North Island) |
| 16/01/2002 Hi everyone With temperatures in the low 70's and drying our spirits lifted. We headed N on the highway 1 and got an immaculate 2 bedroom apartment in an Indian owned motel ($75) at Wangarei. We had seen quite a lot of cop cars and heeded the 100kph limit. Traffic was more than I remember but it is peak season with schools still on their summer holidays for another week or so. Next day the road became quieter, the scenery bigger - we were LOVING it. The bikes were swinging the bends with gay abandon - surely a motorcyclist designed these roads! We booked a motel - our own A frame chalet amongst big pine trees. Then we rode onwards N to the tip of NZ - Cape Reinga. The last 20km were gravel - I hope they leave it this way. The trees thinned and we saw the breathtaking view of the Cape. The Cape is one of the most scenic splendours that I have ever seen and the weather was perfect. Golden beaches washed by two oceans meeting. We sat and drank it all in before riding back S to our motel. Bill got off - shook me by the hand, his face beaming and said "it was the best days riding of my life". We were both tired, hungry and very happy. Scallops and snapper for dinner, one between us would have been plenty. Ninety mile beach (in fact 68 miles long) beckoned the following morning and we rode another gravel road to access it. Not a person on the beach as far as the eye could see both N and S - fantastic. We rode until we found some soft sand and thought better of it. Talk about lily livered - especially as I'm reading a book by Theresa Wallach who was the first person to cross the Sahara to Capetown with a friend and a Panther motorcycle and sidecar in 1935!! Still it was prudent with no cellphone service and no passing traffic. This is all some of the best stuff that North Island can serve up.......... Terry Bay of Island NZ |
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| 24/01/2002 Hi Everyone After my "dreamtime" in Rotorua a touch of reality struck. Bill's clutch cable snapped. A bit of bodging with a nut and bolt and Bill getting a bloody finger - it was a bit like my biking teenage years. We made it to McDonalds in Rotorua centre. A mechanic came and rescued the BMW 800GS to a bike shop where they made a new inner cable. On the road again we had a high speed (for us) ride back to Auckland and made it just before dark. It was a long holiday weekend and the traffic was busy leaving the city. The sporting weekend started with another of the International cricket games - good series. Even better was going to Western Springs for a speedway meeting - for cars. The track was clay - just like the sort that's used for pottery - and great moist blobs peppered us. I objected to the one that dropped into my tea. The classes were :- midgets, Kiwi kids, and the really thrilling TQ's and sprint cars. Three sprint cars were visiting from the States and with methanol and 700BHP we had a great night of FAST racing as the track dried and became slick. Imagine around 15 seconds for the quarter mile oval. I became an old salt for my sail on the exotic new catamaran. "Earthling" has featured on quite a few yachting magazine covers - what a boat. It was a hot sunny day with a fair wind and we were sprinting at 17 knots - so comfortably that I was able to have a canapé with a Chardonnay!! Once again I felt that I was really living.... Of course we didn't miss the start of the fourth leg of the Volvo Great Ocean Race. Bill and I watched the actual start on the big screen TV in the harbour, the competitors next stop is Rio. We were now regulars in the local 'caff'. In fact a stylish place on the marina - I ate my muesli and fruit with my little finger high in the air and finished with a smoked salmon bagel. I KNOW I was born for a life like this. We even had a trio called "French Toast" playing French cafe style jazz - an ideal choice all round. Rounding off the weekend was a visit to a preview of a new Aussie film "Lantana". The critics had it as 5 star and brilliant, it was excellent and different. It was quite exciting to crank the bikes up again - mine needed an oil top up. A coastal ride followed by a thermal dip and we were back in Thames on the Coromandel. A backpacker hotel had the next cricket on TV, beer in the pump, and what proved to be excellent food. Even a Barnsley lad behind the bar made us feel welcome amongst some cyclists - they are non motivated bikers. The accommodation was hot, cramped and with mossies. Bill's pillow was from the last century - but at $NZ18 each with hot shower can you grumble? Actually, yes, Bill finds lots to grouse about........ Terry - Miranda Hot Springs,NZ. |
| 02/02/2002 Hi Everyone A lazy start to the day and then we were circling the Coromandel Peninsular via Coromandel town. It was picture postcard stuff at every turn - and there are plenty of those. Bill had a friend of a friend to see. After hitting one wrong gravel track we hit the right one and steeply climbed to a hilltop. Toby and Diana were waiting for us - what a most fantastic house with 270 degree views over the estuary and Cooks Bay to Witianga.The whole area is called Mercury Bay since Capt Cook called in 1769 to watch the planet Mercury do something special. Toby is a farmer who came to NZ in 1951 and he and Diana have their own special piece of the planet that grows avocados and vines now - previously sheep. Diana served roast beef in honour of us Brits - delicious. Being fellow travel enthusiasts we enjoyed looking at photos of trips around the world. They had swapped motorhomes with a Brit couple - hence the contact. Bill showed Toby some dousing (divining) - I was impressed by what two bent bits of wire appeared to be doing in his hands. So if you need to find buried metal or water I know a man who can. Hot water beach was close by - so called as it has thermal springs. Just take a spade and dig - hot water then seeps up - add cooler ocean water to taste and take a sandy soak. Bill dug away with great enthusiasm - I slept..... We took our kind hosts to dinner outdoors - they chose an excellent restaurant called "Eggscentric" - the owner used to raise chickens and had a surname of Fowls - I ask you. The starter was watermelon in a spicy sweet sauce with feta cheese - definitely a twelve out of ten. Then the catch of the day in filo pastry - did I need ANOTHER reason to come back to NZ? Our hosts took the wine, a lovely white made from their own vines. We needed exercise, so a walk to Cathedral Cove and back was worth the
sweaty effort - everyone we passed was pleasant - if puffed. A dip in the
ocean cooled us down and we said farewell to our hosts - now our friends.
Next on our agenda was a meet up with the most important man in NZ - he
stores my motorbike!......... |
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| 04/02/2002 Hi Everyone Bill and I squeezed a final soak in the thermal pool at Miranda, packed, and reluctantly left our chalet home of 3 nights. We had a final burst on their Email service - a computer in a cupboard - and headed S via the Highway 2 and 27 to Taupo and then across to Napier on the 5. Good fast roads. Napier suffered an earthquake and was rebuilt around 1933 in Art Deco style. It really is splendidly different and we took the walking tour to appreciate the stylish buildings resplendent in their pastel shades. The backpacker hotel was excellent and our bikes were untouched from their street parking when we reloaded in the morning. Dinner had been Thai food and breakfast came an hour down the road at a typical rural wayside caff. We have both noticed that the proprietors of these places are very protective of their toilet facilities - even when they are primitive you need a key so they can ensure that nobody sh**s that shouldn't! Our next leg was on route 22 from Peter Mitchell's excellent tour guide "Great Escapes" (www.mcycle.co.nz) and we left the highway 2 at Waipukurau for rural road 52. This was more like joyous biking. The road surfaces needed care - especially after a shower. A great blast over the bendy road over the summit of the Rimutakas brought us under a dark threatening sky and into the teeth of a gale. Then the rain came and the temperature DROPPED. Suddenly its like a horrible November night in England. We took shelter in a petrol station in the vain hope that it would pass. Fat chance - we had to get on and ride to Wellington and Bill's contact. I took the lead in the extreme conditions - now some hail was added for our doubtful pleasure. At least my new waterproof seemed to be working - none of that chilling trickle in my nether regions. I led through the centre of Wellington using the good directions and passed the hospital then the zoo and up the hill. At the top look for the view of Lyall Bay, yes we did through rain and misting visors - and down the slippy hill to the bottom where we found the house. Bill was climbing the steps when our host, Des, arrived home from work in his very original 1950 Riley 2.5RMB. His wife, Steph has a little used Fiat 600 of 1957 vintage. Des and Steph pack many interests into their busy lives - Bill's connection with them was via the Panther motorcycle group. Again the wonder of these global Emails. They have motorcycled in many countries including Bolivia on a Panther 600, Spain by Ural with sidecar and Turkey and Iran by Norton ES2 - a true biker! A trip round the corner to meet his brother Roly and a garage full of bikes - Panthers, Velo Venom, Vincent Rapide, Laverda SF etc etc - and even NZetas. These are scooters part built in NZ - partly hidden they looked more like 2 man submarines. Plus some bike bits in his lounge. Roly a lifelong bachelor may just be getting involved since a female made for his sidecar recently. MOTORCYCLING IS DANGEROUS> Terry - stuck in stormy Wellington NZ |
| 07/02/2002 Hi Everyone Wednesday Feb 6th was Witiangi Day - the holiday to celebrate the birth of the modern (or fairly modern) New Zealand. I really like the old fashioned aspects, perhaps because they are more in keeping with my age, so it was quite a thrill to get to ride in Des' Riley. He showed us the coastline getting battered by the high tide and monstrous waves. Some roads were closed for safety. We went to the high vantage points around Wellington and saw the cruise ship "Legend of the Seas" making for a safe haven. The cruise ship "Wind Song" had come for shelter a bit earlier. The catamaran ferry was cancelled and the big one went out saw the waves and returned to port. There was a ferry tragedy here two years ago when 51 lives were lost. The waves were reported as 13 metres high!! Steph and Des were our wonderful hosts for two more unexpected nights and we shared good wine, food and conversation. We did try to get a later ferry, but, quite rightly ticket holders and competitors for a marathon had precedence. We spent our days in Wellington city - no hardship - its a vibrant place of multiple cultures. I got to travel on a trolley bus - very efficient at climbing the steep hill and I saw 50kph on the speedo on one flat stretch. Bill had been very unhappy with the handling of his rented BMW 800GS. They adjusted the head bearings but its a very tired motorcycle. The head bearings are knackered which destroys all 'feel' that's needed when riding gravel - he will TALK to them on its return. It should be better at the HIGH rental price. He hopes to come back next year but will buy a second-hand one and resell. We decided to abort our trip to S Island and make the most of the North Island. Leaving windy Wellington by Highway 1 soon had us back under blue skies............and the wind lessened. There was quite a bit of traffic. Wellington was now hosting the fast exciting Rugby 7 games (we don't talk about how England did). Turning to a W coast beach we found "The Garden Deli" and had a splendid plate of Hors D'Ouvres with NZ cheeses, salamis, humous, pate and a range of scrumptious fruits outside in the sun. The tea came with tea leaves - and - the proprietor doesn't lock his loo! Now its time to get a motel, we really struggled, after 8 tries we returned to a B&B vacancy sign. These are normally more expensive but we went for it. The elderly couple were full but kindly rang for us and sent us to a lovely private house on the lagoon opposite Kapiti Island. Our hosts were waiting to greet us in their immaculate 4 year old home. I removed my dusty boots so as to appear somewhat civilised. We stayed in for dinner (which was preceded by saying grace). Ecclesiastical Ernie and Switched on smile Rhoda looked after us very well. In an unguarded moment Ernie said he wished he had a Harley with ape hangers and loud pipes!! ....Rhoda's smile was DEFINITELY switched off at this remark ...... Terry - in very wet New Plymouth,NZ. |
| 19/02/2002 Hi Everyone The one day international cricket of England v New Zealand started well for England - but then a collapse - we lost, meaning the English. When NZ play anyone else the "we" means NZ - I'm beginning to belong here!! Over 5,000km now ridden on this wonderful trip. There are few difficulties in being here, one is to watch out for the poor driving standards - especially when you are only on two wheels. The other is place names - blame the Maoris. Kanakanaia - I asked a NZer who didn't know how to say it Kaniwhaniwa - you start to see the difficulties Mangatawhire - this is pronounced mangatafrey Mangatainoka - this is pronounced mana tay noko However we have found our way now to Paeroa - pronounced pie rower One Sunday a year this normally quiet town of around 1,000 people closes the main street and surrounding streets from 9am until 6pm for motorcycle street racing. Something like 20,000 turn up to pay $NZ15 for a wonderful day out. Ear plugs are recommended since some bikes are VERY loud. The Harleys are the loudest - but certainly not the quickest. The Yamaha R1 sports bikes and similar clock over 260kph as they pass the library and brake to 50kph to get around the Lion Red pub corner. One Manx Norton didn't make it and the old enough to know better rider did an over the handlebars flip to land in the hay bales. They were using new mown hay but he probably didn't notice - only his pride (and his pride and joy) was hurt. There are tons of bikes and you can wander amongst them calling at the pubs all in between the more than 20 races. Part way through the meeting the racing was held up, the PA system asked if anyone had the key to the fire station and the fire engine left!! The racing started again ....... Bill left for England and I am now doing all the lazing in pools, reading and riding by myself during the day and enjoying the company of my hosts in the evenings........Auckland this weekend for my final few days in this land of the long white cloud. Terry - Mangatawhiri (pronounced manga taffrey)NZ. |
Hi Everyone - no worries As I prepare to leave NZ. autumn is just showing its early face. Some leaves are dropping, it's a little bit cooler and certainly cooler in the evenings. Even with the locals complaining about the poor summer its been great. The farmers have certainly had great benefits from the extra rain and the sheep are now fetching prices higher than they have ever been - a far cry from a year ago. Anyone living in the Northern Hemisphere should certainly consider this as a winter destination. My pals who have just visited say that they had their best holiday ever. With the Kiwi dollar ( the locals call it the peso because of its low value) at 3.3 to the pound it feels inexpensive compared to England. The fuel cost is low and eating, drinking and accommodation seems a real bargain. No! - I'm not employed by the tourist board, or anyone else for that matter. New Zealand plans to increase its population from the present 3.88 million and many Asians (Orientals) are flooding in. Virtually all local bakeries are owned by them and very good too. I had a most delicious crab sandwich today from one for brunch. I have now washed and pegged out and given the trusty Beemer some TLC. New oil was due and she will need another rear tyre soon, otherwise she's served me well during the 3,500 miles of this trip. As I write this I am looking out over a headland and down onto a black sand beach. This is the West coast and iron causes the sand to be very dark grey. Its mined nearby and smelted in the steelworks - still working but a smaller operation these days. Its the big local employer in this otherwise quite empty coastal area. The packed sand means that cars can drive along it, motorcycles are racing on it just around the headland and sand yachts are scudding along in the stiff breeze. Several hand gliders are high in the sky - they could stay up almost as long as they wish with the great updraft from the cliffs. Even a local helicopter is buzzing around. Swimmers are in the waves between the flags the ocean looks to go on forever - but in fact leads to my next destination Australia.........but I will be back. Terry - Noosa, Queensland, Australia. |
| G'Day The Aussie customs were quite diligent, but since I don't have Foot and Mouth they let me in. It was so exciting to be greeted by Di (my partner) and Bryan - a pal I hadn't seen for three years. We jumped into Bryan's Land Rover Discovery and pulled out with our Police escort! Yes, two motorcycle Police and two cars ensuring we made good time to Twin Lakes some 100km N of Brisbane. I had arrived at the start of the CHOGM Heads of State conference that the Queen was opening - and right in the same urbanisation where Bryan and Helen have just had a house built. Tropical heat made their pool very welcome and as we talked in the pool with the mini waterfall and exotic birdsong in the background, once again I'm thinking what a lucky bugger I am. Di decided that red, white and blue bottles of bubbly from the "offie" was the way to celebrate the reunion of the Brits. The corks popped and we sampled the blue first, by the red we were having a good time - we are surely all old enough to know better than skinny dipping and when Bryan skidded on wet tiles and cracked his head we all came back to Earth with a bump. It was great though ........ Amongst seeing the local area, visiting a winery, lots of outdoor dining and marvelling at the beaches and brilliantly coloured blooming tropical trees - it really is a tropical paradise and very like Florida, but with hills too - we had to plan our trip. Two calls via Yellow pages to motorcycle dealers and Bryan and I were headed to a small non tourist town of Gimpie. Ten minutes after arriving I had bought TWO bikes!! Firstly a Yamaha Drag Star with 3,700km and ready to tour. Bruce, the helpful owner agreed a fair buyback after our six week trip. The other was a Kawasaki Super Sherpa 250cc (not imported to England) with 100km, I wanted this for going on a rack on the back of 'Mercie' our European motorhome. I will tell you later how the shipping to Europe works out. Later I collected the Drag Star 650 and enjoyed my first ride back (they sensibly drive on the left here) in a windy 84F degrees. Bryan and his wife Helen have spent twelve years largely "full timing" - this means living in a motorhome (RV) in the States - whilst battling with the IMS to keep renewing their US Visas. They felt they wanted a change of lifestyle - hence Brisbane - at the moment. So where do the snags come in? We saw them on the menu board with gravy and onions - they are Aussie sausages!......... Terry - Mudjimba,Qld,OZ. |
| Gday! We loaded, hugged Bryan & Helen and left with the loud pipes of the Dragstar causing us to be noticed as we rode out of swanky Twin Waters. Turning right to head up the coast the sky turned from blue to black. The Police motorcyclists were wearing their fluorescent rain suits as they completed looking after the security of the bigwigs at the CHOGM conference. We stopped at a small shopping centre as the heavens opened. The waitress said that it would be over by the time we had drunk our tea - she was right. It felt fresh and clean and this was the pattern of the day with us dodging the heavy showers. The foliage was ever changing lush and green with occasional views of the golden sandy bays washed by impressive dazzling white surf. We stopped for fuel after the bike had gone onto reserve, we decided to ride back to the last small town just to be safe. We had a stretch of gravel road after the minor road and a difficult 1.5km of road works. This was messy after the rain and the sparkling purple and chrome bike soon looked very well travelled already. We avoided the Wombat Wonton Soup at a pub whilst another monsoon struck. Again it was fine and steaming as we toured onwards to Tin Can Bay, a very popular place for the wild dolphins. A guys T shirt "Ace Cafe - London" opened the conversation with another biker, he looked enviously at the bike from his rented car as he left. Maryborough was a good place to stop with the Central Hotel at $57 for ensuite inc simple breakfast. The town has some splendid buildings from around 1880 since it became affluent as a major immigration port. The nearby town of Gympie with its gold rush and transporting cattle, timber and wool along its narrow gauge railroad and mainline railroad helped the town make money. The name comes from the Mary river but also was the home of the author of "Mary Poppins". Dinner was a self serve buffet at only $7 - no wonder it was so busy - it was excellent, we noticed again that the kids were well behaved. Breakfast brought more conversation - a couple were in town for a court case. Some nutter had stretched wire across a forest road (he was living rough there). Their son had ridden into it and was killed. What can you say? Another guy joined us for coffee on the balcony bringing some welcome Scouse(Liverpool) humour. He had been in OZ for 50 years, was quite indignant when I asked if it was a ten pound assisted passage - he had paid 120 pounds and NOT travelled steerage! Now retired he has a UK war pension of around $350 per month and an Aussie one of about $450 per every two weeks. His deal at the Hotel was an amazing $100 per week. These are all Aussie dollars (2.7 to the pound). It was weekly market day so we went and people watched as they carefully selected excellent fruit and veggies. Local coins for local charities were being collected - even a Town Cryer made the shopping an "event". Now its a tourist drive along the Fraser Coast ....... Terry - Agnes Water/Town of 1770,Qld,OZ |
| Gday! By now the new helmet is moulding to my head - even more important my body is getting used to the smallish Dragstar and its feet forward riding position. Our luggage is working well, throw over panniers and a Ventura bag and rack. Fraser Island, Hervey Bay then looping back to the Bruce Highway take us N. Rain stopped us in Childers, this was where the backpacker hotel was torched by another nutter with the tragic loss of 15 lives. The court case is in progress. Di told me that a huge rat had gone under our table on the pavement. She was right, I moved my rain coat and a tiny mouse scampered off! Drying roads took us coastwards to Bundaberg. It was so different to ride between the huge fields of sugar cane, crossing the narrow rails of the Cane railway. Some newly ploughed fields showed the rich burgundy soil, in fact it looked more like pure man made chemical than soil. Bundaberg (Bundy) is the sugar capital and we visited its rum refinery and never touched a drop. A newly opened Best Western gave a good deal and we walked to the cinema to see "Beautiful Minds" - quite chilling to realise just how warped our minds can become. A very recently surfaced small road to us to Agnes Water/Town of 1770, this date comes from Capt Cook's second visit to OZ. What a delightful place with quiet beach, starry skies, a great Tavern and is home of the LARC.Light Amphibious Reconnaissance Craft with its 300bhp Cummins Diesel and 2, 3 or 4 wheel drive plus big propeller gives great land or sea capability. It can climb 60 degree gradients and carry 32 tonnes. The ride was a real thrill and the area of the Eurimbula National Park with sand dunes, beaches and inlets was just so utterly fantastic to see this way. Even a light house at Bustard Head was purchased from a catalogue and shipped from the UK. Such a story of the keepers of the light. Two sisters finished up living alone here 1947-1979 one of them riding horse back for the mail for 5 hours - at 82 years old. A previous keeper was buried there with insulating pots on each corner of his grave. Yes - Alfred Power - and he had been an electrician!..... Terry - Mackay, Central Queensland, OZ. |
| GDay! Agnes Water was the most Northerly surfing beach. We now have the 2,400km long Great Barrier reef (the world's biggest) shielding the coast as we head further North. We are using the minor roads where possible and have to watch petrol supplies. Quite a few service stations no longer sell fuel - some are out of business. The Dragstar goes 280km before going onto reserve - but care is needed. My mobile phone is often out of range here - and whilst I'm whingeing my digi camera is showing "Error 108" - its bust. Nobody had good things to say about Rockhampton so we rode on through and headed to Yeppoon on the coast. The cricket was on at the Railway Hotel so we watched and chatted to a few of the local characters. We were then welcomed at the Sailing Club and had dinner - another great value self serve. We knew that we had a long stretch of the Bruce Highway to ride so filled up and held 100kph to do the miles. It was hot and for the first time a bit boring. We met a couple at a cafe who had five Harleys between them. She was riding the one with the trailer full of their camping gear. We stopped at another road house for fuel and a drink. They had the world's biggest burgers - even the truckers were getting one between two. A young Policeman then came in with his shiny Police 4WD. He and his young wife were the owners of the roadhouse. He opens it at 6am and becomes a Policeman at 8:30am when she takes over. We ran a total of 350km and spoiled ourselves with an upmarket motel and restaurant on Sarina Beach - it was superb - just what sore bums needed. Over 1,000 miles (1,600km) have been covered since I collected the bike and it has been so much better than renting a car. We have now crossed the Tropic of Capricorn. I saw a 3day 2 night deal with breakfast at $146 for two at the Whitsunday Water Resort at Dolphin Heads Mackay. What a terrific place. Its massive outdoor pool overlooks the ocean and islands with palm trees all around. The temperature is perfect for lazing and swimming - even the spa pool is bigger than many swimming pools. The breezy days and evenings being around the eighties in this autumn weather. We booked for another 2 days! - its going to be hard to drag ourselves away even though everyone says that our next stop at Airlie Beach is wonderful.............. Terry - MacKay, Central Qld,OZ. |
| Gday! Hewlett Pakard excelled themselves with a prompt response to my Email. They suggested a 10 stage reset procedure which I did - the camera is still bust - and I didn't bring my trusty Canon Sureshot, I've got a Kodak throwaway for essential shots. The rego (that's the tax/tag) runs out soon on the bike but we have arranged to collect it at Townsville P.O. - got to stay legal in this bureaucratic country. I often get asked which is your favourite country? I asked the same of a couple of great travellers that we met. They reside in Cyprus with a large house there but also have an apartment in Majorca. She mentioned her favourite country was Mexico. Her husband was much more concerned which his next RESIDENT country would be (he avoids tax). Not bad for a 70 year old - he's already been to 86 countries - it makes me feel like an apprentice. I feel more plugged into the rest of the world both here and in NZ. than I do when in the States but in so many ways it is very similar. This Resort is so quiet at the moment that you get the feel of a tropical island, I even have the massive pool to myself for some of my swimming sessions - trying to get fitter - my mental image of myself is lean and tanned - at least I'm tanned. Mackay is a lovely coastal town with a true centre with lots of good pavement cafes. It has built up from coal, beef, tourism and sugar. It has the largest sugar terminal in the world with 737,000 tonne capacity - enough for the sweetest tooth. Also it has the Southern Hemisphere's biggest coal export facility. We rode along a long breakwater to get the best view of the modern marina (costs $30,000 for a 15 year lease of a berth). The apartment blocks were very new with another phase about to be built. We returned to the Bruce Highway which is mainly two lane and headed N through acres of sugar cane. Being the weekend we saw more bikers having fun but obeying the 100kph limit. Our stop for a cuppa turned out to be a large bird aviary too. Hundreds of wonderful exotic birds - but with a difference - they all had a price on their heads. Some poor common types were as little as $10, the most expensive being $1,000 for a single bird. Mainly species of parrots but also cockatoos and cockatiels, budgies and canaries. The vibrant colours of some were quite unreal and many birds were hanging on the front of the cages so you could see them really close. A pair of orangey parrots seemed the most expensive at $1300 - in fact they looked like Royalty even amongst their splendid neighbours. Arriving in Airlie Beach we both had a slightly disappointing feeling as a first impression........... Terry - Airlie Beach, gateway to the Whit Sunday Islands.OZ. |
| GDay! We have found many nice things abound Airlie Beach now - many of them wearing bikinis. With the snorkelling and scuba diving as a major attraction Airlie Beach is full of life. There is a huge man made swimming lagoon, all free 24 hours per day, overlooking the ocean with mangrove trees right into it. We had an early morning ride to Shute Harbour where the many day trip/ island stays/ boat rentals and bare boat rentals depart from. The bareboat rentals mean without a skipper - not with stripper! It was surprisingly quiet though in this still out of season time. Back at Airlie Beach this big black guy with a shiny green hat bid us "Happy St Patrick's Day" so we went into the heaving Irish bar. An Irish dance video with Michael Flatley was playing on the big screen and then Irish jig music took over - it was fun as the Guinness flowed. Further N at Bowen it was tomatoes, capsicums and mangoes that replaced the sugar cane. On past Ayr where the liquid gold means the water in the giant underground aquifer. As we approached Townsville it changed back to sugar cane again. Townsville is a modern city that is the capital of N Queensland.The info centre told us to visit "THE Strand". This is a well designed world class esplanade with motels and restaurants. We selected a motel and had 2 hours rest in the welcome aircon - it had been a hot day - before strolling down the esplanade to an Oceanside bar - this felt good and the outdoor dining even better. Next morning we had another early morning walk and saw giant black cockatoos having their breakfast from the many trees. We had to dodge the sprinklers that were looking after plants and lawns - even sprinkling some plants on the beach. There were areas of the beach that had the very necessary nets to keep out sharks and stingers (jelly fish). Townsville gets its affluence from both a copper and a zinc refinery, government depots, and tourism. Locals commute from the Magnetic Island (pop 3,500) that is in the bay . Again we headed N on the highway, the ocean is really close but you would never know without taking a small road to the many beaches. One info centre was called the Frosty Mango - you are right we had to stop and have one - what a taste. We got info to stay at Mission Beach and headed on. Later in the day we got our first hill to speak of - then a spectacular ocean view - and best of all some biker bends. This is now the rainforest area - its getting better all the time............... Terry - Mission Beach, N Qld, OZ. |
| GDay! Leaving Mission Beach took us along a minor road with some gravel right alongside the ocean as well as more wonderful rainforest. Again the Casowary signs - we were more wary now that we knew that they can attack and kill a human by slashing with their claws. The advice if you meet one is to raise your arms to appear bigger - even better to hold a rake up high! The trip is starting to feel like a series of mini holidays connected by great biking. We turned inland into the hills and headed through banana plantations as well as the sugar cane - this environment felt different again. We stopped and walked over a wobbly bridge. This suspension bridge was built over some waterfalls and took us to Paronella Park (www.paronellapark.co.au). This amazing park was originally rainforest, then cleared for sugar cane. Jose Paronella came from Catalonia Spain in 1913. He worked and saved, went back to Spain, married, their honeymoon was the voyage back to OZ. In 1929 he bought the 13 acres along Mena Creek for 120 pounds and started to build his vision. He was ridiculed by the locals but worked on the park and opened in 1935. There is so much that is amazing but the falls, the creek, the wonderful gardens with Ulysses butterflies (4" wingspan and iridescent blue) all around, bamboo plantation and Kauri trees. Fruit bats (Flying Foxes) are in the tree tops mainly sleeping but enough lively ones fluttering around to look like Jurassic Park. Water features, a tunnel which a guide with torch light takes you through showing you micro bats sleeping - they eat 40% of their body weight of insects per day - no shortage of those here. Other rooftop clusters of sleeping furry bats with their babies that you can stroke - even harmless spiders. A castle, a dam with an early hydro scheme and a swimming hole with friendly giant eel. Yes - of course a tea room with home baking and ginger tropic jam. Jose Paronella had planted 7,000 trees for future generations before dying of cancer. We left feeling quite humbled. The park gained National Trust support in 1997 and has deservedly won many tourist awards. I mentioned earlier that it was out of season - really meaning out of tourist season. It is coming towards the end of the cyclone season (fingers crossed). There are flood warnings everywhere and depth gauges to THREE METRES over tops of bridges. Passing a sugar mill near Innisvail we saw hundreds of railway box cars heavily overgrown and rustily waiting the start of the cane season around June time. We even rode between the rail lines that share the road as we headed for Cairns.... Terry - Port Douglas, N Qld,OZ. |
| GDay! In this Wet Tropic region we are enjoying the best riding of the trip so far. Another side road to Josephine Falls and then onwards to Cairns. We resented hitting the traffic, missed the tourist info centre and headed North. I spotted the Kuranda sign and we were soon winding and climbing very steeply through the rain forest. The throttle on the DragStar felt more like a volume control than a power control!! Down into bottom gear on some tight bends we noisily crawled upwards. Kuranda is where the Sky Rail and railroad meet and we kept glimpsing the Sky Rail gondolas overhead. Arriving in Kuranda felt a little strange - a deserted tourist village. We were seeing aborigine people for the first time on this trip. We checked the accommodation at the hotel - not great. The backpacker was the other choice and worse so we settled for the hotel. The first beer never touched the sides after our long day in the saddle. It was coming dark but the trots (horse buggy trotting) was still on TV and the locals both white and abbo were enthusiastically gambling. We had been lucky again - the Sky Rail is a VERY popular attraction (in fact OZ's No.1). Starting from the village end was very quiet and we quickly had a gondola to ourselves to enjoy the trip over the rainforest. Towers up to 133 feet tall had been lifted into position by helicopter to avoid disturbing the rainforest. The cable carries you on a 7.5km ride up to 1788 feet and above the forest canopy before dropping to the coast and sea level. There are two stations where you get out to enjoy views of the Barron Falls with people swimming in the pools and another with interpretive centre where Apple Macs give you info on this fascinating and important natural environment. There is a chance to walk with a ranger for more knowledge. One bit I do remember is that one of the vines has clinging hooks that once it gets you never lets you go - its called the Lawyer vine. We Sky railed back to collect the bike and swooped down hill around all the bends - exhilarating - the trip just gets better........... Terry - Port Douglas,N.Qld,OZ. |
| HAPPY EASTER everyone
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| Gday! everyone Quite a few new readers have been added this year so I wanted to apologise for any typos and spelling errors - in fact errors of any sort. I write wherever I can get on the internet - often with poor connections and crowded conditions. I keep things as simple as possible and don't use a spell korrector etc. Several issues ago I started to use BCC (blind carbon copy) to avoid you seeing all the addresses of recipients - in fact it goes to over 70 people in 10 countries. If anyone wants to meet, stay in England, join up for any of the trips just let me know. ======================2002 Outline Plans============= Apl 18th J'Burg S Africa (alone at present) Apl 21st Welkom for motorcycle Grand Prix Then touring by car along the Garden Route to Capetown for a few days May 1st return to UK May 9th to Almeria Spain (with Di) Tour of Europe in Mercie the motorhome following GP races in France-Italy-Spain-Holland July 2nd back to UK Sept 5th Assen Holland for World Superbikes on the 8th. Tour N France and Spain, Portugal Mid Oct Mojacar Almeria Spain (?family coming out) Nov 3rd Valencia Spain for GP Nov 6th proposed motorcycle trip to Marrakech Morocco (alone at present) Mid Nov return to UK - but not for long.... My website will be ready before long with photos etc to complement the scribbling. I also hope to raise money for charity with it too. Terry - World Gypsy Terry |
| GDay! everyone A stop to dodge a heavy shower was at a home made ice cream place. We tried a lemon soursop and a roasted wattle seed one - very nice. We bought some Raintree tea - yes they grow a bit here in a cleared area just outside the National Forest. The rain had freshened the forest - ideal conditions. We planned to ride back to Port Douglas for the night but out of interest called to look at the Eco Resort rated the best in the area. There was nobody to be seen - the spa and pool were empty - perhaps its ecologically better to exclude humans? We walked down the wooden walkways into the forest and looked back at the chalets on stilts - again nobody - so walked further down to the restaurant. It shut at 2pm, ecological lunches finish early. The eco bugs are biting me so hard I feel quite weak through loss of blood. Just then a spider walked by. It looked like a hand walking - I looked around for the joker operating the radio control - nobody - the spider had disappeared. Walking back up we saw an enormous spiders web, these Golden Orb Spiders can capture small birds! Back near the spa two females in ecological green robes were about to enter - I could see they were going for a their beauty treatment. A notice said quiet area - they got that wrong as I cracked up the DragStar and left before the spiders ate us. We extended our stay in Port Douglas. It would have been better to do the reef trip from here - much bigger boats and nearer too. Within the environment of rainforest and reefs something like 85% of the planet's creatures and plants are to be found. This makes the area so special and important. We really will be reluctant to leave but Easter is near and there are lots more places to see.......
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| GDay! everyone On leaving Port Douglas it's only a short ride to photo (on the throwaway) the especially notable trees at Mossman. Then steeply climbing a newly gravelled road, the chippings clinking under the mudguards remind me they are genuine steel on this Harley look - a - like. I like the smell of the new tar. It is so quiet on this road that I think did they close it and I didn't notice? Onwards and upwards with the forest changing with the altitude. Lots of massive ant hills are evenly spread in the more open areas. They look like big boulders. At the very top we join the road that goes ( with lots of gravel) to Cooktown - yes that man again. We turn South to Mount Molloy. A roadside resting place with toilets has many new age traveller types doing their washing in the clear stream, with the sun and breeze plus much lower humidity drying will be no problem. Onwards to Mareeba for a coffee. 'Coffee Works' have a small factory where they roast and grind their coffee. Their small tour and tasting explains so much. This area grows about 1% of the world's coffee production. Arabica beans are grown - not the usual Robusta beans of cheap instant coffee. The appreciation of it is quite akin to wine tasting - only about 10% of it becomes the premium coffee. The best part was the wonderful smell of the freshly roasted and cooling beans. Newly planted trees take about 5 years before producing the cherry like fruit - the seeds in these are the coffee beans. The cherries are harvested either by hand or by machine from the tall trees which continue to produce for 50 to 100 years. The roasting and blending is obviously quite a black art - OK dark brown. The info centre gave us a leaflet on house boats so we rode to this wonderful house on the massive Lake Tinaroo. Unfortunately they were fully booked until after Easter , we rode to look at the dam that helps form the lake. The area is a lot like England's Lake District but more tropical. We are now in the area called the Atherton Tablelands. At around 2,000 feet it's the only tropical area in the world where dairy farming thrives. The climate feels wonderful. Macadamia nuts, avocados, cob corn were all growing and on sale from fruit stalls. The day had slipped on by and unusually we had forgotten to eat. The baker had sold out so we went for a cuppa at the greasy spoon cafe. I selected a pie from a hot cabinet. It was a pie with peas - inside the pie!! YUK We looked at the town of Atherton but travelled on towards Yungaburra. What a find - this is a really splendid Heritage village and the beautiful Kookaburra Lodge had a room. We looked around and booked for a second night before we found it to be full of old British biddies, yes Travel Bag use it. Walking into the village there was time for a beer at the pub before catching the early bird special at the Burra Inn. The deal was a complimentary dessert - naughty. What a super place, tasteful homely decor, log stove for the cooler months and I noticed a 'Gourmet Recommendation' by the Lonely Planet. My home smoked mackerel and Di's filo pork were top class...... Terry - headed South, Airlie Beach,OZ. |
| GDay! everyone Near to Yungaburra was a giant curtain fig tree in the rainforest. It grew on a host tree, smothered it - this host tree toppled over time and the fig threw new roots to the ground creating a draped curtain effect. Part of the delight of such amazing natural sights is that you walk into the forest alone with silence to hear the scuffling of creatures, tropic birdsong, cracks and groans from the trees and the occasional dropping fruit and cones. I must start to carry a video digicam for some sound recording too..... The Atherton Tablelands has quite a few lakes - we had been recommended to visit Lake Barrine. This is a rain filled volcanic crater, it is filled not by river but by rainfall (52" per year) and seepage from the rim of the crater. Mirror like and with white water lilies around its shores. We took a boat trip around the 6km of jungle shores. The lake is within the National Forest and the ranger/skipper carried food to attract the wildlife. We saw ducks with blue under wing markings fly alongside for a biscuit, a black kite dived and skilfully caught some meat in its claws. A three foot long eel and turtles also enjoyed the meat. Kauri and red cedar trees were the tallest and another fig tree was growing its open roots right down to the water. Aborigine people used the cave formed by these roots to shelter during cyclones. Many ancient trees could be seen that had toppled deep into the crystal lake. A path around the lake can be walked fairly safely the ranger said. Watch out for the stinging trees (like nettles but bigger and worse), don't lose your way - people have died. Oh yes, and the pythons, known to have grown to 28 feet. We chose to have a cuppa on the balcony rather than walk. There had been just four of us on our boat trip, now a large group of excited Asians arrived. We walked to another small water filled crater. This one was completely covered with lime green algae. A fish lazily swam on the surface making a long black line - very pretty. This crater has been formed by hot gas escaping from the earth's core. Not too far away you can walk through a tunnel that is a lava tube formed aeons ago in this volcanic area. Our plan was to visit more waterfalls and more forest walking took us to idyllic jungle pools where you could swim in the coltish waters. What wonderful free fun for everyone - in fact we had three such sites to ourselves. Our Easter breakfast brunch was on the veranda of the cafe, the only place open in the village of Millaa Millaa known as the home of the dairy industry. Our 6 years old waitress (she was helping mum with being on holiday) did it so well - even down to wishing us Happy Easter. We hid a tip and rode on. This Tableland area really impressed us and was such great biking and climate we were sad to feel our ears pop as we dropped with the DragStars open pipes popping on over run........ Terry - heading S, Mackay,Qld,OZ. |
| GDay! everyone We were starting to think that this is quite a civilised continent. The practice of putting the peas INSIDE the pies caused us some doubt. Now we found that the pubs HAD to close on Good Friday (also on Xmas Day)! The garages have put up the price of petrol for the holidays - I wonder where I have seen that before? We were able to get a beer as long as we had a meal - no worries. Our demure waitress caused us to laugh when she complained that someone had banged her new tattoo - I one I saw that it was on her calf. Tattoos and belly button rings are certainly in fashion - perhaps its just the skimpy clothing in this tropical climate that makes it more obvious? We were seeing more cars towing toys to play with for the holiday and more children too. Boats, trail bikes, caravans, camping trailers were most popular with some bicycles too - all enjoying the great outdoors in the great weather. There is plenty of space to do this on this huge continent that only has 19 million people - and NO CHANNEL TUNNEL to increase it daily! Our journey back S is now underway with 3,500km ridden so far. One of today's 'moments' started with Di shrieking - I started to slow down as she wobbled about on the pillion. It turned out to be a red 'thing' (she can't see clearly without her specs) that crawled out of the ventilation system on my helmet, straight towards her face. She bravely killed it - we continued. We had seen a waitress become quite disturbed when a spider came down his thread from a ceiling and get into her hair. She brushed it off and was only calm after she found it, confirmed that it was a red back male - don't ask - and killed him. For weeks now I have been wearing T shirts and polo shirts to ride in. The powerful tropic sun has faded them. Amongst the more tasteful replacements that I have looked at are :- "I love every bone in your body - especially mine" "why drink and drive when you can smoke and fly" "Its better to be pissed off than pissed on" (American readers need it translating) On the long stretches of road there is plenty of time to read the billboards "speed - 10kph over can you 6' under" "have you a nut loose at the wheel?" "for great sex :myflowers.com.au" and from a hardware store "where can you get a screw 7 days a week?" The travelling day goes amazingly quickly before I am chaining the DragStar to a palm tree and trying to remember yet another room number.. Terry - Hervey Bay,Qld,OZ. |
| GDay! everyone During the holidays here non tourist places are like ghost towns, it's hard to find places open and something going on. Having had a good night at a lovely resort motel overlooking a lily pond with happy sounding croaking frogs we wanted some late breakfast. An hour down the road we found a "Subway" open, their red neon sign proclaimed 'we bake our own bread'. When questioned the assistant said it was yesterdays bread. She then said "we have run out of bread" - I expected her to then say ha ha April Fool since it was the morning of Apl 1st. We left and went to MacDonald's to find them just closing their breakfast menu! Back to the "Subway" we settled for cappuccino and a cookie and sat outside. Just then two burly Aussies came out empty handed - I nearly tried 'Ha ha April Fools' but thought better of it. Following the Queen Mums sad death there was a really informative history of her long life. The Commonwealth was something when she and the King were ruling, they seemed to be very in touch. I think our Queen has done a great job too but has lost touch. I hope that the young Royals can get it together now - the thought of President Blair is quite chilling to me - I'm far from sure that it would be good for OZ and NZ to go for a presidency too. Looking back in history it was 1788 when the fleet of 14 ships set sail with a total of 1400 people, almost 800 were convicts, to begin the colonisation of this continent by Europeans. One of the disappointments here is that it is still so empty, little choice of different routes and yet the big cities are getting badly clogged with traffic. Today my T shirt reads "be grateful for what you have - even if it's not enough" aren't we humans strange creatures? ......... Di was quite excited when she found that tonight's motel room has a back door too....... Terry - Hervey Bay, here for the weekend to watch TV with the bike GP racing from Sugo Japan and WSB from Kyalami S Africa - I hope to be at Welkom S Africa to see the next GP live. Terry |
| GDay! everyone It's strange in this hot climate to tell you that the nights are drawing in. The State to the S (New South Wales) put its clocks forward last weekend but its dark here by 6:30pm. We are meeting a large proportion of Brits in the Motels - the Aussies seem to be mainly camping and caravanning. One pub we visited was 141 years old, they had just got a government grant to help restore it. A local made us laugh with his story of another pub that got moved (wooden construction) and it never closed, busy serving beer from the rear veranda whilst slowly moving. The road kill we have seen has been mainly smallish kangaroos, possums, an odd squirrel, hawks, wild turkeys, one fruit bat, one tree climbing kangaroo - yes they really do, and a snake. Mossies have been a nuisance at times and there are some that carry dengue fever. I know the tourist brochures don't tell you the stuff that I do. Box jellyfish hurt and most beaches have bottles of vinegar to pour in the wounds, but the Ikurandji jellyfish can and do kill!! This time we have stayed in Rockhampton (Rocky) the beef capital. It's on the Fitzroy river - it's partly navigable but I don't recommend water-skiing, there are crocodiles to TWENTY feet long. We felt safe in a balcony restaurant overlooking it and antipasto, smoked salmon salad with a herb and parmesan bread made a well chosen light meal with Blues Point Semillon Chardonnay an excellent wine. We liked this University town with some pedestrianisation and nice buildings near the river. It was quite a change from all the beach resorts. Sitting and riding gives plenty of thinking time - why is it that in this quite tightly controlled country that large and small boats are rented to people with no experience or qualification - other than having the money - who then can take their passengers into danger on the open sea? We have heard some horror stories - yet they are thinking of adding compulsory clothing for riding motorcycles!! Our long bike trip is nearly over, we plan a leisurely weekend at Hervey Bay having ridden some 5,000km so far, and watching bike racing on TV. We have had a couple of windy days but locals are complaining of drought, one place said the driest for 120 years. You get this feeling of the land waiting for the rain I even saw waterfowl sitting in the shade who looked as if they were waiting for their usual pond to fill up. The leather jacket is back on now - but all vents still open....... Terry - Hervey Bay |
| GDay! everyone Now we had a luxury apartment with 2 bedrooms,2 bathrooms, kitchen with everything, lounge, balcony - even our own laundry room. Underground garage for the DragStar with remote control grill, tennis court, snooker room and big swimming pool with spa. THREE TV's with all the channels, video, hifi system and a video telephone to avoid letting in the riff raff! Wait for this, its on the beachfront and the guy - a fellow biker - gave us the courtesy upgrade to executive and it cost just $A270 (100 quid) for the three days. Now it was about going to the supermarket for lovely fresh veggies and fruit and then the bottle shop - buy 3 bottles and get 15% off - we like it here. Having dined quietly is this splendour we stood on 'our' balcony for a glass of wine. It started raining - how very pleasant I thought, tropical rain in the evening. We went indoors and switched the lounge TV on - the xxxxing rain kept stopping the xxxing satellite from xxxxing receiving....... We did see the moving and most impressive procession in preparation for the Queen Mothers funeral. How comforting for our Queen to see her subject's loyal support for her and her family in this difficult period. There is good press out here in support of Charles being King. Around the country we have seen many E11R signs and pictures of Princess Diana who is fondly remembered. The Queens head is on all the coins here. Hervey Bay has many miles of superb beach walking - we managed two long walks on the firm golden sands. Broken pieces of coral tell us we are still near the S end of the Barrier reef. We saw hundreds of small crabs which looked like mini Easter eggs wrapped in blue tinsel - with legs. They seemed to be able to melt into the wet sands when you got too near. They make patters with sand balls. The caravan sites here are quite full and are right next to the beach - it really is a paradise for children - how I wish I had a magic wand to make family and friends appear to share this good stuff. The TV brought the excitement of the GP motorcycle racing from Sugo. The MotoGP was wet and wonderful with new 4 stroke machines from Suzuki, Honda and Yamaha filling the podium. Troy Bayliss (OZ) won his sixth race of the season - he is certainly filling Carl Fogarty's boots. Sport is big in OZ, it shows in sports facilities in even the smallest villages and with terrific play facilities for children too. It results in a country with such a small population getting world success in cricket, tennis, motor sports, rugby and also in the inspirational Paralympics and Olympics. It is a sunny fresh morning as we start the final leg calling at Gympie to collect the rego to be legal with the bike for our final few days in Queensland. Terry - just leaving Hervey Bay |
| GDay! everyone I had just sent the last TT from a nearby internet facility and walked back to the bike in its underground garage. I had left my helmet with the bike, I put it on and was about to hit the starter when I felt something crawling in my helmet! I leaped off the bike, tore off the helmet and brushed my head like a madman. Fortunately nobody was about or I would have been put in a straitjacket and committed. I didn't want a spider bite but I found nothing, I looked in the helmet - nothing. I still couldn't make myself put the helmet back on, so I had a scrat around (with my glove on) inside the helmet - Oh relief - it was only a giant cockroach. I fired the bike up and the headlight shone on the crawling roach. I rode the bike over it but missed, turned round and tried again, the front wheel slipped on a patch of oil but I stayed upright so I thought sod it and rode out of the garage with a fast beating heart. PS. Do roaches lay eggs?? Way back in Port Douglas we had visited the photo gallery of Peter Lik. He uses a professional panoramic camera with wonderful expertise to capture Australian nature. If you get a chance to see his photography (books/posters) I highly recommend it. He captures this beautiful and varied continent with its creatures and plants as a visual delight.www.peterlik.com Now back in Mudjimba Twin Waters we are staying with Bryan. He retired from his fruit and veg business. Its a delight to have a fruit bowl picked by an expert. Pineapples (they take up the land for 2 years per crop) Bananas (especially Ladies Finger ones - small and sweet) Rock Melon, Passion Fruit,Mangos,PawPaw (papaya) Custard apples (cherimoya) Fuji fruit (Sharon) developed from the persimmon Di won a big mound of shellfish - piled on ice in the Friday eve raffle at the pub. Oysters, Moreton Bay Bugs (lobster), crab, King prawns, Tiger Prawns, Red spot Prawns. You don't see much of all this in Downtown Bingley - where I live - if I still live anywhere. Helen, Bryan's wife is in hospital getting skilled treatment for her leg following being bitten? by something - she's thankfully progressing well. Di is using the central vacuuming system to do the housework - now she wants one...... I sadly returned the DragStar with 5,500km ridden - it had performed faultlessly. The Sherpa 250cc that I had bought was crated ready to go to London via Brisbane. It should arrive mid June - more info later. Just a short feeling hour and a half and we were meeting our friends Sheila and Greg in Sydney airport and being driven - part motorway, with a bleep as the E tag passed us through the toll to their home 40km N. Sheila's zany brother Joe was visiting from Canada and added lots of laughter filled chatter. We all visited Botany Bay just to the S of Sydney - the place where Capt Cook landed on April 28th 1770. A plaque for the poor seaman that died only three days later said "first British subject to die in Australia" The Bay was just what these adventurers needed with easy sheltered shore access and fresh water to refill the Endeavour. The two aborigines there took some frightening away - even with buckshot flying they left and returned with their bark shields before finally disappearing. This allowed Capt Cook and his men to come onshore and add substantially to the British Empire. Some 232 years later the Bay has amazingly coloured rock strata's forming low cliffs and then to the still crystal clear waters where Sheila and Greg go scuba diving. The shore is part of a National Park with lots of bird life - the noisiest being crows sounding like babies and the Sulphur Crested White Cockatoos angrily screeching. We enjoyed a picnic and Joe patiently sat Buddha like with bread on top of his hat. He was disappointed when the birds didn't dare take it. I was disappointed that they didn't poop in his expensive new Aussie hat. Whilst I am in England this summer I hope to go to Capt Cooks birthplace - but next its travelling to meet my son in Johannesburg whilst Di returns to the greater safety of the UK.......... Terry - Sydney,OZ. Terry |
| Hello Everyone The Kawasaki is now at sea in its 1.8cu Metre crate and should reach London around June 10th. The shipping cost $A450. One of my sharp witted readers told me that its the female cockroach that lays eggs. Since I didn't have the presence of mind to check the sex who knows? My helmet is in the crate with the bike so perhaps the baby roaches will enjoy the voyage! I arrived in JoBurg and was met by a pal Stuart (ex Keighley) from 38 years ago. My son had a health problem and could not come. I collected the Corsa rental car, it was a "from" model so I will have lots of exercise with no PAS and winding windows. I chased Stuart through the centre of JoBurg - like London traffic but more risky. This was a Baptism by Fire during the rush hour. We arrived at Stuart and Val's super house on the outskirts of the sprawling town. Their estate has guards and barriers which is a very common sight. I learned much over dinner at a restaurant - particularly how to stay safe. Stuart took the next day off and showed me modern shopping malls, local crafts being made and sold on the roadside and a Tuscany style village and hotel that was a real eyeful. I had a haircut and bought a ticket for the GP - 85 Rand for the weekend, that's about SIX quid. Stuart walked me around his grounds with swimming pool (his wife Val has a swimming pool business) goldfish ponds and a thatched barbie area. I was less keen when he mentioned the black widow spiders and spitting cobra that live there somewhere. He assured me the cobra was harmless if it didn't spit! I left early Sat am for the 3 hour drive to Welkom. A good toll highway took me over the sweeping hills of the high veldt passing corn cob and smiling sunflowers. I had been told to look for a B&B so in the outskirts I rang the bell and met a lovely Afrikaans lady who fixed me a bed in her dining room since she was full. I didn't mind sleeping with the family silver and the race team of Rolfo were staying. I watched the qualifying - the sound of the new 4 stroke MotoGP racing bikes was utterly fantastic but still no match for the 6 and 8 cylinders of yesteryear. But "on song" and also on overrun it makes a better spectacle. The Aprilia sounded best with the Hondas looking fast and purposeful, the Yamahas went well but seemed ponderous round the bends. I left the circuit happy and sunburned. I approached a roundabout which was ringed with razor wire. There was a big Police presence with cars and riot vans - just like a war zone. Then I saw some bikes. I parked and walked back into the black crowds thinking "is this sensible?". I was glad that I did, it was a street party starting. A huge stage was filled with speakers and a band similar to Black Mambasa (remember Paul Simon 'Gracelands') were getting the big black bums bopping - wonderful. The razor wire ran to the next roundabout and bikers were wheelying down the strip in between cycle races. More people were arriving all the time including white faces for this big night out. Barbies were sizzling and the local draught was flowing at 40p per near pint. Pungent tyre smoke filled the air as the posers bounced their valves. But the people - talk about contrasts - you had from bony bums to balloon bums, blanche white skin to deep ebony. Brittany Spears look-alikes to Janet Jackson. A stylishly dressed "Huggy Bear" looked elegant in his crocheted red peaked skull cap. The band ended and it was surreal to hear my local town band Smokie and "Who the xxx is Alice" followed by Cher who was quite "Believable". The GP race day was a terrific experience and I look forward to the rest of the season..... Terry - Port Albert, South Africa |
I now had a week or so to tour South Africa - lots of driving but enough time to see some of the highlights. First a bit of more recent history. I stopped at the site where Winston Churchill had been captured from an armoured train in 1899 during the Boer War. This was two years of conflict about voting rights for immigrant miners. The site was scruffy and neglected with broken glass. I headed to the mountains on the minor road - this was better. A spectacular lake had cattle carcases on its shores - write a notice about ecology, provide the meat and you have an immediate tourist attraction. The vultures were happy with this, some circling over the vast lake and others happily squabbling whilst tearing at the flesh. Seeing the first Zulu village was amazing, lush green and fertile here in the valley, the people looking clean and colourful with many friendly waves. The houses are often round and thatched with the opening facing the sun. Deeper into the valley was the Royal Natal National Park, I was headed to the hotel there but it was closed. Another few kms and I got a room in the splendid Aux Sources Resort. Pools, putting, tennis and lawn chess give you the setting, all for twenty pounds dinner bed and breakfast. A Rolls Bentley was the Resorts transport - no doubt paid for by the smug looking package tourists staying here! The food was OK but don't ever order Vilieri white wine if you want to keep enamel on your teeth.... I travelled onwards through poorer areas with their makeshift tin shacks - DON'T BREAKDOWN HERE! I stopped at a Backpacker on Warner Beach S of Durban - en suite for nine pounds - bring your own loo paper - oh yes and light bulb for the en suite. I walked to the small bar nearby and copied the locals with a big bottle of Castle for 50p. Having talked with them for an hour they wanted to drive me back for my safety after dark. I know about making compulsory contributions to the Kaffirs coffers (muggings). I went for some sardines at another bar and walked back without incident. An early morning beach walk was simply fantastic and the Indian Ocean warm and clean, just the odd jellyfish the size of a dinner plate. A quick look at guarded mansions on the outskirts of E London showed me the contrasts in living standards. I crossed the Transkei, a vast area of poor land and poor people. I can't say that I enjoyed all the hours driving in a hot tin box and looking at this totally black region but this is the only way to get a fast impression of a vast country. Passing through rough trading towns like Umtata was an eye opener - keep windows up and doors locked. I stopped for petrol and a Wimpy, the car park had a manned watch tower!! This is the region where Nelson Mandela was born. I was now getting to the part of the country where tourists feel safer and I got a room at Moonshine Bay Backpacker. The new owner Joe (female) greeted me as her first guest, her place is next to a holiday village of charming thatched cottages so she will be encouraging the quieter backpackers. It suited me when she came into the only pub and restaurant and we had a lively night chattering with the locals. There was one blonde guy they were taking the piss out of by pretending to translate the English spoken into Afrikaans for him. Afrikaans is the common language originally derived from Dutch but English is spoken widely. There are many other native languages too. A bad coast road S was through boring scrubland and I was glad to arrive at delightful Port Alfred. The hotel in the marina had a deal and got my business. You can buy excellent detached property here for about 30,000 pounds near the beach and marina and quite a lot of development is happening ............... Terry - written in Capetown but sent from the UK, I have just got back for my birthday - I'm staying a whole week! Terry |
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