Jonnie is out bushwaking?
Saturday 29 June 2013
Friday 28 June 2013
Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
From the desert to the tropics! It was very warm in Darwin, sun shining. We stayed in a backpacker's hostel. We found out that we are not the young hippies we used to be. It was a clean, basic room (that means just a bed, no TV and a shared bath) and it was air conditioned for $80! Prices at the end of the road are always more.
Going up the Stuart Highway to Darwin
We left Ayers Rock on June 12, 2013 and headed to Alice Springs (population 27,480).
A view of Alice from the top of Anzac Memorial Hill
Sunday 16 June 2013
New South Wales photos, a little out of sequence!
You just can not get away from McDonald's. They are quite nice with coffee shops with lovely pastries, but they are still McD's! I believe this one is in Grafton
Thursday 13 June 2013
Headed back to the Outback
After spending two nights is Sydney we started our trek to the outback. Sydney was a beautiful city but still a big city and we do prefer smaller towns and locations out in the wide open spaces. So we are headed to the Outback.
A tribute to to the dog from a 19th century bush ballad. A tucker box is a bushman's lunch or grub box. This dog is protecting his masters tucker box.
Wednesday 29 May 2013
Sydney Opera House
It is hard to believe that two Wyoming hicks would be attending a function at the famous Sydney Opera House! Well, we did!
We arrived in Sydney on Monday May 27, 2013. It was a cool, cloudy ride from Bathurst. We found a hotel on Hotwire about 2 KM's from the opera house so we figured out how to use the train to go down to the harbor and checked out the area. Once we got off the train the skies opened up and poured rain on us. "Should we buy an umbrella?" someone asked. "No, we do not need one" someone else replied. We both looked like drowned rats, then we bought an umbrella.
We arrived in Sydney on Monday May 27, 2013. It was a cool, cloudy ride from Bathurst. We found a hotel on Hotwire about 2 KM's from the opera house so we figured out how to use the train to go down to the harbor and checked out the area. Once we got off the train the skies opened up and poured rain on us. "Should we buy an umbrella?" someone asked. "No, we do not need one" someone else replied. We both looked like drowned rats, then we bought an umbrella.
Bridge from the harbor.
Sunday 26 May 2013
Saturday 18 May 2013
Outback
We left Brisbane on May 6, 2013. We headed north to Rockhampton which runs along the eastern edge of Queensland. The scenery was beautiful with lots of greenery and trees. The roads were two lane highway in good condition. At Rockhampton Carl stopped and said "I am tired of looking at all these trees, lets go inland." So we turned west and the country opened up. It reminds me of eastern Montana and Wyoming, the trees and animals are different.
Carl is liking the Outback!
We got hung up in Longreach, had planned on staying there 2 nights so that we could check out the Qantas Founders Museum and the Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame and Outback Heritage Centre and ended up staying there for 3 nights. The hotel owner, Roly, took us for a tour of the town (approximately 3700 people) one afternoon.
The first morning we were in Longreach, we went to the Saddle shop because the engineer who designed the seats for those VStroms must be saddistic animals. Needless to say our bums were sore and could only do about 100KM's before we were skirming and needing to get off the bikes. The folks at the saddle shop, Phil and Jayne, were a great help.
Between the 4 of us we came up with a plan to use a gel pad and top it off with some good Australian sheep skin. Phil sewed some velcro straps on to the sheep skin to hold it in place. Well, the results were better, we can now go about 200KM's before we are howling in pain.
Jonnie and Jayne at the saddlery shop
Phil
The Stockman's Hall of Fame had many exhibits detailing the settlement of Australia, the pioneers, the outback properties, stock workers and a display of the Royal Flying Doctor Service. This is a wagon of display that hauled the wool.
Carl at the Qantas Founders Museum in Longreach
The road into the Outback are narrow, 2 lane roads and have these huge road trains on them. The truck drivers do not hesitate to make sure you know they are King of the Road. They get right on your hiney and follow very closely and that "bull bar" in your rear view mirror looks enormous. They are pulling 3 heavily loaded trailers.
After leaving Longreach we went to Winton and toured the Waltzing Matilda Centre. There were a surprising number of exhibits there devoted to the song.
White Mountains National Park
Not quite as high as the mountains in Wyoming.
Tuesday 7 May 2013
May 3, 2013
May 3-5, 2013
We are here in Brisbane.
The flight from LA was about 14 hours.
Jonnie was able to sleep but Carl watched movies until about 4AM. We left LA at midnight on April 30 and
arrived in Brisbane and 7AM on May 1.
Crossing the International Date Line screws you up. I think it will be worse going home. When we got out of customs and immigration
there stood Cam and Kath with big smiles and hugs. We have officially met our new good
friends. It feels like we have known
them forever.
Carl and Cam worked on the motorcycles getting them ready to ride. Carl had made wiring harnesses for the GPS mounts and plug in for heated clothing before we left home. These have been installed, new windscreens, bar backs and they are all ready to go since Cam had serviced both of them before we arrived. We got the bikes transferred into our names and the insurance taken care of. They are ready to go!
Kath and I rode in the International Women Ride Day ride. There were about 50 women riders of all kinds participating. Great day and great ride.
Saturday we went for a very nice ride, there were 8 riders, Cam, Kath, John, Clint, Charleen, Paul, Carl and I. We saw some great countryside, twisty roads
Carl and Cam worked on the motorcycles getting them ready to ride. Carl had made wiring harnesses for the GPS mounts and plug in for heated clothing before we left home. These have been installed, new windscreens, bar backs and they are all ready to go since Cam had serviced both of them before we arrived. We got the bikes transferred into our names and the insurance taken care of. They are ready to go!
Kath and I rode in the International Women Ride Day ride. There were about 50 women riders of all kinds participating. Great day and great ride.
Saturday we went for a very nice ride, there were 8 riders, Cam, Kath, John, Clint, Charleen, Paul, Carl and I. We saw some great countryside, twisty roads
We stayed with Kath and Cam Neilsen in Brisbane. Kath and Jonnie went for a ride with approximately 50 women for the International Women Ride Day. Great ride and beautiful countryside.
Glass House Mountains, outside of Brisbane
On Saturday 8 of us took a nice ride up and down mountain with nice twisty roads.
The girls that ride, Charleen, Kath and Jonnie
Cam, Clint, John, Jonnie and Carl
A famous Australian cartoonist had the pub, Ettamogan. On top of the building is a pickup truck, the walls and roof were bowed and the whole place had a sense of humor,
John Spict, escorted us from Brisbane to Gympie. We had lunch at McDonalds and went our separate ways. We are now on own to remember to stay on the left side of the road.
Cam and Kath Neilsen, our hosts in Brisbane. We try enjoyed meeting them and feel as if we have known them forever. Jonnie bought Kath's Suzuki 650 VStrom and Carl bought a 1000 VStrom from Terry, a friend of Cam's
Friday 3 May 2013
April 29, 2013
April 29, 2013
Here we sit all nervous and excited in the Billings, Montana
airport, 2 full hours before our flight.
Bags are checked, bodies are scanned, and Jonnie got the extra personal
pat down. We fly from here to Salt Lake
City to Los Angeles and finally arriving in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia on
May 1, 2013 @ 0700. One 650 Vstrom and one 1000 Vstrom wait for us there. Our
good friend Dan drove us here so we do not have to leave the vehicle for 3
months. Carl just got off the phone with Mark Reis.
Got to check in with our electronics guru before we leave.
While it is customary to give a thank you to everyone that
has helped or aided you at the end of an adventure, we feel it is important to
thank everyone that has made the journey possible, at the beginning.
Dan and Melody Bircher for watching over our business, doing
the mail and keeping the “empire” running.
Aaron Ashear is housesitting and mowing the lawn for us
these next 3 months.
Cameron and Kath Neilsen in Brisbane, sold us one
motorcycle, found us the other one, stored both bikes at their house for the
past month or more. They will pick us up
at the airport, take us to their home, help us get the bikes registered and
insured and they are planning a group ride for us so that we can get used to
riding on the wrong side of the road.
Cam insists that they drive on the right side of the road but in reality
we ride on the right, they ride on the left! He retorts that it is the
“correct” side of the road. On top of all of this he had spent time on the
phone checking into insurance for us, finding someone to do a short term policy
and passing on to us what information we need to bring with us and he serviced
the bikes.
Cliff Clevenger all around handy man that can fix or repair
anything that goes wrong at the home front while we are gone.
The IBA and LDRider for their collective knowledge and
encouragement.
Far Riders, what a great bunch of people. The bikes we will
be riding, offers of accommodations were all possible through the connections
we made through their forum.
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