Leave Vincentia at 11.30am for Nowra then onto Sydney and Home to complete the whole ride and park the bike.
Arrive at Kurnell at 3.30pm approx and unpack and relax.
There will be a final entry in this blog soon when I have had a bit of time to think and try and put the right words down to explain how good the ride and group we went with really performed.
Thanks to all who have followed the blog and by now you all know that I am no wordsmith but have tried to give anybody interested an insight into how the days have gone.
Thanks to all who have looked at the blog over the 5 weeks.
The Around Australia Ride Group raised in excess of $310,000 dollars for the Steven Walter Foundation,
this money is for Children's Cancer Research.
The final entry will be soon thanks again.
John Scott
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Day37 - Sunday 7/11/10 - Weather, Clear and fine all day 19 degrees
Laurie and I leave Thredbo at 8.30am and head for Sydney travelling through Queanbeyan and onto Bungendore and Braidwood down the Kings Highway to Batemans Bay. The first stop is at Bungendore for lunch then onto the coast for Laurie to ride all the way home. I am stopping at Vincentia where I am meeting Tracey My wife, and Sarah my daughter for an overnight stop and catch up at a friends weekend house.
Total klm's 15,097
Total klm's 15,097
Day36 - Saturday 6/11/10 - Weather, Fine to start 9 deg then rain later
The ride around Australia has officially finished, this is the start of the normal Snowy Ride we do most years to raise money for the Steven Walter Foundation, this year Dot, Steve's Wife and Laurie a friend have come down to meet us and enjoy the weekend.
Laurie and I decide to ride up to Charlotte's Pass and have a look at the good roads and conditions for riding in the area, when we arrive at Charlotte's Pass Laurie tells me its his first time actually seeing snow and being in it, the temperature is -3 degrees out of the wind and well below this while we are riding, this seems funny to me because while we were on the ride around Australia when we passed the turn off to Marble Bar the temperature was recorded at 42 degrees and here we are at Charlotte's Pass and the temperature is now -3 degrees.
We have booked a test ride on two new Honda's back at Thredbo and leave quickly to get back to Thredbo, the test was good for both of us, Laurie rode the new Honda 1000 sports bike and I rode the new 1300 Cruiser.
The afternoon saw the weather change to showers and the official part of the day was washed out so we had dinner at the local pub and then an early night.
Total Klm's 14, 635
Laurie and I decide to ride up to Charlotte's Pass and have a look at the good roads and conditions for riding in the area, when we arrive at Charlotte's Pass Laurie tells me its his first time actually seeing snow and being in it, the temperature is -3 degrees out of the wind and well below this while we are riding, this seems funny to me because while we were on the ride around Australia when we passed the turn off to Marble Bar the temperature was recorded at 42 degrees and here we are at Charlotte's Pass and the temperature is now -3 degrees.
We have booked a test ride on two new Honda's back at Thredbo and leave quickly to get back to Thredbo, the test was good for both of us, Laurie rode the new Honda 1000 sports bike and I rode the new 1300 Cruiser.
The afternoon saw the weather change to showers and the official part of the day was washed out so we had dinner at the local pub and then an early night.
Total Klm's 14, 635
Day35 - Friday 5/11/10 - Weather, Cloudy then clearing to fine 18 deg
We leave Lakes Entrance after breakfast at about 7.30am and head for Orbost and onto Cann River for fuel, here we cross the Victorian border and head for Bombala where we are supposed to stop and have morning tea, on arriving we have a cup of coffee and fins out the Police are going to meet us in Nimitabel and give us an escort into Cooma.
When we get into Cooma we find out the whole main street has been blocked off and we have been dedicated an area in front of the park for us to park and be met by the local Mayor who said a few words and tried hard to talk individually to most of us, the people along the main street as we came in all cheered and blew their horns in their cars making the group feel very welcome, most at this stage said how emotional they had started to feel.
The police came back and led us all the way into Thredbo where we also had an area set out to park, then up onto the BBQ area for a Sausage sandwich and beer preparing for the kids from the Children's Hospital who have survived Cancer to give us an unexpected medal for completing the ride, if we thought the group was emotional before this, most were having trouble containing their emotions.
Total Klm's 14,492
When we get into Cooma we find out the whole main street has been blocked off and we have been dedicated an area in front of the park for us to park and be met by the local Mayor who said a few words and tried hard to talk individually to most of us, the people along the main street as we came in all cheered and blew their horns in their cars making the group feel very welcome, most at this stage said how emotional they had started to feel.
The police came back and led us all the way into Thredbo where we also had an area set out to park, then up onto the BBQ area for a Sausage sandwich and beer preparing for the kids from the Children's Hospital who have survived Cancer to give us an unexpected medal for completing the ride, if we thought the group was emotional before this, most were having trouble containing their emotions.
Total Klm's 14,492
Day34 - Thursday 4/11/10 - Weather, Cloudy clearing then showers, 16 deg
We left Lorne and finished the Great Ocean road off then headed for Melbourne, we were not sure of the right way to go to avoid the freeways so Albert led us around the outskirts and onto Trafalgar where one of the riders has a sponsor with a takeaway business so we all went there for Lunch.
All the way along the great Ocean Road I have been looking for whales but have not seen one, not even a dolphin? must be the wrong time of the year because everyone tells me this is the place to see whales?
Then we headed for Lakes Entrance which is the last time this group will have a meal together,we all agreed it should be fancy dress, it helps when Karen being a good sport went to the local Op Shop and bought some ties for us to wear.
The accommodation at Lakes Entrance is really good, the Bellevue on the Lakes has outstanding rooms and the dinner is really good as well.
Total Klm's 14,089
All the way along the great Ocean Road I have been looking for whales but have not seen one, not even a dolphin? must be the wrong time of the year because everyone tells me this is the place to see whales?
Then we headed for Lakes Entrance which is the last time this group will have a meal together,we all agreed it should be fancy dress, it helps when Karen being a good sport went to the local Op Shop and bought some ties for us to wear.
The accommodation at Lakes Entrance is really good, the Bellevue on the Lakes has outstanding rooms and the dinner is really good as well.
Total Klm's 14,089
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Day33 - Wednesday 3/11/10 - Weather, Rain clearing 15 to 18 degrees.
We left Mont Gambier at 7.30am and headed for Lorne for the night, during this section of the trip fuel and stops are no problem which is different to many of the places and areas we have just come from.
We travelled through rain and into clearing weather, this was very welcomed by the group as most have been really looking forward to riding along the Great Ocean road to Lorne.
The stops are great and the scenery is some of the best seen on the trip so its hard to decide which stops you miss out on, but there was no way we could stop at every one.
The road is in average condition and we found it still wet from the morning showers so we had to slow the travel down a bit which is not what motorcycle riders want to do but we all arrived in Lorne without any problems, probably better luck than management.
The accommodation here at the Lorne Beachfront accommodation is really good, the bikes are under cover and the rooms are great with views over the beach.
We ate at the local pub, again most of the group had a social drink and started to exchange details as we only have one more night before we get into Thredbo on Friday.
The Police will meet us at Nimitabel and escort us through the main street of Cooma all the way to Thredbo for a lunch then our final dinner and the normal Snowy ride starts.
We have been told that we have raised over $300,000 dollars since starting the ride around Australia and we expect this figure to grow, a couple of the riders have agreed to have their beards shaved off after 30 years of having them if we can raise $10,000 dollars for the foundation, at this stage we have raised $8,000 dollars towards this event already and expect that on the Saturday at Thredbo we will be able to maybe double it.
We arrived in Lorne today at about 4.30pm, although we had only 400 klm's to do it was all the stops that took the time, who cares it will be a while before we are back this way again.
Total klm's 13,656
We travelled through rain and into clearing weather, this was very welcomed by the group as most have been really looking forward to riding along the Great Ocean road to Lorne.
The stops are great and the scenery is some of the best seen on the trip so its hard to decide which stops you miss out on, but there was no way we could stop at every one.
The road is in average condition and we found it still wet from the morning showers so we had to slow the travel down a bit which is not what motorcycle riders want to do but we all arrived in Lorne without any problems, probably better luck than management.
The accommodation here at the Lorne Beachfront accommodation is really good, the bikes are under cover and the rooms are great with views over the beach.
We ate at the local pub, again most of the group had a social drink and started to exchange details as we only have one more night before we get into Thredbo on Friday.
The Police will meet us at Nimitabel and escort us through the main street of Cooma all the way to Thredbo for a lunch then our final dinner and the normal Snowy ride starts.
We have been told that we have raised over $300,000 dollars since starting the ride around Australia and we expect this figure to grow, a couple of the riders have agreed to have their beards shaved off after 30 years of having them if we can raise $10,000 dollars for the foundation, at this stage we have raised $8,000 dollars towards this event already and expect that on the Saturday at Thredbo we will be able to maybe double it.
We arrived in Lorne today at about 4.30pm, although we had only 400 klm's to do it was all the stops that took the time, who cares it will be a while before we are back this way again.
Total klm's 13,656
Day 32 - Tuesday 2/11/10 - Weather Rain and 15 clearing to 19
We left Lyndoch Hill at 6.30am and this was the first place to offer us to have a continental breakfast in our rooms to allow us to leave whenever we wanted.
This was a good move because some want to leave really early even when we have short days, the likes of Big Jim who knows no other hours, but the ones before daylight to start a day have the chance to catch up on a meal before leaving.
The weather was cloudy and started to rain before we left the Lyndoch Hill retreat, this no longer worries any of us as we have all gotten very used to heavy rain, during the day the rain cleared and the sun was a welcome sight.
We decided to leave the main highway and take the scenic route along the coast which we found a non event as most of the stops were not too exciting except for Beachport which was a really nice little town.
When we got to Mount Gambier at around 2.30pm we were told the Melbourne cup had already been run and the winner was announced, the time differences that we have been facing while changing states has confused more than one of the group.
Before booking in we decided to have a look at the local sights, the blue lake and the surrounding gardens were great, then back to the Quality Inn International and got our rooms organised.
I decided to use this as my last washing stop before Thredbo, so straight to the laundry only to find one washing machine and dryer for the whole complex, the dryer was just about useless so the next best thing was to take the wet washing back to my room and set the air conditioner to full, set up the clothes line and by morning all was dry.
The meal at the dining room here was good and so was breakfast the next morning, some of the group didn't look too good the next morning which may have been due to a little bit too much socialising the night before??
Total Klm's 13,206
This was a good move because some want to leave really early even when we have short days, the likes of Big Jim who knows no other hours, but the ones before daylight to start a day have the chance to catch up on a meal before leaving.
The weather was cloudy and started to rain before we left the Lyndoch Hill retreat, this no longer worries any of us as we have all gotten very used to heavy rain, during the day the rain cleared and the sun was a welcome sight.
We decided to leave the main highway and take the scenic route along the coast which we found a non event as most of the stops were not too exciting except for Beachport which was a really nice little town.
When we got to Mount Gambier at around 2.30pm we were told the Melbourne cup had already been run and the winner was announced, the time differences that we have been facing while changing states has confused more than one of the group.
Before booking in we decided to have a look at the local sights, the blue lake and the surrounding gardens were great, then back to the Quality Inn International and got our rooms organised.
I decided to use this as my last washing stop before Thredbo, so straight to the laundry only to find one washing machine and dryer for the whole complex, the dryer was just about useless so the next best thing was to take the wet washing back to my room and set the air conditioner to full, set up the clothes line and by morning all was dry.
The meal at the dining room here was good and so was breakfast the next morning, some of the group didn't look too good the next morning which may have been due to a little bit too much socialising the night before??
Total Klm's 13,206
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