Ride from Perth - Melbourne Return

[pilbaralad]

A few mates and I are headed from WA to Victoria for a weekend of footy. (Two of us on weestroms) I have put our itinery below for those wishing to tag along for part (or all) of our trip.

Dates are 28th May - 18th June

Monday 28th Brett Dept Newman - Leonora
Tuesday 29th RV with Perth rider(s) in Kalgoorlie continue to Norseman?
Wednesday 30th Ride (overnight Eucla?)
Thursday 31st Ride (overnight Streaky Bay?)
Friday 1st Ride (Through Eyre Peninsula - Port Augusta?)
Satuday 2nd Ride (East through Horrocks Pass and down inland route towards Adelaide?)
Sunday 3rd Ride (Adelaide Hills?)
Monday 4th Continue to Melbourne, some continue to Latrobe Valley
Tuesday 5th Latrobe Valley to Bendigo
Wednesday 6th Bendigo
Thursday 7th Bendigo
Friday 8th Head to Melbourne, RV with others. , Footy Friday night Eagles - v Essendon Telstra Dome
Saturday 9th Footy. Arvo Sydney-v-Hawthorn MCG, Night Carlton-v-Port Adelaide Dome
Sunday 10th Footy Arvo St Kilda -v- Kangaroos Dome
Monday 11th Footy Arvo Melbourne -v- Collingwood MCG

Tuesday 12th Leave City, collect bikes, head to Torquay and stay.
Wednesday 13th Travel Great Ocean Road to Mount Gambier. 470km. Although not a long way, we want to be able to stop check things out, take the "been there done that pics" and there are lots of slow spots and towns along the way.
Thursday 14th Travel Mt Gambier - Port Augusta. 744km. Gotta get through Adelaide so don't be fooled by km, will be a big day.
Friday 15th Travel Pt Augusta - Eucla 951km. Nothin much to see, should be hardened up for a big day in the saddle by now?
Saturday 16th Travel Eucla - Norseman 879km. See above comments
Sunday 17th Travel Norseman - Perth 723km
Monday 18th Spare travel day?
Tue/Wed - Brett returns to Newman.

[K1W1]

You are riding your bikes to Melbourne for football?
There does not appear to be time in your itinerary for a ride with the Melbourne V-Strom collective so should we take that as an insult or just that you think that after the ride you might smell a bit too much for us or that you prefer footie to us? :p :p
We are here. If you want to play get in touch closer to the time of arrival and we will see what we can do.

[pilbaralad]

You are riding your bikes to Melbourne for football?
There does not appear to be time in your itinerary for a ride with the Melbourne V-Strom collective so should we take that as an insult or just that you think that after the ride you might smell a bit too much for us or that you prefer footie to us? :p :p
We are here. If you want to play get in touch closer to the time of arrival and we will see what we can do.

Anyone who has arranged this sort of trip knows how hard it can be to arrange RV's points with others.:rolleyes: We have about 5 riders from different states wanting to join in for all or various parts of the ride who are headed to other destinations, not necessarily the footy.

I have put out the invitation to various websites as we want to meet others as we travel, it's just easier to let people know what we are doing and say "tag along if you wish". We are parking the bikes up for the weekend as we will be staying in accommodation in the city that doesnt have parking :-( (leaving the bikes in Geelong) and besides we will either be imbibing :mrgreen: or recovering from the previous night.;) I would have thought that the Grt Oc Rd ride would be good for others to tag along but I guess most people gotta work during the week. Before we leave I will make my mobile number available and interested folk can text me as we get closer to them.

[glitch_oz]

You are riding your bikes to Melbourne for football?


AND BACK AGAIN ??
By the time one factors tyre wear/ servicing/ petrol and overnight stays along two dead-boring runs, why not find a cheapish, half-empty backload-truck to ship the bikes to Melb, fly after them on a cheap redeye ticket, do the footy and then go for some REAL riding fun around the twisties of the Great Divide to the East of Melbourne, before riding back West across the Nullabor?
The bikes would go to the depot of that freight mob, then could be transported by the local bike-carrier to a safety lockup (like Millers Storage where Bikes Only, the bike-transport mob stores their customers bikes). It's only a 15min tram ride from Melb CBD... and right on the Eastern Fwy, one of the main conduits into the hills.

[oodeano]

Bike transport appears (to me) to be much easier than it actually is. A friend and I organized to transport our bikes to Perth for the red bull air race and rode home to Sydney from there - it almost didnt happen. We were all set to go with a "specialist" bike transport company who decided 10 days out that they were not going to make the trip for another two weeks after we had agreed - leaving us with flights and accomodation booked and no bikes at the other end. Specialist DH's is about all they were - just writing this is bringing back the anger . . . We found a shipping company with a couple of bike crates - it was supposed to cost $1000 each. Dropped the bikes off on Friday, get off the plane in Perth on Monday 10 days later and called the trucking company from inside the airport - "We've just sent them now - we had to send them express to get them there by wednesday so it's going to cost you an extra $300 each" - You've had them for over a week already - I dont see why I should have to pay an extra $300 FOR YOUR INCOMPETENCE. "We can not charge you $300 extra but you wont get them till Friday - I'm happy to go and take them off the truck if you want". I'm sure I could have been a lot more "persuasive" in person but there is only so much you can do by phone from 4000 k's away. We decided to eat the 600 between us and have a happy holiday. It's probably better for both parties that I had calmed down enough to not go visit them when I got back...and Breathe...... I guess my point (aside from venting) is that it's quite possibly not as easy and cheap as you might imagine.
On another note - they're some big days you've got lined up on the way back PBL - they are gonna hurt! It's the good hurt though - honestly..
On the way here we did:
Perth-Bunbury-Margaret River-Walpole-Esperance-Kalgoorlie-Balladonia-Eucla-Streaky Bay-Port Augusta-Adelaide-Warrnambool-Wangaratta-Sydney. We did stop more than one night in some places - particularly in the south-west corner reasoning that that area would be the hardest to get to again but the last 4 days were 750 each from memory. Looking back now I think I'd do it again - I'd actually like to do a circumnavigation . . .
I would love to meet up with you and do the GOR but I'm going to be there again two weeks after your visit - enjoy the trip!!
Here's a couple of pics to whet your appetite.
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o303/oodeano/IMG_2457.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o303/oodeano/IMG_1249.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o303/oodeano/IMG_1338.jpg

[pilbaralad]

AND BACK AGAIN ??
By the time one factors tyre wear/ servicing/ petrol and overnight stays along two dead-boring runs, why not find a cheapish, half-empty backload-truck to ship the bikes to Melb, fly after them on a cheap redeye ticket, do the footy and then go for some REAL riding fun around the twisties of the Great Divide to the East of Melbourne, before riding back West across the Nullabor?
The bikes would go to the depot of that freight mob, then could be transported by the local bike-carrier to a safety lockup (like Millers Storage where Bikes Only, the bike-transport mob stores their customers bikes). It's only a 15min tram ride from Melb CBD... and right on the Eastern Fwy, one of the main conduits into the hills.

Why climb Mt Everest, when you can get a helicopter to the top in a fraction of the time and expense and enjoy the veiw much longer!!!

I know what you are trying to say :wink: but... I lived in Vic for several years and have done most of the good roads:mrgreen: , this is about the time spent with mates and the "been there done that pub story you get to tell afterwards":roll:

[glitch_oz]

Bike transport appears (to me) to be much easier than it actually is.

The magic word is "backload". Shipping TO Perth will always have its glitches, as a hell of a lot of stuff is going TO the West, little coming back East. The reason I suggested shipping Perth-Melb, riding Melb-Perth.
To an extend, I can understand a specialized bike-transport mob changing its plans, as they depend on the key-supplier (read BMW or Suzuki with Melb HQs and warehouses) for a load of bikes going west. If one of those suppliers has a hiccup in their customs-clearance/ warehousing etc., the whole load will be delayed. And they ARE the major customer.

I've shipped a batch of bikes Melb-Bris (one of the main routes, of course) with Bikes Only a couple of times....always on time, no probs, no damage.
The advantage of a main-arterial supply route...

[glitch_oz]

this is about the time spent with mates and the "been there done that pub story you get to tell afterwards":roll:

Fair enough ! :)

[pilbaralad]

We have one confirmed rider coming from Melbourne to meet up with us in Adelaide Hills overnight then escort us into the state.

[pilbaralad]

AND BACK AGAIN ??
By the time one factors tyre wear/ servicing/ petrol and overnight stays along two dead-boring runs, why not find a cheapish, half-empty backload-truck to ship the bikes to Melb, fly after them on a cheap redeye ticket, do the footy and then go for some REAL riding fun around the twisties of the Great Divide to the East of Melbourne, before riding back West across the Nullabor?
The bikes would go to the depot of that freight mob, then could be transported by the local bike-carrier to a safety lockup (like Millers Storage where Bikes Only, the bike-transport mob stores their customers bikes). It's only a 15min tram ride from Melb CBD... and right on the Eastern Fwy, one of the main conduits into the hills.

If it makes you feel better Glitch:wink: I mentioned your post to one of the riders...he said, that would be a great idea for next year, ship the bikes to Tassie, fly to Melbourne, do the footy thing, then pick the bikes up in Tassie and ride the island! We decided we will have our next years trip planned while on this trip....just gotta think of a suitable trade off to offer the missus:mrgreen: She got Foxtel subscription as a trade for letting me do this trip:roll:

[glitch_oz]

If it makes you feel better Glitch:wink: I mentioned your post to one of the riders...he said, that would be a great idea for next year, ship the bikes to Tassie, fly to Melbourne, do the footy thing, then pick the bikes up in Tassie and ride the island!

Better ship bikes to Melb, then ferry across, otherwise they'll be handled as freight at around $200/ one way per bike.
...versus $35 as accompanied vehicle. For the difference, you can sleep in a cabin on the way across overnight.
And you can ride straight off the ferry, out of Devonport within 10 mins, rather than loosing a few hours on airport-freight depot shuttle...scouting out offices/ warehouses...checking bikes...signing paperwork etc.


....just gotta think of a suitable trade off to offer the missus:mrgreen: She got Foxtel subscription as a trade for letting me do this trip:roll:
:rolleyes: ....Big Brother subscription next? :p :p

[pilbaralad]

:rolleyes: ....Big Brother subscription next? :p :p


Don't laugh...but can you believe she does actually loves that BB crap. I bought her the BB merchandise pack off ebay last year! ...oh go on, laugh then!!!

He I think I'll start a thread on what trade off or bribes we;ve had to pay to get bikes/go on trips etc!!!!

[pilbaralad]

I'l post it on the main forum boards though for our International friends!

[pilbaralad]

Well I'm off this morning, just sitting in the lounge waiting for the sun to come up...bloody short winter days.:mad: Waiting for the sun to come up? I hear some of you ask?:confused: Well we have thousands of Cattle, Kangaroos and Emu's up this way that have a habit of holding get togethers on the highways at night! I may post the odd pic during the time away, then I'll do a proper ride report upon my return.

The Perth riders head off tomorrow and I'll meet them in Kalgoorlie.

Look to have lucked a break in the weather on the way over too:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

[oodeano]

Has anybody heard from PBL - I would have expected something by now?

[K1W1]

+1
I was thinking of posting exactly the same thing yesterday.

[Laava]

Spooky isn't it possums?:D

[pilbaralad]

Still alive and kicking.....with over 200 photos and 8700km travelled it's a daunting task to sit down and make a start on the ride report, I'm just in the middle of moving 1200kms back to Perf at present....will get crackin on the ride report in the next couple of weeks!!!!!

[oodeano]

Just happy to hear you are in one piece - it was spooky possums!!!

I bought some web space intending to make my 'reports' there for all (inc. family etc) to see and just link them to here.

It was so daunting I never quite got around to it . . .