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v-chops · #21 12-30-2011, 05:30 PM

Love your work M L and thanks for sharing.

MountainLagoon · #22 12-31-2011, 11:46 PM

Day 7 - Mt Gambier SA to Great Ocean Road west to Apollo Bay

After visiting the caves and a loop of the Blue Lake we left Mount Gambier to take the coast road to Portland, on the way we visited the Princess Margaret Rose Caves via a short twisty section and a dirt shortcut (more fun for me). At Portland we had our slow speed lay over due to a front sub frame boltworking its way loose and jamming in our Lower T triple clamp lug but thats covered in a post here...WARNING - Sub frame bolt lodged in lower triple clamp equals loss of left hand steeri
I would like keep this thread topic on our journey. After the repair delay in Portland we were looking forward to our first half of the Great Ocean Road (GOR) as we turned right onto B100 Hwy it turns out or delay had caused us to finally get to the 12 apostle's lookout right on sunset which is the best time for phots of the landmarks, we had stopped at all the others throuout the afternoon too. The Sun just dipped under the ocean as we left Pricetown then we had a pitch black night run over the mountains with virtually no moon and not one car on our side of the road the whole way. We turned off to the Cape Otway Lighthouse hoping that we could get some night effect pics of the lighthouse, but the entrance was gated and blocked so back through the "haunted forest" (Cape Otway National Park) to the GOR and down the twisty mountain to Apollo Bay for the night, it was nearly 11pm by the time we got to Apollo Bay but the GOR views and spectacular roads had been worth it, the weather had also remained mild summer days for the journey so far.

MountainLagoon · #23 12-31-2011, 11:47 PM

Day 7 - part 2 pics

MountainLagoon · #24 12-31-2011, 11:49 PM

Day 7 - part 3 pics

MountainLagoon · #25 12-31-2011, 11:50 PM

Day 8 - Apollo Bay to Great Ocean Road east to Melbourne.

The day before was eventful so we got a good sleep and late start before tackling the new years eve traffic to Melbourne. This section of road is the classic cliff lined coast winding its way to Lorne, the road is in fair condition, probably due to the high volume of traffic it has to cope with, also some corners are suffering from a "ripple effect" but the Great Ocean Road still exceeds it title, it is more than a great road,, next time I will make it an early morning run before the tourist traffic decends in tour bus convoys. We made our way to Bells Beach and then to the end of the GOR at the Torquay roundabout. A stop in Queenscliff to catch the ferry accross Port Phillip Bay to Sorrento the we followed the bays coastline to Melbourne for New Year. Happy New Year all !!!!, after a few days in Melbourne we will be off to Sydney via the east coast.

MountainLagoon · #26 12-31-2011, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NAA-strom

Hi guys, great to catch up on the Great Ocean Road today. Great photos from the trip. Seems you are following me, up till now. I have done Hay Plains, Adelaide Hills, Great Ocean Road, now off to Melbourne then back home to Narrabri.

Will be sure to let you know when I am heading down your way on the bike.

Enjoy the rest of your ride. Rubber side down.

And Happy New Year.

Pete

Cheers Pete, cya on a ride this year, if you need any info with your light install PM me.

MountainLagoon · #27 12-31-2011, 11:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by v-chops

Love your work M L and thanks for sharing.

Cheers, more pics coming in a few days, we are having a rest atm, Happy New Year !

MountainLagoon · #28 01-01-2012, 12:11 AM

Day 7 & 8 - track logs

MountainLagoon · #29 01-05-2012, 12:22 AM

Day 9 – Melbourne - Marlo - Bemm River – Mallacoota

Happy new year !, we left Melbourne as a storm passed over and headed east, it was the last we would see of the rain, it had washed everything ahead of us for this leg. We were headed for Mallacoota by day’s end. We turned off the Hwy at Orbost to ride along the Snowy River to do the coast loop through Marlo and Cap Conran, we were hoping to ride offroad through the Cap Conran Coastal park but some locals had warned us that they had tried to get through the track in a 4wd and got bogged twice in deep sand so we headed back to the Hwy along a forested winding road. We turned back towards Bemm River and to try the dirt Coast road to Cann River but first we asked some locals who said we should be OK as long as we stayed on the coast road.....good advice, any tracks off this road are 4wd only !!!!. So we rode over the Bemm river bridge into the unknown. A few k’s down the track (it was a track, not a road at this stage) we hit deep, powder soft sand, the Strom sank fast to the bash plate and had a lie down, unlike the Coorong track that has a solid base this was just a soft sand drift. We both had our left leg trapped under the bike so we just dug out our boots (did I say the sand was soft) then when we could stand, took off all the top luggage and walked/rocked/pushed/spun the Strom through the 15metre sand drift. (The pic is my wife sitting on the luggage tipping sand out of her boots, I was not game to ask her to take some pics) We were both OK and the next 2 times I managed to spot the soft sections and stop so we could walk/push the bike through sending rooster tails of sand into the air behind us. We came across the grader that was repairing the road and filling the soft sections with course gravel

so the last half of the road that rose up the mountains was the usual dirt/gravel track that improved the closer we got to Cann River where it is an access road for High Voltage Power Line Electrical Transformers. Back on the bitumen we turned off to Mallacoota and enjoyed a nice twisty road down the mountain but watch out for the last 25kmh corner which has a dip just before it followed by sand drifting across the inside (well we are near the coast). It turns out the Mallacoota Pub/motel gives a discount to anyone who arrives on a bike, they have also just installed an inground pool and renovated all the bathrooms so a swim then a bistro meal and some scotch helped finish off the day. Even if you’re not staying the night don’t ride past these coastal towns, the bitumen roads are great and in good repair atm.

MountainLagoon · #30 01-05-2012, 12:24 AM

Day 9 part 2 - pics

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