A New Year, a new adventure – A new bike – OMG

Well after a 2020 full of upheaval and Australia acting as a island of refuge and safety in this strange covid 19 world it was time to take a change of direction.

Have no fear readers and followers the mighty Breva has not been cast onto the scrapheap of motorcycle blogisms

With over 180,000 Km on the clock at is time for the mighty Moto Guzzi Breva to get some TLC

So its place is on the work table in the shed at the moment

It is time to explore central Australia and the mighty Breva was not the bike for this trip

It was over 40 years ago that I rode a Norton Commando Interstate around Australia

Highway 1 – the main highway around Australia- in those days included around 2,000 km of dirt road up in the north of Western Australia and near the border of Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

Heading south from Darwin the Highway turns east and Tennant Creek heading to the east coast and avoiding Australia’s red centre

In 2014 I took the mighty Breva to the Flinders Ranges in South Australia but the red centre still evades me

Its time to remedy this and the I’ve chosen a BMW F800GSA to do it

The aim is to head off from Melbourne in early March and head up through South Australia to the Flinders Ranges and along the Oodnadatta Track to Alice Springs and Uluru

The next 7 weeks will be about setting the bike up for the trip

And honing up my off road skills.

So stand by friends and followers the next adventure is Australia’s Red Centre

The Bunya Mountains and environs – SE Queensland

The Bunya Pine is an ancient tree, a living fossil from the age of the dinosaurs

These magnificent trees are very rare and found in only a couple areas of Queensland.

The Bunya Mountains lay west of Brisbane, the capital city Queensland

In an area called the Scenic Rim

The road to the Bunya Mountains takes you through the Somerset Region

An area with an interesting history and some great riding roads.

The historic town of Marburg has some very beautifully restore light timber framed buildings typical of Queenland early construction

The hotel is beautiful, well restored good food and a cold beer.

There is the old seminary which is now a winery, reception centre and accommodation is another insight into the early days of local European settlement

The Bunya Pine in the seminary grounds a reminder that this is the right track to the Bunya mountains

Coomba Waterhole is virtually at the base of Bunya Mountain a nice stop off .

The area had recently been burnt in bushfires and the fire tolerant Balga Grass Trees were flourishing as part of the regeneration.

The Bunya Mountain was declared a National Park in 1901 and there are beautiful walks through the forest

The Bunya pines grow higher than the forest canopy, which is mainly eucalypts. These eucalypts grow to about 45 metres high buy Bunya Pines of over 60 metres have been recorded

When you look across to the forest from the mountain lookout. You can see the Bunya Pines sticking their prehistoric heads out above the forest canopy.

Bunya Mountain is a rare and beautiful place to visit

The Motorcycle as Art

The motorcycle has been used as a symbol in many ways;

the rebel,

the outlaw

the philosopher

The revolutionary

the freedom seeeker

the speed freak racer

the dare devil

and many more archetypes

The book Sons of Thunder in its anthology of writing covers many of these

To a rider their bike is a work of art

But as a public artform curated in an Art Gallery

This was special

The beautiful old Moto Guzzis took my eye

as the the Norton Commando and Laverda Joto-bikes I once owned

There were bikes so stylish

And bikes record breakingly fast

There were the off road bikes

And the electric bikes of the future

And my favourite – amazing hand built Britten

Still amongst the most innovative and eye catching bikes ever built

So if you love the image of motorbikes, the art of motorbikes and you are in Australia, head to the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane

whoops I nearly forgot the helmets

and if you go don’t forget to buy a tshirt!

Into Queensland

The Pacific Highway is the most direct route from Yamba up into Queensland.

But motorways are busy and with the weather predicted to hit 40c to hot and exposed on a motorbike

So I chose a route inland which took me through the cool of the mountains

Along some twisty byways

I started early to miss the heat

At Lawrence the ferry was waiting

In the morning light

to take me across the Clarence river.

Soon I was on the Summerland Way

Through Casino and Kyogle and on the Lions Road that leads into the Border Ranges

The Border Loop lookout providing the perfect stop for a coffee stop and a mid morning snack in the cool of a bit of altitude.

It was a hot ride onto my destination west of Brisbane so I hustled along into Queensland

Is Yamba the most iconic beachside town in Australia?

Yamba sits where the Clarence River meets the Pacific Ocean

The rolling white surf of the ocean

Crashing into the salt water pool at high tide

These pools are such iconic scenes of beaches on the norther NSW coast

Where you can swim in the ocean water that in Spring is a warm 22c

Looking back to land from the waters edge

The white sand and the matching cream coloured Surf Lifesaving Pavilion lead your eyes to the Pacific hotel

The perfect place for a cold beer and a meal on a summers day.

The smooth water of the moorings in the Clarence River are such a contrast to the pounding white surf of the ocean just the other side of the headland