London’s Cathedral of Motorbikes

The Ace Cafe is the true Cathederal of Motorcycles. Founded in 1938 its been the go to place for motorbikes through many iterations of the art of motorcycling.

On a fine Sunday, all those iterations can be seen in Ace’s car park. Custom bikes, lovingly restored classics, and the latest models are all there.

It’s a place where you can get a good feed, a pint, or a cup of tea and wander around the bikes and chat with other bikers.

And modern bikes, maybe even a bargain.

For a biker visiting London the Ace Cafe is a Pilgrimage

Back in the UK and Europe

Dear friends and followers,

It’s hard to believe I left Australia over a month ago, and have been travelling around the UK and Ireland.

I’m back in London staying with my sister, so it’s time to get my blog up to date.

Mmm, I think I may be becoming a lazy social media content creator (is that the right term) since creating an Instagram account. (@piecemealadventurer)

London does have its own beauty, as the view from the balcony at the Tate Modern shows

Over the years, I’ve come to appreciate what a great art city London is. Melbourne, my hometown is no slouch, but the breadth of art in London makes one feel spoilt.

There is the public art around the streets:

In London, suburbs like Ealing there are wonderful galleries doing exhibitions such as Grayson Perry’s tapestries.

Or The Expressionists at Tate Modern:

And the work of the Barbadian, Taveres Strachan at the Heyward Gallery;

Above the arts precinct, there was the sign

And on a hot day every young person was at home with art.

The Winter Solstice, Celebrations by Port Phillip, and on bikes in the Yarra Ranges.

The Strawberry Full Moon hung high in the sky, overlooking the Solstice Celebrations.

The sky sure had a wintery feel, looking across Port Phillip to the City of Melbourne.

But in the old ship building shed us locals celebrated the coming of winter.

On the Sunday, my motorbike club, the Moto Guzzi Club of Victoria, conducted its winter breakfast in the Yarra Ranges.

I rolled the mighty Breva out of the shed in the morning twighlight on a cold, clear winter morning.

I was riding through the city as the sun rose and three hot air balloons drifted overhead.

The BBQ was already under way as I arrived at the Badgers Creek Weir picnic ground.

A small group of local residents are waiting for to share.

While the BBQ was attractive with the temperature of 2c, the pot of soup was where I headed.

The best thing was that for the motorbikes built on the shores of Lake Como in the Italian Alps, the temperature was perfect, and all the bikes ran perfectly.

After a huge breakfast of minestrone soup and eggs and bacon, I needed a bit of a walk in the bush up to Badger Wier.

As winter settles in, it’s only two weeks till I head to the Northern Hemisphere for my next European Adventure.

Winter on the South West Coast of Victoria

Winter on the Great Ocean Road and in the Otway National Park is a time of quietness and subtle light.

The summer crowds have gone and it’s easy to quietly enjoy the place’s beauty.

The wind had been up for a couple of days. It was still, though, as I road down the ocean road, allowing a perfect curl on the waves at Apollo Bay.

Further west at Port Campbell, the wild sea gave an alternative view of the famous Twelve Apostles.

White water surrounding the sand stone monoloiths, crashing against then.

In winter, in the continuous mountain mist on the Otway Ranges, the rain forest has its winter beauty on display.

One of my favourite places in the Otway Ranges is Lake Elizabeth and its surrounding rainforest.

Though winter is cold and wet, in Australian way, the riding through the rainforest on empty roads is especially rewarding.

The cool climate rainforests of Victoria have a very special charm.

But in winter on the south coast of Australia, in the Southern Ocean, there is often a storm brewing out at sea.

A visit to Gariwerd ( The Grampians)

Gariwerd, in Victoria, is the southwestern tip of the Great Dividing Range that runs 3,500 km up the east coast of Australia.

Its a beautiful place for riding the back roads, walking in beautiful bushland, and taking in the views from mountain top lookouts.

Geriward is also a place of significance for Australian Aboriginals. There are over 200 sites of Aboriginal Rock art in Gariwerd. It has the largest number of rock art sites in southern Australia.

Gariwerd can be translated as meaning Mountains created by Bunjil. Bunjil is part of the Aboriginal creation story.

I visited a couple of sites on this trip.