WIMA Victoria: Australia Day Weekend

Australia Day Weekend

!!NEWSFLASH!! There is now only 8 km of dirt (and reducing) on the Great Alpine Road from Bright, over Mount Hotham to Omeo. The rest of the time it's perfect snow road bitumen. This bit of information made it essential to take the long cut to Moira and Bruce's place in Bairnsdale for the weekend. It was going to take a little bit longer than the Princess Highway, but it would be one hell of a ride!

So Jack, Jazz and myself headed out of Melbourne for Bright on a stinking hot afternoon. We jumped onto the Western Ring Road and choked our way through truck fumes to Thomastown. Unfortunately, my speedo cable snapped. This wasn't a major deal but the guy at the service station gave us easy directions to the nearest bike shop so we decided to get a new one in Thomastown. Everything was going fine until we were forced into a detour by a police road block. There is nothing more likely to throw verbal directions to the wind than a detour. It seemed that every time we tried to cross the railway line there was another policeman directing us into an ever-growing traffic jam. Tempers erupted as we pulled up baking hot in full leathers at the same servo we started at. The speedo cable just wasn't worth the agro so we roared off to Whittlesea. We decided to try K&J Thomas Motorcycles in Whittlesea for the cable. What a great shop. I was expecting ride on mowers and a couple of trail bikes, but in addition to this was a whole range of shiny new road bikes to admire as well. They didn't have a Zephyr cable in stock but took the time to find an alternative cable that we could use. The conversation soon turned to our touring expedition and the quality of the roads up ahead. It wasn't long before the hassles of the day melted away and we started to feel like we really were on holidays!

We fitted the new cable in a jiffy and were soon flying through the sweepers to Flowerdale. At Mansfield we decided to explore the previously unridden stretch from Tolmie to Whitfield. The road had recently been dumped with a new load of gravel and there were great drifts of it waiting to pounce on unsuspecting riders. The bikes bounced their way through inches of the stuff, threatening to dump us every step of the way.

Next day was the highlight of the trip: a tight climb up Mount Hotham onto the alpine plains, covered in wild flowers with spectacular views of the valley. The short stretch of dirt just past Dinner Plains was smooth as a baby's bottom as we waved to all the road workers on the job. Then we were on to arguably the best bike road in Victoria, screaming through sweepers you could see all the way around on a perfect surface. We arrived exultant in Omeo, hanging out for a good coffee and critique of the day's riding.

We hung out in Omeo for a day, enjoying the excellent hospitality of the township. Bacon and eggs was interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Mick, a biking mate from Wodonga and then later Lionel with a group of riders in tow. Obviously we aren't the only bikers to appreciate the Great Alpine Road.

It was another 100 km of perfect bike roads to Moira and Bruce's place. We had conveniently left Moira's mud map on the fridge at home, so we cruised along the ridge hoping to stumble over them. Luckily we heard Moira dragging Cyd away from a black snake or we would have missed the gate altogether. We spent the evening dining on barbecued prawns, salmon steaks and Stilton cheese before turning in for the night. At Bruce and Moira's overwhelming assurances that it never rains at their place, we left the fly off the tent to catch the cool evening breeze. At about 4.00am we awoke to the patter of rain on our heads. We lay there for awhile debating whether it would just blow over when a massive lightning and rainstorm engulfed us. We struggled out into the rain (well, Jack did!) to don the fly and grab all our gear that was spread out over the ground. What a wicked storm!

Alison arrived on Sunday morning, snug in her wet weather gear. Plans for sailing had to be abandoned so we amused ourselves with building an exhaust for Bruce's BSA and with walks in the bush. The company was excellent and we all had a great time.

As usual after a holiday in Gippsland, we rode all the way back to Melbourne in the rain. Jazz was resplendent in her brightly coloured plastic bag raincoat.

Michele Olsen