Melbourne to Adelaide

As the trip starts, I load all my gears on the bike and here I go. Not sure I will need everything but I have the essential: a pair of sunnies, couple of undies and t-shirts, mini toolkit in case something happens with the bike, food and water, tent and sleeping bag. First destination, the Great Ocean Road. I personally think that this is over-rated for the scenery but the road is fantastic for a bike ride. What an amazing feeling to move on this curvy road under a sunny sky. But I picked this day carefully (Wednesday 22nd). I didn't want any of the tourists, weekenders and school holidays travelers, the road is dangerous enough without them. I was right, not many people on the road, which means I get more of it for myself.

• First stop at a Lorne campsite, where I get to meet the locals ... a bunch of 4 magnificent green/red king parrots. My best friends as long as you can provide feeding substance (almost anything will do). The night was chilly but my warm sleeping bag did the trick and I survived my first night.

• The next day was pretty much the same fun with the end of the Great Ocean road. Then I head west as far as I caqn. My goal this time is to reach Adelaide for the weekend either Fri night or Sat morning. But I am not crazy, I rest often, and get a well deserved lunch on the beach of Port Campbell for a couple of hours. Now it is time to roll on. The road is beautiful but boring (too straight). I finally arrive at Portland by 7pm on Thursday. Quick dinner at 8pm, and in bed by 9pm (this is what is happening when you camp).
• 7am, (almost) fresh and awake, a good breakkie in the stomach, then a quick shower to smell good. The bike loaded I leave Portland at 8.30am, next stop Adelaide 600km away.

I stop on the way in Mt Gambier to see the volcano crater and the sinking hole (snap, snap). Then fish and chips at beachport. Of course they only do deep fried, nice and healthy. NOT!
The rest? booooring. Just a long straight road. Oh yeah, the ferry in wellington over the murray river is fun and free. Very handy barge to cross the river. It fits 6 cars only to there isn't much activity anyway. Enough for the traffic. Then the good bit comes ... the ride around the Adelaide Hills. The road is not as good as the Great Ocean Road and a little over-crowded but still, after 600km of straight road, I am happy with anything.

Note: After a long but enjoyable ride, I finally arrive in Adelaide around 7pm-ish. The thing is, I don't know the city and definitely not my way around. But I have my map. The unexpected happened, "technical problem". At the traffic light, I get a few horn warnings ... a rider tells to look down. What do I see? Green liquid coming out of the bike. Nooooooo !! The coolant !! The fan did not kick on and the engine got too hot. Stopped on the side of the road, after basic checks, there is no more coolant in the bike, I have to add water and wait for the engine to cool down a bit. The irony is that I was only 2-3 kms away, but luckily it didn't happen in the middle of nowhere. The bike is currently at a garage in Adelaide for fixing and checkup. Nothing bad, but I don't want this to happen again.

For more pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=60153&l=ddafa&id=669456775

A fridge that doesn't want to go

A few days before I go from my house, I managed to sell a few items on eBay such as a mattress, a microwave, old PS2, ... But the only thing left: ze fridge!
My neighbours didn't need a fridge as they already had one and even though they were interested, they were short of money. D day is there and the fridge is still in da house. Damn it!
Not losing control, I head to the white goods shop ... they don't want it because it is not under warranty anymore (it is damn newer than any shit they have).
Then I go to cash converter on high st (50m away from my house) ... they don't take fridges, only mini bar fridge. Grrrrrrr !!! ok ok , Nico calm down.
Another alternative is the estate agent. Hopefully the next tenant needs a fridge ... nope they don't.
Ok, the guy from cash converter told me earlier that the shop in Preston (2km away) accepts white goods. Good! Finally there, they confirm that. Excellent! But they don't have a truck, and I should bring it to the shop. The problem is that I don't have a car. Fortunately, Gabrielle's colleague has a station wagon. We load the fridge, head to the shop, agree on a price, DEAL ! $200 ! Not much for that fridge, but I just wanted to get rid of it. Now the house is empty I can start the motorbike trip.

Melbourne Moto GP at Phillip Island

The weekend didn't start that well with a ride from Melbourne to Phillip Island (140km away) on a cold night with rain and wind. We head off with Chan at 6.30pm with all the outbound traffic of a Friday night. But luckily for us a nice and warm house was waiting for us only 20 minutes walk to the moto GP track, where we met Ben and Jewlz's friends who rode down from Sydney (1000km in 2 days). By 10am on Saturday, the sun is already high and everyone agrees that we should head to the track to see the qualif'. On the way, we are picked up by a van which happens to be a rider from the 250cc group (7th on the ladder). Unfortunately, we didn't get free tickets from these guys :-P next time ...

At the Honda stand, Yannick is really enjoying is time here. Sunday was even nicer and warmer than the previous day, no cloud no wind on the radar .... stuning!






For all the pics of the GP weekend, check my facebook link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57140&l=2826d&id=669456775