Its a Southern Hemisphere October but doesn’t feel like Spring

Its been a wet spring in Australia with floods right across the country. Even parts of Australia that is normally desert is in flood.

In the little part of the country that I call home, Melbourne, has had its fair share of rain and at one of the local fields the new sport bicycle water skiing has been invented. And a fun sport for the family as we can see.

But for me my cycle trail is often blocked at the causeway at Koroit Creek Estuary which floods at high tide.

One of the quaint aspects of this little part of Melbourne is the little fishing villages up the little inlets.

There are breaks in the rain and that is an opportunity of enjoying the aspects of beauty of my part of Port Philip.

I hope you enjoy this little aspects as well.

Back Home in Melbourne, Australia

Back in Melbourne and the adventure riding gear all in the wash soaking out months of sweat and grime it was time to adopt a change of style from Adventure biker to Urban biker and head into Melbourne’s palace of food Victoria Market.

Its strange the things I was looking forward to doing when getting back home. I bet shopping and cooking wasn’t what came to the top of mind!

After 6 months of cooking on a single burner camp stove and eating in cafes there is a certain joy to being back in a fully equipped kitchen and cook some of my favourite meals.

Mmm stuffed peppers with sauteed potatoes and fish curry !

But the itch in my feet never really goes away and I had missed the Australian bush a lot while traveling in the Northern Hemisphere.

There have been lots of rain and floods on the east coast of Australia. So on the first fine day I headed to the Otway ranges for a day trip…

to take a walk in the temperate rain forest and…

to check the flow in a couple of the waterfalls.

After many 6 months of riding a motorbike the old legs needed some TLC so it was back on the bicycle to get the old hip and leg joints moving.

Spring is in the air and despite the rain the weather is mild. And already people are venturing out onto the local beach.

Agh the joy of traveling from Autumn to Spring with another summer around the corner.

Nice to be back home in Melbourne, Australia!!

Lovely rides north of London

It’s hard to believe that my nearly 6 month northern hemisphere adventure is coming to and end. I arrived in budding april days of spring and leaving in the October autumn. Flying south back to Melbourne in a few days.

I have been back in England for a couple of weeks and indulging in some local rides. In the UK there are places designated as Areas of Natural Beauty and these are where I head.

The Cotswolds is one such place with rolling hills and farmland and villages built from the local stone dotted through the land scape.

A little further north of the Cotswolds are the Shropshire Hills . Close to the Welsh border and the Severn River Valley it’s the entree rides around the hills of the Midlands and their network of canals.

East of London there are villages such as Thaxted with its beautiful old buildings.

And if you are lucky you may see a Master Tthatcher at work rethatching a roof.

Maldon on the east coast is home to the fleet of Thames Sailing Barges. Beautiful little ships that carried cargo along the east coast of England for over a century and a half.

The sailor in me marvels at the skill of the sailors of these Barges who sailed them loaded with cargo up and down streams and inlets with 5 metre tides flowing quickly. The true sailors skill.

The mighty breva is off getting serviced ready for storage as I prepare to head back to Australia. Master mechanic and friend Badrick has given me his Moto Guzzi 1200 sport to ride as he works on the Breva. That’s what guzzista do.

Heading to Spain and Morocco

It’s a calm crossing from Portsmouth around Brittany and across the Bay of Biscay to Santander in Spain.

Phase 2 of the long haul of flying from Melbourne to London (phase 1) to collect my Moto Guzzi Breva 1100 and ride to Morocco.

Stopped for a pint at the Ship and Castle next to the ferry terminal before joining the queue to board. There were plenty of bikes doing the crossing but only one Moto Guzzi.

My sister lives in London and it was wonderful to spend some time with her before embarking on this adventure.

Visiting the lovely little Lyric Theatre in Hanger Lane to see a play.

And heading to the south of England to go walking along the Avon River

And in the New Forrest

Next stop Spain!

An interlude in Victoria’s temperate rainforest.

Friends and followers its a while since I last posted. At that time I foreshadowed further tales of my forebears pioneering times in Western Australia

But the truth is that 8 months of travel on a motorbike much of it sleeping in a tent left me tired and a case of still itchy feet complicated my enthusiasm to write

The only remedy was getting back out into nature.

To the east of Melbourne the Grand Ridge Road is a winding 132 km ride across the the Strzelecki Ranges and a mix of sealed and unsealed road.

The road runs through rich farming land, old growth temperate rain forest and sadly, old forests that have been destroyed by clear felling.

At the eastern end, the road winds down into Yarram through the Tarra Bulga National Park

Here are some views of this beautiful forest.

Coming down of the mountains the forest is dryer and the wild flowers abound.

To the West of Melbourne is the Great Ocean Road and the Otway Ranges – a favourite haunt I have written of often.

But even on a day trip to a well known area there are new places to find and the waterfalls were at their best after the spring rains

The swimming hole at She oak falls was too inviting to resist

Unfortunately I got to Stevenson Falls late in the day and as it was too late for a dip on a day trip

But I had been enjoyed my time having a beer and a swim at Wye River.

A stop off at the beautiful harbour at the coastal village of Apollo Bay

The perfect end to any day trip is of course- A beautiful sunset.

Now I’ve had a little interlude, a couple of day trips and the batteries are starting to feel recharged I will get back to my families pioneering tale. After you are warned at the start of my blog it is a discontinuous narrative!!!