When I last posted, my friend King Bob and I had two working motorcycle rentals.
Well, he was having some issues with the electronics and error codes on his.
I did have a scary error message on my screen when I first started the bike but it went away.
Fast forward....only a few KM out of town and his bike stopped working and my rear brake locked up.
My bike was stopped in the middle of the road, fortunately we were close to a weightlifting gym and two other guys helped pick up the rear of the bike and roll it to the parking lot.
Next couple of days was an incredible series of stressful small miracles that put us on two purchased bikes and to my delight, I am riding a Triumph Tiger 800 XC just like I used to have.
KB, he got a bike with plenty of luggage with the openings from the top (biggest complaint on his rental) oh and a motorcycle that worked.
DMV. The DREADED DMV. The equivalent here is the DOT (Dept of Transportation). I went there desperate to get something called a CRN (customer reference number) so that I could buy motorcycles since both of our rentals had catastrophic failures so it was either buy or fly home.
They were really friendly and helpful, even bumping me to the front of the line when I told them I needed to buy two motorcycles that day. And just like DMV, they got the registration wrong....
Between two motorcycle dealerships, and about 20 people from staff, sales people, managers and mechanics....we managed to fix the CRN issue and buy two motorcycles. My credit card is groaning. One of those helpful people here with her shaved Pomeranian calling around to try and find a used bike.
Finally, after a herculean effort, we are loaded up and ready to leave Cairns.
Atherton. First stop.
Through the Gillies
263 corners in 19 km and 800m elevation change.
It was fun....I could hardly believe we were finally on our way.
When we were walking back, a girl came running up to us in a panic saying they saw a farmer crash and he needed help. There was no cell service but that's OK. We both have satellite trackers with an SOS function. KB went to see what he could do while I made friends with my bike.
I spent a while thinking what to name him. His color is Arctic White. The Snowy Mountains are the highlight of the trip. My partner loves Tin Tin. I named him Snowy.
The next day we rode south through some outback and saw plenty of kangaroos (called roos here) all dead of course on the side of the road. Seems they are like deer but twice as fast. Hit one of these at 100+km and it is vacation over. At the end of this long day, about 6 hours of riding, we saw two live ones on the side of the road which sent my heart racing.
I sent this photo of my bed for the night to a couple people asking, what time is it?
I hope you get the joke.....seriously they really want you to know when it's time to check out.
And for those of you who have followed my ride blogs over the years, you'll see a familiar face.
Grindle.
I get ready every day, in this order 1) Grindle 2) Passport 3) Motorcycle.
I mentioned before the swimming culture here.
Thankfully there was another gorgeous pool right next door.
Had it all to myself.
Walked into town and found the only place open to eat.
Steakhouse.
Charters Towns is a typical boom and bust mining town.
Back in the day had their own stock exchange.
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As we were leaving town.....minions and tires just go well together.
Arrived in Airlie Beach. Backpackers town. Harbor. Cruises to the GBR.
Had a penthouse apartment overlooking the harbor.
Motorcycle wrist sunburn.
I was feeling pretty grumpy so I walked back to town because I saw a New Zealand ice cream shop and sure enough they had Hokey Pokey ice cream!
Three scoops please.
Decided to have a bit of local bubbly watching the sun set.
Swear Grindle had some when I wasn't looking.
My usual breakfast.
Soft boiled egg.
Jet Boil French press coffee with heavy cream.
Australiana love the dreaded instant coffee.
And they never have a 'coffee plunger'.
Steaky Bacon.
You can always tell the locals from the tourists depending on which side they walk.
Given that I didn't have a good experience in Cairns snorkeling.
Decided to try again, this time by helicopter.
My first time. Felt like riding washboard as we took off.
For non-riders, that's a sharp fast bouncing feeling.
Made in the USA.
It was a lovely experience once we were cruising in the air with swooping that felt much like riding through twisty mountain roads on the motorcycle.
The famous heart shaped reef.
The next day, wanting to be as remote as possible to cleanse away the noise, traffic and mass of people, I found this cute 'fold out' cabin to rent in Tanby.
Cute. Small. Cheap. Comfortable.
Rode into the nearest town.
Looked at the first restaurant menu.
Rack of Lamb.
We are eating here.
The next morning we needed to get oil for one of the bikes.
While KB figured that out, I was entertained by the local 'dog wash'.
Bundaberg is another one horse town.
Found this exceptionally cute and thoughtful place.
Including homemade jam...and vegemite.
I took the pink room.
Ants are a big problem here in Australia.
Well maybe problem isn't the right word but they are so prevalent that people put all trash bins outside.
Rural areas have some hysterical mailboxes.
This one was the best but along the day I saw; a milk jug, a propane tank, a beer keg, a small roller trash bin, a microwave, a small fridge, a bucket, a orange road construction cone, a tool box, and this shark eating nemo.
Oh and no one has a lock on their 'mailbox'.
Birds.
So many interesting, colorful, curious and musical birds here.
Cockatoos. Noisy buggers.
The Curlew is by far the creepiest sound.
This one is a Magpie. They have quite a unique sound too.
Tomorrow, Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary!
