The overall itinerary was set. Canberra to Adelaide via the Snowy Mountains and back again. I had a week to spend on the trip although this was cut back to 6 days since I had a graduation ceremony to attend next Friday. Two days getting there, 2 days being there, and 2 days getting back.

Departure date was Saturday, 17 November 2001 for the Snowies Ride organised to raise money for Children's Cancer. Riders could collect "passport" stamps at checkpoints through the Snowy Mountains and leave then at the Jindabyne checkpoint to be in the draw for the big prize, $20,000 worth of Honda bike(s). I had until noon to collect a few stamps and drop my card at Jindabyne before heading out westward.

My bike is a 1995 Honda VFR750. It's black and beautiful with a tank cover (but no tank bag), a Ventura rack and bag, an aftermarket carbon muffler. I strapped on a tent, sleeping bag and sleeping mat with my top bag. The load was perhaps 25 to 30 kilograms carried fairly high. I was certainly aware of the load when pushing the bike around in the driveway and maneuvering at slow speeds (walking pace) but once underway I was hardly aware of it. I upped the rear preload a couple of turns but left the other suspension settings at standard. Tyre pressures were as recommended, 38psi for the front and 42psi at the rear. I had a new Michelin Macadam 010 fitted on the rear the week before I left.

Droning down the Monaro Highway to Cooma was uneventful. I met a few other bikes heading south. They were cruising at the 100kph limit. At 4500rpm this is a leisurely speed.

There were a hundred or so bikes gathered at the Cooma checkpoint, set up in conjunction with a local car and bike show. I motored on to Berridale for the second checkpoint where another hundred or so bikes were parked. There seemed to be quite a lot of Triumphs amongst the travelers and it turned out that Triumph Owners were having there own rally at Jindabyne which happened to coincide with this Snowies Ride.

A short sprint from Berridale to Dalgety was a delight. An undulating and twisting road through gently rolling hills into the village of Dalgety, nestled snugly in a river valley, a wonderful little spot hidden in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains. The sky was clear and bright with mild temperatures. I sat in the shade at the local Dalgety sports grounds enjoying a cold drink as bikes came and went from the checkpoint.

Dalgety sits on the Snowy River. When founded in around 1848 it was the only safe river crossing in that area. In 1904 it was suggested as a possible site for the national capital. Today it has perhaps 40 or 50 residents.

Another loner on an Enfield rolled in to stamp his "passport". He took off towards Jindabyne with another bunch of riders, thumping into the distance. I set out again 10 minutes later for the 20 or so kilometres to Jindabyne but never saw the Enfield again. Beautiful green countryside surrounds this stretch of road winding its way up hills and down to creek and river valleys past isolated farms.

From Jindabyne, after refueling, I set off into the mountains proper via Thredbo to Khancoban. A sign past Thredbo warned of 80 kilometres of narrow twisting road with no services, "2 hour drive". The two hours is a fairly good estimate for a leisurely tour. There is no centre line marked on the road for a considerable length of it and a lot of tight blind corners. Several times I met small groups of bikes heading in the opposite direction. It pays to be careful and keep well over to the left when cornering. The news at Khancoban was of a largely safe day's riding although an incident involving several bikes near to Khancoban served as a warning.

Khancoban is another little mountain secret set in green pastures with stands of poplars and other deciduous trees that give dramatic autumn colour. It is relatively isolated with two of the three major access roads - the southern road from Thredbo and the northern road from Adaminaby/Cabramurra - routinely closed over the winter months.

It was quite late when I left Khancoban, about 2:30pm but the road opens up heading westward out of the mountains into Victoria towards Corryong. Beautiful green pastures follow the Murray River along the mostly flat terrain. I turned northward to Tintaldra to follow the winding Murray on the Victorian side all the way to Albury. Signs occasionally point left away from the river suggesting this as the preferred route for travelers heading for Albury as if this scenic drive to the same destinations was a well kept secret and road authorities are keen to keep it that way. Consequently I ignored these signs and stuck to the riverside drive. I could pick up the pace along here until the long, long bridge over Lake Hume about 15 kilometres before Albury. This bridge took me into New South Wales.

I can never find a service station when I want one. Is it stupid to expect to find a service station in the CBD? But PULP was available on the Hume highway at the northern edge of Albury. Now began the routine of every fuel stop - to wash the squashed bugs off the front of the bike and my helmet and visor. Generally 5 minutes out of town some giant bug full of yellow custard would land dead centre of my field of vision but the first 5 minutes of clear vision was luxurious. I had to turn around and head back through Albury and out the other side staying on the NSW side of the Murray toward Howlong and Corowa.

Now we're getting into some seriously flat and featureless country although there are trees. It becomes more so all the way from here to the SA border and then some… a thousand kilometres of it. I spent the night at Corowa, the birthplace of Federation.

Corowa is a larger rural town (population 5600) surrounded by properties growing wool, grain, stock and wine grapes. Painter Tom Roberts visited the area a couple of times and dashed off a few masterpieces including "Shearing the Rams" which now hangs in the National Gallery of Victoria. A major Federation conference was held at Corowa in 1893 and a Federation Museum documents these events.

I left at 7:00am the next morning planning to put in a couple of hours before breakfast at Echuca. Past Cobram a sudden but strong gust of wind caught me by surprise, blowing from the south. This side wind grew all day. It became a constant struggle to maintain a good cruising speed.

Echuca is another top spot on the River Murray and a largish country town. A great breakfast at a converted bank building that still displayed the old vault and safes embedded in the wall. A refuel of PULP should see me well on the way to Ouyen. The bike has a safe range of 300km that is quite long enough to be sitting on the lightly cushioned seat. The lambs wool seat cover helps a bit but the now consistent and strong side wind was tiring. I swear I was riding around right hand curves while still leaning the bike to the leftwards into the wind.

At Lake Boga for a refuel I asked directions for a road cutting across due west to the Sunraysia Highway. "Turn left just here," the garage proprietor advised. "The first few kilometres wind around a bit but from then on the road's OK". What she really meant was "There's two or three corners in the first few kilometres but from then on it's pretty well straight for 70 k".

I sought out a township along the Sunraysia Highway called "Speed". I doddled through at 60kph and was through to the other side in less than a minute.

From Ouyen into South Australia, Tailem Bend and on to Adelaide, was an endurance test. The road is easy with fast sweeping turns where high average speeds can be maintained. It can be an exhilarating express ride with low traffic and a good smooth surface. Crossing the Murray River at Tailem Bend I was nearly blown into the path of an oncoming semi-trailer. Air socks feature at exposed points along the highway into Adelaide and they were all standing straight out from their masts. Superfluous signs warned "Caution: high cross winds" as if I didn't know already.

Some personal business in Adelaide didn't stop me from a couple of interesting visits in the Hills to the Motor Museum at Birdwood, a must-see for any enthusiast - and a crowded little bike museum in Lobethal. The Lobethal museum displayed a 1995 Honda VFR 750 limited edition Australian release to commemorate the model's success in the Australian Superbike Championships of that time. The bike is essentially a standard road model in the livery of the Winfield Honda Superbike Team. There's a lot of speedway stuff there as well.

I had planned to return to Canberra via the south of Victoria but my reduced time meant I needed a more direct route. I still wanted to head across the bottom in an all out attempt to avoid the Hay Plains at all costs. The Hay Plains across the middle of New South Wales is a true featureless zone that goes on forever. If ever a section of country cried out for high speed ground transport then this is it. There has to be a more interesting way to cross the country. So I thought I'd go through western Victoria to Echuca again and then cut through to Wagga Wagga south of the Hay Plains. I didn't realize at the time that the countryside here is essentially more of the same, more Plains but without Hay stuck in the middle of it.

Nine am departure and 3 hours later I was at the SA border, Bordertown. I had stopped briefly at Keith in SA. Andrew Caldecott, twice winner of the Australian Safari, comes from Keith. The night before, Adelaide TV news ran a small feature on Andy and his plans to enter the world arena. I thought I'd stop by and ask some locals if he was about so I could shake his hand on a job well done and best wishes for an expanding career in off-road motorcycle endurance racing. I thought Keith was a one pub town with 5 buildings but it's a busy little country town with a small street of shops set back from the highway. So I just sat in the park and had a drink. I took the opportunity to lighten my load by dumping some unwanted junk given to me in Adelaide by well-meaning friends.

Another half hour put me at Nhill in Victoria for a terrific lunch in a little café. It seemed to be a gathering place for all the old girls around the town who met up to chat about the local bowls tournament and Darlene's wedding plans. The little public park in the centre of town was full of young mums having picnic lunches while their toddlers explored the adventure playground.

Just out of town I met a series of road-works spread over 10 kilometres or so. You cannot travel anywhere in Australia without meeting some heavy equipment ripping up roads or moving them about the place. I turned off the bike while waiting for the "all clear to proceed".

The Honda rides this sort of dirt road under repair, or "caution sidetrack", quite well although I'm typically wary of loose gravel. Up to 80kph is fine as long as you stay in the compacted wheel tracks of other vehicles.

Just near Dimboola the road turns off to Warracknabeal with a signpost announcing "Warracknabeal 38 km". This is a classic Australian road designed by a trainee with all the essential equipment, namely, a sheet of paper, a pencil and a ruler. If you want a road from Dimboola to Warracknabeal, you put a ruler between the two towns on the map and draw a straight line with your pencil. That's the plan; the engineers then build it.

Over a low rise the road stretches straight ahead to the horizon. Trees down either side meet at a distant point. Direct the bike towards that point and pull the trigger. When you reach that point, perhaps a low crest, you emerge to face another 15 km straight line to the horizon. And so it goes. 140kph is a little bouncy since the road surface is baked hard in the hot summer sun and is warped from the heat and occasional heavy truck carting grain to the silos dotted along the railway line. 120 to 130kph is a more comfortable gait.

This is the wheat belt. It's mostly flat and hot and dry but the soil is more fertile than further north and the rainfall is more reliable. Golden fields border the road behind a row of scrubby eucalypts and mallee that define the fence line.

Through Warracknabeal and on to Donald and trouble. All the little towns have a public park near their centre with a toilet block and a shady place to sit. Donald is no exception. Its park includes a fountain that is dry. A quiet rest and time to push on to Echuca for an easy half way point and a place to stop for the night. But the bike won't start. The instrument lights do not glow, the starter motor is silent, the battery dead. I guess I am lucky that this didn't happen an hour ago when I stopped at those road works in the middle of nowhere.

Luckily Donald Motorcycles is 25 metres up the road so I push the bike up there for an inspection. It's pretty clear that the voltage regulator has failed and the battery has run down to zero. It's an acknowledged weakness on the older VFRs and mine still carries the original factory part. Andy and Keith at Donald Motorcycle Service are on the case. Andy's got a contact in Geelong who knows all about cycle electrics and Hondas and can recommend a replacement but it won't be here until tomorrow. There's a cheaper fix but it's only a band aid and would have to be treated again once I got home. The more expensive but permanent replacement part can be here in the morning and I could be on the road again by 10:00am. Meanwhile book in at one of the 3 pubs in town and take it easy. It's 2 or 2:30pm.

Walking up the main street I pass the Donald Post Office across from the Donald Bank and book in at the Donald Hotel down a ways from the Donald Store. About 1700 people live at Donald, sometimes known as "Home of the Duck". Duck shooting is popular thereabouts. It might also be a cross reference to the well known Disney star of the same name.

Andy reckons on 5 hours to Wagga, that's 2 hours to Echuca and 3 from there to Wagga Wagga (so good they named it twice). Then another 2 ˝ or 3 hours to Canberra. If I'd got past Donald and reached Echuca yesterday I would have had two easy days of riding. Now I've had a short day and now a longer day ahead.

There are a few more classic straight roads out of Donald and on toward Echuca including an 80k stretch that has four bends in it. I give my right wrist a rest using the mechanical throttle lock fitted to the bike. This is fine on the flat and lets me settle into a steady fast cruise. Proximity to Echuca is signaled by more frequent sightings of dairy herds.

Another fine lunch at Echuca, a refuel, and into the long flat plains bordering on the north-western desert. Over 2 hours I might see only half a dozen other vehicles on the road apart from traffic in the occasional townships.  Deniliquin, Jerilderie, Urana, Lockhart, Wagga Wagga.

Barreling down an endless straight I see a large black object beside the road but well back towards the fence line. It could be a tree stump but it's quite tall. It could be a kangaroo although I haven't seen any on this trip and it's unlikely in the middle part of the day. The object moves but I am up to it and passed before the eagle can take to the air.

The road surface is generally uneven but good without any potholes. At one stretch the surface becomes quite smooth and wide as if it has been upgraded and resurfaced. I've only had this bike for about 5 months and have never really run it hard. I up the revs. It pulls smoothly in top gear from 6000 to 7000 to 8000 to 9000. Still 2500 in reserve before redline. I hold it at 9000rpm at an indicated 200kph. The motor is strong and smooth and the bike sits quite solidly on the road. There is no wallowing or bounce, very straight and stable. The steering is firm in my hands with no looseness or wandering. Aerodynamically the ride is reasonably comfortable even at this speed. The aerodynamics seem to work better at the higher speed and the bike punches through the air pushing it apart to drive it over and around the rider. Wind buffeting around my head and shoulders is quite tolerable and really not much more severe that at 120kph or 140kph. The 30 kilogram load on the back doesn't seem to effect the ride noticeably.

I have tested my odometer against those measured check signs that you see on freeways occasionally. Usually they run a carefully measured 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 kilometres and invite drivers to confirm the accuracy of their speedometers. After 5 kilometres the Honda odometer registers a disappointing 5.2 kilometres. This means that over 100km my speedo will register 104km that is, a measure that is 4% optimistic. So my indicated 200kph is most probably closer to a real 192.3km (120mph).

A lot of small country towns try to project an image of individuality by claiming some local feature or event that makes them special. They might have a local wetlands reserve that is worth a visit, or a pink salt lake, or some man-made feature like a giant lobster. Approaching Lockhart the sign proclaims "Lockhart: town of the verandah". "Well, that's got to be worth a look" I chuckled within my helmet. As I turn into the main street, there it was for all to see, shops and businesses stretched down both sides of the main street connected by verandahs running uninterrupted from one end to the other. I was stunned, it was quite charming to see. I had to stop and get a photograph.

Bushranger 'Mad Dog' Morgan is said to have hidden out in caves not far to the north of Lockhart. I'm astounded at the territory that some of these bushrangers covered with Ben Hall sightings reported all over the central and western New South Wales. I can't think there would be much worth stealing out at Lockhart.

I eased up in my run from Lockhart into Wagga and saw the first highway patrol vehicle I had seen all day. This run brought me out of the plains and into the foothills that run eastward up into the Great Divide. I was tempted by a bypass that promised to avoid the main centre of Wagga that is a major rural centre with a population of some 58,000. Unfortunately the road also bypassed all services and I cruised slowly into Junee with the fuel warning light glowing a steady red. No doubt PULP is available at Wagga but not at Junee so I had to make do with standard unleaded. Throughout the trip I could only refuel with PULP at major towns and cities and nowhere else.

The run from Junee to Canberra taking in Cootamundra, Harden, Binalong and Bowning to rejoin the Hume highway near Yass is a terrific touring alternative to the freeway. In reality it is no slower either. A fast car chased me along this route. Being a little suspicious I let it passed. The driver seemed to know the road and was making good progress so I followed for 20 km or so. As the road opened a little I overtook my guide and continued on my homeward way.

Having left Donald at 10:00am I hit the outskirts of Canberra at 7:00pm and was home by 7:20.

In terms of comfort the bike was certainly much better on the way back without the constant pressure of a strong wind. For long rides I wear a dirt bike "kidney" belt, not to cushion jarring or protect my kidneys but rather as a form of lower back support. This is great for preventing lower back pain and strain after a long time in the saddle but it also pays to keep a careful eye on your posture and resettle yourself if you find yourself falling into a slouch or slumping forward hunched over the tank. Certainly there is no substitute for a regular stop to walk around and stretch your legs. In fact I sometimes do a few proper stretching exercises to release muscles and joints that have been locked in a sitting position for a couple of hours.

The round trip covered about 2,500km and returned an average fuel consumption of around 47 mpg in the old money. Generally cruising around town in Canberra gives better economy. City driving in Canberra is not like city driving in any other city in Australia. There are very few traffic lights and the internal arterial road system generally flows traffic at around 80kph. In this environment the Honda returns 5.7litres per 100 km (17.7 km per litre or 50mpg.)

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