Author Topic: Victoria and Murray "Source to Sea" (Read 4580 times)

StinkyPete · « **on:** March 16, 2020, 04:38:26 PM »

Langers and I were recently given our “Leave Passes” from the ladies, and took off on a two week ride thorugh Victoria, some of the Snowy Mountains. Our main objective was to follow the Murray River from it's source near Tom Groggin, south of Threadbo, to Goolwa SA where it empties into the Southern Ocean. On the way we stayed at Naracoorte whene we visited Struan House, an agricultural research centre where Langers had some contact in his previous life, the famous caves, and a local museum where I found photos of a school that I attended in the 1960's. We then spent a few days exploring the Grampians, The Ottways (and an OzSTOC RTE) and the Victoria Silo Trail where we bagged some Big Thing photos and I nearly got bogged, and then onto Jindabyne before kicking off our “Source to Sea” ride, planned to be as close as we could get to the river on the black top (minus a few kilometers after couple of GPS “challenges”)

Our Route

Struan House

My house at Frances (now demoilished)

Boroka Lookout above Halls Gap

Red Rock Lookout

Fire deveastation in the Snowy Mountains

View from out cabin in Jindabyne

Langers at Charlotte Pass, the highest paved road in Oz

Me with the Big Moutain behind me

The beautiful Wild Brumby Distillery

Our lunch at the Wild Brumby

As close as we could get the start of the Murray at Tom Groggin

Mark collecting water at Tom Groggin to empty at the Mouth

Emptying the water at the mouth

Two adventurers at the end of a great two weeks

Wild Rose · « **Reply #1 on:** March 16, 2020, 05:17:51 PM »

Great read Pete
Looks like a great holiday
Thanks for sharing

Bodø · « **Reply #2 on:** March 16, 2020, 05:23:05 PM »

Awesome read. Thanks for sharing.

StinkyPete · « **Reply #3 on:** March 16, 2020, 05:26:52 PM »

As the more astute of you will notice, I can now embed photos into my text. Thanks Bodo for the advice and instructions, and teaching an old dog a new trick.

Nigel · « **Reply #4 on:** March 16, 2020, 07:29:42 PM »

Nicely done there young fella. I too have had issues with the GPS, must be a common occurrence

Really nice pics .

CallMeSteve · « **Reply #5 on:** March 16, 2020, 08:25:43 PM »

Great Read Pete. Thanks for posting.

richo · « **Reply #6 on:** March 16, 2020, 08:31:06 PM »

great read, looks like a fantastic ride

Shillas · « **Reply #7 on:** March 16, 2020, 09:22:05 PM »

Great ride, great report

denis gibson · « **Reply #8 on:** March 17, 2020, 06:36:23 AM »

Well done Pete, Thanks for sharing. Denis Diane.

StinkyPete · « **Reply #9 on:** March 17, 2020, 07:27:28 AM »

If I don't post the following pics, I know that Langers will.

Here's a couple of pics from when I almost got bogged at Brim where we pulled off the road to photograph the silo mural. The area had around 100mm of rain the night before. The back wheel went down in the mud and the bike stopped in a hole. After I managed to pull out, I lost the front on the slippery mud with a bit of a tank slapper, nearly dropped "Ghost" in the bushes before I finally got to firm ground. My grandies were impressed that I could take the Beemer 4 Wheel driving.

STroppy · « **Reply #10 on:** March 17, 2020, 11:22:31 AM »

Does Ghost have traction control? If so, did it help?

StinkyPete · « **Reply #11 on:** March 17, 2020, 12:16:04 PM »

Quote from: STroppy on March 17, 2020, 11:22:31 AM

Does Ghost have traction control? If so, did it help?

She does have traction control which I had set on "Road" mode for the dry roads, which means that it cuts in later than if set for wet conditions. However I don't believe that it activates below around 8 km/h, so it did nothing, and the episode would have been a very untidy look if it had been caught on video.

Biggles · « **Reply #12 on:** March 17, 2020, 01:29:01 PM »

It's great to string together the themed rides. Well done. The water you carried would have been very appreciative, having been saved the inconvenience of being filtered through the kidneys of every town along the Murray before eventually reaching the sea.

West Aussie Glen · « **Reply #13 on:** March 17, 2020, 05:12:26 PM »

Looks like a great rip. Hope you had a license to take that water out of the Murray.

Langers · « **Reply #14 on:** March 17, 2020, 06:14:16 PM »

Glen, it was a great trip with a fantastic travelling companion. Pete is correct, I would have chimed in with a couple of photos regards his Beemer off-road adventure however the device I have the revealing photos is not letting me download then at the moment (this is no surprise at I'm a devout Luddite).
In relation to both your and Biggles comment regards the water I only have this to say in our defence:
1. I'm pretty sure 750ml is under the amount where a licence is required, and
2. Both Pete and I sipped the water before pouring it out at the Mouth and I'm confident in saying no one has tasted water so sweet and clean, down at the Murray Mouth, that has been taken from the Murray.

Skip · « **Reply #15 on:** March 17, 2020, 06:17:56 PM »

Can't wait until retirement where I can just head off into the sunset at will. The current global panic isn't helping my cause.

Great ride review though.

StinkyPete · « **Reply #16 on:** March 18, 2020, 11:50:52 AM »

I had a "non-motorcycle" dude tell me that he thought it was a really good idea to have Weber BBQ mounted on the back of the bike.

Biggles · « **Reply #17 on:** March 18, 2020, 12:21:52 PM »

Quote from: StinkyPete on March 18, 2020, 11:50:52 AM

I had a "non-motorcycle" dude tell me that he thought it was a really good idea to have Weber BBQ mounted on the back of the bike.

Nah- they're much smaller!

Brock · « **Reply #18 on:** March 18, 2020, 12:54:29 PM »

Actually not a bad idea, The 5kg gas bottle should fit nicely in a pannier..

Langers · « **Reply #19 on:** March 19, 2020, 10:45:38 PM »

Scarlett ticked over 143,000km on the trip and continues to run smoothly with no burning of oil - the V4 is certainly a brilliant engine. The only negative I have is there must be a special place in Hell for the designer/engineer who put the centre stand under the oil filter. At least these days I've learnt and I pack old material around the area to minimise the mess.

PC · « **Reply #20 on:** March 20, 2020, 08:11:01 AM »

Quote from: Langers on March 19, 2020, 10:45:38 PM

Scarlett ticked over 143,000km on the trip and continues to run smoothly with no burning of oil - the V4 is certainly a brilliant engine. The only negative I have is there must be a special place in Hell for the designer/engineer who put the centre stand under the oil filter. At least these days I've learnt and I pack old material around the area to minimise the mess.

I have just posted a post in the 1300 how to section which may be a solution

mikep · « **Reply #21 on:** April 17, 2020, 11:18:22 PM »

Quote from: StinkyPete on March 16, 2020, 04:38:26 PM

Langers and I were recently given our “Leave Passes” from the ladies, and took off on a two week ride thorugh Victoria, some of the Snowy Mountains. Our main objective was to follow the Murray River from it's source near Tom Groggin, south of Threadbo, to Goolwa SA where it empties into the Southern Ocean.

A great trip. Did the same with the caravan a couple of years ago, but doing it on the bike would be better again. Thanks for the share, and the memories.

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Author Topic: Victoria and Murray "Source to Sea" (Read 4580 times)

Bodø