Planning a spring ride in south east Australia always has its challenges. In 2022 we ended up riding in snow in the NSW high country.

Six of us left it until the last week of November and rode down to Port Fairy, where we based ourselves for two nights. We left on Monday morning and copped a bit of drizzle as we headed off over the Westgate Bridge. Dry weather kicked in well before we stopped for a cuppa break by the sea at Torquay.

Then the Great Ocean Road.

  A couple of RV drivers were annoying until we reached Lorne. After that, most drivers were great at using turn out bays properly and truly let us enjoy the ride. 

Speed limits are restrictive now, but the scenery is well worth a midweek visit. I really enjoyed riding through the farmland

north of Cape Otway which is quite a contrast after the ocean views.

We walked the beach below Gibsons Steps

and the new viewing platforms at the 12 Apostles.

We then rode on to Port Fairy and sorted our accommodation for the trip. Vaughan and I shared a converted train carriage.

The others shared conventional cabins.

All sorts of critters at the park

We walked to The Stump (Caledonian), a pub first licensed 180 years ago and enjoyed dinner.

On Tuesday morning we rode to a foggy Portland

and enjoyed breakfast which also involved a family catch up. Historical Irish history was apparent in many buildings as we rode. I kept thinking the rooves on many small houses were so low they must have been built for leprechauns – certainly not me! There were also some amazingly large and impressive churches in quite small towns.

We then rode B and C roads to Nelson

(no fish to clean!)

and on to Port MacDonnell in South Australia.  While not challenging as such, the roads through plantations and farmlands flowed well, were in good condition, basically traffic free and simply enjoyable.

  The ocean is an incredible light blue in this area and looked quite dramatic on the ride in. Then north through farmland to Mount Gambier where we confirmed

the Blue Lake really is ----blue

a second chat was enjoyed with patrons from the pub the previous night – sheer coincidence.

 We also visited the sinkhole and took advantage of the shaded gardens

to get some relief from the rising temperature.

Highway One from the border back to Portland was very bumpy and rough. Avoiding the worst patches was even hard on bikes. We threw in an extra refreshment break at Heywood to help cope with riding in the heat and humidity.   Temperatures then fell about 10 degrees.  

Tuesday night dinner was take-away Thai at our “digs” and we were joined by local Ulyssean, Holly who lives nearby.  The evening passed quickly.  At some stage during the night, I was awoken by flashing lights – mother nature was putting on quite a light show (no noise so some distance away) accompanied by heavy rain.

In the morning all was dry again.  Thoughts of “Camelot” (only rains at night) came to mind.

We enjoyed a café breakfast in Port Fairy and checked out the waterfront

before riding home. In view of the forecast, we all donned wet weather gear. It didn’t rain, but my riding shirt did get wet! More storms arrived just after we all got home.

We left the (bumpy) highway almost immediately and rode some lovely farm country past Grassmere (a visit to the hardware store, which has an incredible display of old motorbikes is definitely worthwhile) and on to Mortlake, where one of our riders had been born. While the riding wasn’t challenging,

the scenery (drystone walls and Mount Elephant are just two examples) while rolling along at 100KPH with no traffic made it a lovely ride.

We stopped at Inverleigh for refreshment and basically bid each other farewell. The rains arrived shortly after we got home.  

Ulyssean camaraderie comes in many forms.

I love our regular Melbourne Branch Sunday rides. Many branches do regular midweek rides.

A few days away with a small group is also a great way to enjoy our membership.

Do we need the latest and greatest? No! Barry and my Honda STs have done well over half a million kilometres between them.  Ian’s 650 V Strom performed flawlessly. Vaughan and John like the relative lightness of their KTM and Honda after previously owning heavier bikes.  Graham enjoys his no longer latest R1200RS.

I had a great time away – thanks for coming along fellas.  Should I mention I’m the baby of the group (the eldest is over 80) and they followed me!  😜