A couple of National Parks in northern NSW, Australia.

The Waterfall Way runs across the top of the Great Dividing Way from the highlands to the sea in Northern NSW

Winding past waterfalls rainforests and granite outcrops. It is a great ride.

The falls above and the two photos below is Dangar Falls, which has a beautiful swimming hole.

The Waterfall Way is nearly 190km long with waterfalls dotted along it.

Cathedral Rock NP is on the top of the range and provides lovely walking, rock climbing, and expansive views over the New England Plateau.

On the coast, the Bongil Bongil NP consists of wild Pacific Ocean shores and forest wetlands.

The sea and forest close together support spectacular bird life. Such as:

The White Bellied Sea Eagle,

Brahminy Kite, and

Pacific Reef Heron.

The wetland forest, in particular, the paperbarks are of particular beauty:

As is the ocean shore.

It’s a beautiful ride into and out of the park as well.

Ps another beautiful NP on the Waterfall Way is the New England NP. I wrote about it previously here https://piecemealadventurer.com/2023/02/12/the-sub-tropical-mountain-gondwana-land-rain-forests-on-the-great-dividing-range-of-australia-2-new-england-np/?preview=true&frame-nonce=f245e4078d&amp=1

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.

‘Bunjil shelter’ is the only known representation of Bunjil with two dingo helpers.

Ngamadjidj is another site that is accessible.

The art is generally found in rocky outcops in Gariwerd.

There are beautiful walks through the forests…

To waterfalls…

And mountain top views…

For the motorcyclist, the riding both on and off road is excillerating.

Back on the edge of the Outback -3

The beautiful dawn view from the balcony of the Brewarrina Hotel disguised the storms that were brewing.

With rising morning sun shining over my shoulder, conditions were right for an early start on the 1200km ride home.

The rest area by the Bogan River in Nyngan is the perfect stop for a roadside breakfast. The decorative post showing the height of major floods that have hit Nyngan.

Painted grain silos are a well-known feature of the North Western Victoria, in the big river country, there is a water tower art trail.

It was a nice dry 700km ride to Nerrandera and a comfy room at the Historic Star Lodge. It is a beautiful historic building with many of the original features.

And a view over the township from the balcony.

The last stop on the central plains of NSW was the small Riverena town of Urana.

The diarama of sheep, shepherd, and horse at the southern end of town is a unique piece of street art.

The picnic area on the lake is the perfect place for barrista made coffee for morning tea.

Across the Murray River, I was soon in North East Victoria, on the edge of the Australian Alps, in the cool autumn air of the King and Goulburn River Valleys.

It was an easy run home through the hills to end a little 11 day tour out to the edge of the outback.