The road to Port Sorell : Yallingup to Preston.
After spending 2 nights in Yallingup,Stephen and i departed on a wet October 31st headed for Northam.We parted company on the outskirts of Perth with Stephen heading to get tyres fitted on Scarborough rd,while i turned off and started heading east via the Rowe Hwy/Great Eastern Hwy.While i had steady rain out past Mundaring,Stephen copped a thunderstorm and torrential rain working his way through peak hour traffic to the tyre shop.We met up at our overnight accommodation - the beautiful Dukes Inn which i can't recommend highly enough.
After a great meal and a reasonable nights sleep,we headed off the next day bound for Kalgoorlie with a stop at the super pit before checking into our accommodation.
After checking in i headed off to a craft brewery for some sampling,then met Stephen back in the hotel bar for a few.We wandered back to our room after drinking responsibly (
) to find a group heading back to Perth from the previous weekend MotoGP round at Phillip Island.We had a good chat,several more adult drinks and i even got some codes on the R1200 cleared from one of the guys with a aftermarket plug and play diagnostic setup.
I awoke the next day antsy to get going so i headed off early leaving Stephen to link up with Terry on the outskirts of Kalgoorlie,meeting up with them later in the morning for breakfast in Norseman.We carried on,with rest and fuel stops at Balladonia,Caiguna and Madura before stopping at Border Village for the night making it a nice 895 km day.
We headed off the next day for an overnight stop in the lovely Streaky Bay.
After a solo fuel and painkiller stop in Penong,i headed off with a little bit of gusto.
A nice policeman coming the other way some 50km east suggested through sign language his desire for me to slow down.Compared to earlier instances heading towards Norseman from the east and north respectively,my 5km over the limit on this occasion was a ticket that would have been taken with good humour.... but alas he did not turn around so my 12 year run without a speeding ticket is intact.After a spot of seafood at the Oyster Barn with Stephen and Terry,i headed off first through Ceduna,avoiding a small bag of concrete whilst crossing the railway tracks.I should have stopped to pick it up because Terry ran over it covering Stephens bike in it.
I may have got it in time but probably not
November the 4th (Day 20) would see us depart Streaky Bay after an early breakfast,
rejoining the Eye Hwy at Poochera.By this stage my neck and shoulders were well and truly over it so i got enthusiastic with the right hand in order to put the Eyre Hwy behind me.
This of course was naive as the punishment would continue far into the late afternoon.
Terry and Stephen caught up at Port Augusta where we parted company as they headed for Waikerie for the night,while i ended up pulling the pin in Tailem Bend.
After getting off the highway after Snowtown and going through Balaklava,Mallala,Gawler and Murray Bridge,high winds and rain made the last few hours pretty ugly for a exhausting 780 km finish.
Moving on from Tailem Bend i headed on a southeasterly trajectory through Bordertown,Horsham,St Arnaud and Kyneton to finish up in Woodend on what i forgot was Melbourne Cup day.After taking 30 minutes to check in i finally got a beer and dragged all my shit through the crowd up to my room....and what a view it had !
Day 22 would see me have a short run into Preston for a much needed 3 night stay prior to boarding the Spirit of Tasmania early on a Saturday morning.
Having inspected my rear tyre on arriving at Woodend i figured i could wait until Tasmania before getting a new set. The last 100km into Melbourne changed my plans.
I spent the next few days recuperating,getting a new set of tyres and catching up with Williamson and his mates at a local Brewery the night before my day sail.
After pulling the pin after 4 hours it turns out i would be in much better shape than Mr Lamers the next day. A hilariously great night was had.Some would say it had balls.
That rounds out 24 days and roughly 10,300 km to this point.
Breweries visited on this leg was 2 taking the running total to 8.
Hopefully it won't take another 113 days to get the next installment up
