Chloe’s Tasmania Trip 2016

I hoped you liked my Wodonga ride story. Daddy and I have been back from our big Tasmania ride for quite a while now but I have been so busy having fun and telling lots of people about my adventures I have not had time to complete my little travel story blog to tell you all about it. I finally got my paws working the keyboard and have now finished writing about my latest adventure. I hope you enjoy looking at all the pictures as well as reading my story.

The trip begins

We started our latest adventure on Monday the 15^th February. I was very excited but a little bit scared. Daddy spent Sunday packing up all our stuff for the big trip to Tasmania to visit all our friends in the Ulysses that were also going to the AGM in Launceston. Daddy said there was going to be about 2500 members there but I didn’t know all their names. I would have to sniff lots of feet to find the ones I knew.

I was a little bit scared because we did things a bit differently this year. Daddy put our bike on a big truck along with my friend’s Gail, Sally, Marg, Lionel, Mark and Ross and Fran’s bikes. We then flew to Adelaide where we collected them for the rest of the trip. That way we didn’t have to ride all the way over the Nullarbor like before. Daddy said not to be scared because I am a big brave girl and it was just like when I flew to Brisbane but this time the trip would be a lot shorter. Ross and Fran are married and Fran rides on the back like me. I like Ross and Fran and they have a funny pet parrot called Fergus who talks and we have a good time when we play together. Fran’s was bit sad that Fergus could not come on the trip with us.

A nice taxi man came really early to pick daddy and me up to take us to the airport. I have a special box to go in when I fly and I have to sit in the luggage department which I think is very unfair because all my people friends get to sit in the cabin and eat food and watch movies. It’s a bit dark and noisy in cargo and I was quite lonely as I was the only doggy on the flight. I was very happy when daddy came and got me from the freight shed when we landed in Adelaide.

Kangaroo Island here we come

From the airport another taxi man took us to the caravan park where we were staying the night. I stayed with my friend Fran while daddy and the others went and picked up the bikes. On Tuesday we had a big ride to Kangaroo Island ferry port of Cape Jarvis. I wondered if I would remember the places I went too last time I was in Kangaroo Island. The boat trip was very smooth and daddy had booked the same flat to stay in that we had before at the Parndana Hotel. That’s a little town in the middle of the island. It was nice because it had a yard for me to play and lots of rooms so everyone had a comfortable bed sleep in. Sally, Marg, Gail and Lionel stayed with daddy and me while Ross and Fran stayed in the big town of Kingscote.

On Wednesday and Thursday we all explored Kangaroo Island and I saw lots more things than last time. On the Thursday we hired two cars to drive around in so we could visit lots of places that are at the end of long gravel roads. Gravel roads can be a bit dangerous, especially for motor bikes. I hope you like some of the photos my dad took on the island.

We were up very early on Friday for the girls, Lionel and daddy Ken to pack up the bikes because we were on the way back to Australia to continue our adventure. I know, Kangaroo Island is in Australia, I was only puppying. We boarded the ferry at a little town called Penneshaw and had a very smooth trip back across the water. On the ferry I got to cuddle up with Susanne, a nice lady all the way from Germany. She was on a holiday with her husband. Friday was very overcast and it was raining on and off so we were getting a bit wet as we rode from Cape Jarvis across to Victor Harbor. There is a shop there that has fish and chips that daddy said are the best but the town was really busy with lots of people so we decided to go to Goolwa for lunch.

Across the Coorong

I was hungry when we stopped in Goolwa for lunch. It had been raining quite a bit and my ears were getting wet. The wind was also very strong and made all the bikes lean over as we travelled along. I had some nice seafood chowder and some of Sally’s bolognaise to fill my tummy at the nice Hector’s on the Water restaurant near the Hindmarsh Bridge. Ross and Fran had left our group in Victor Harbor so it was just five of us now. Daddy had booked a cabin at a place called Lake Albert Caravan Park in a town called Meningie. To get there you pass through the towns of Strathalbyn and Wellington. At Wellington we had to cross the river on a funny barge that is pulled across the water on cables. Wellington is actually at the mouth of the big Murry River that comes all the way from the Snowy Mountains. I have seen lots of places on the Murry River during my rides with daddy. After Wellington we rode on towards Meningie. Daddy took a detour down to Narrung where there is another one of the cable ferries. On our Wodonga trip we met a very nice ferry lady Jill, but it was her day off. This time it was a nice ferry man. The rain had stopped but it was still very windy until we got to Meningie where we stopped for the night at a lovely park by the Lake Albert and stayed in a very small cabin. The people in the park also liked doggies. I liked the Lake Albert because there were lots of pelicans and birds to chase and nice grass to roll in.

When I woke the next day daddy and the others had packed up ready to go. We were going to ride over the Coorong today to have breakfast in Kingston SE, then see Robe, Naracoorte and Mount Gambia. Daddy Ken thought we might stop in Nelson for the night. All the bikes started up and away we went. Well nearly all the bikes, Gail’s bike had a flat battery so it wasn’t going anywhere. A man Chris helped daddy and Lionel start Gail’s bike because Chis was a mechanic and had a big battery pack. Chris has a nice wife called Debby and she liked to cuddle me lots.

We had lost quite a bit of time by now so we got to Kingston late in the morning. We hoped there may be a place in town where we could buy a new battery for Gail but unfortunately it was Saturday and motor bike batteries are a bit hard to find in little towns. In Kingston we stopped at the restaurant with the big crayfish outside. Lionel’s friends David and Francis own the restaurant and we had a yummy lunch. The cook made me some lovely chicken. David also keeps bees that make honey that he sells to the people. He calls it Humbugz Honey and he gave us two bottles for us to enjoy on our journey. Because we were now running behind time, we took a shorter route to Naracoorte and missed seeing Robe. At Naracoorte they had a big museum with lots of old farming machinery and information. Daddy took lots of photos. They even had a school room set up like they had in the olden days. We then visited some caves near the town but I am not allowed to go in so I did not see what they looked like. When we got to Mount Gambia we decided to stay the night. We thought we would have to spend Sunday morning looking for a new battery for Gail’s bike but Marg knew some friends in Mount Gambia, Jim and Hermeine, who came to visit us that night. Jim is a fellow Ulysses member and knows lots of people in town. He made a phone call and the people from SE Batteries came out at 8-00pm at night to supply a battery. My daddy calls that customer service.

Off to Victoria

It was now Sunday and after we packed we went into Mount Gambia for breakfast and had a look around. We met a nice biker couple from Portland and they brought a dementia badge from me and we met a couple from Holland who are travelling Australia. Daddy took us to see the big Blue Lake that we had seen last year on the Wodonga ride. There were lots of people and tourists there because it was Sunday. From Mount Gambia the road took us down to Port MacDonnell and then on to Nelson and lunch time in Portland. In the afternoon we travelled and had a look at the old town of Port Fairy, got our fuel at Warrnambool and joined the Great Ocean Road at Port Campbell. Daddy and Lionel went to book in to camp at the Caravan Park but doggies were not allowed because it is a national park. We had to ride to the next camping spot at a place called Princetown. The girls did not like Princetown too much because we had to put up tents for the night, but daddy and Lionel thought it was pretty good. They got to use their camping gear for the first time on the trip. I like sleeping in a tent too. Daddy has a special camping bed called a Helinox and it is very comfortable but also very light and packs up small, just what we motor bikers like. At the campground there were lots of kangaroos, really big ones, so lots of kangaroo poo and that meant you had to watch where you stepped. I like to roll in kangaroo poo but daddy does not like it when I do.

On Monday I woke up and realised that we had been away from home for a whole week. This was the day we needed to ride and stay close to Melbourne because we were catching the ferry to Tasmania the next day. We started the day quite early after all the tenting gear was packed up. None of us had a shower and we were all in the same smelly clothes from yesterday. It good when my friends get smelly. By starting early we could take our time riding the Great Ocean Road. There was not much traffic so it was easy and safe. Ross and Fran had ridden it on Sunday and they said the traffic was awful with all the people in their cars and tourist busses. Daddy Ken was looking forward to getting to the bakery at Apollo Bay because he thinks they make the best pies. I think so too. Before you get to Apollo Bay you pass through lots of really hilly and windy roads that pass through the big forest areas along the coast. Some people like to ride this really fast but that is silly and dangerous. I like it when daddy rides safely so I can look at all the nice views. It also safer when you are riding in a group to be considerate to the other riders so they can safely keep up. High in the hills is a town called Lavers Hill, then the road winds down through all the trees to the coast, then back up into the hills through farmland and forests before getting to Apollo Bay. The forest is part of the Great Otway National Park.

Apollo Bay was good place to stop because we had not eaten breakfast and as it was ten o clock in the morning we were having a brunch. That is when you have lunch and breakfast at the same time. Us dogs don’t worry about that, we eat when we are hungry and can get someone to give us food. The girls, Lionel and dad all brought pies from the bakery and daddy brought me a special chunky beef pie. He had a lamb and rosemary pie which I liked too so we both shared. Yummy. Last year when we rode back home along the Great Ocean Road, there were lots of roadworks being done. This time the road was very good and easy to ride with only a few parts being repaired along the way. After brunch, we headed for Melbourne. We passed through areas along the road where they had had terrible bush fires at Christmas time and you could see lots of damage to property and the forest trees. Daddy had a special treat instore for the group and I knew what it was. Instead of riding to Melbourne by going through Geelong with all the traffic, we turned off through Torquay and traced our Wodonga ride by taking the ferry from Queenscliff to Sorrento, which is on the Mornington Peninsular. We got to Queenscliff just before 4-00pm but had to wait until 4-30pm for the ferry to take us on board with lots of other cars and people. Daddy Ken had rung a holiday park in Frankston to book us some accommodation. It was 5-30pm when we reached Sorrento and got off the ferry. We had to ride through lots of traffic to get to Frankston but Daddy is a good navigator and got us to the park about seven o’clock. I was very tired by now after such a long ride and was soon sound asleep dreaming of pies and big boats. Tomorrow I was going to be on my way to Tasmania in an even bigger boat.

Next Stop Tasmania

Tuesday 23rd February was the big departure day. We were all ready by 10-30am and daddy led us all from the park to the Nepean Highway and Beach Roads that took us all the way along the coast to St Kilda where we stopped to wait for a suitable time to go to the big ferry boat on the Station Pier at Port Melbourne. It was a very hot day and Sally, Marg, Lionel, Daddy and I were all hot as well. We stayed in the shade at the Beachcomber Cafe and drank lots of water. About 4-00pm we all followed dad to the port and very soon saw all our friends that were crossing to Tasmania that day. It took a long time to get all the bikes and lots and lots of cars and people onto the boat as we had to spend lots of time waiting in the line. I was in for a big shock. Once we got on the boat, daddy Ken had to put me in a cage that was down where all the cars are. He had my special blanket and made sure I had lots of water, but I am only small and can’t see why I am not able to go upstairs to be with the people. Lots of other people put their dogs in the kennels too and all of us dogs were not happy. Some of the other pets cried all night, I was brave and just waited for daddy to come back for me. I knew he would and also knew he didn’t want to leave me down there but he had to obey the rules.

It was a very long night by myself and not many of the other dogs would talk to me because they were jealous that I ride on a motorbike and get to see lots of places. At 6-00am on Wednesday, the ferry boat tied up at the port in Devonport and we were in Tasmania at last. Daddy came and rescued me from the cage and I was so happy to see my friends my tail nearly wagged off. The boat people quickly made all the cars and bikes get ready and we were on our way off the ferry to start Chloe and Papas Tasmanian Adventure.

Our Tasmanian Adventure Starts

When we came off the boat at Devonport we were greeted with a very dull and rainy day. We had to be very careful because we knew all the roads were going to be slippery. Daddy and I formed a group with Mark, Ross and Fran, Sally, Marg and Lionel. Our other friends headed off in various directions, some going straight to Launceston and some to towns further along the northern coast. Mark, Ross and Fran had pre booked accommodation in a place called Ulverstone about 10 kilometres from the port. We were all hungry so we headed off to Ulverstone in the rain and mist. Because it was still very early not much was open but we found the Oliver’s Bakery and Café for our breakfast treats. We were to come here often in the next few days. Daddy, the girls and Lionel decided to stay at the same caravan park as Ross and Fran and we got a cosy cabin that would just fit 4 people and me. We were all very wet when we finally unpacked but all excited on what the next 4 weeks would bring.

It was still very wet and foggy the next day. Sally and Marg both left us to stay with friends each knew in towns close by and Lionel and daddy decided to stay where we were until we headed for Launceston on Monday. By Friday the weather had improved so we could do some sightseeing at last. It was a surprise to see big hills quite close to the coast. They had been hidden by clouds since we had arrived. Lionel, daddy and I meet up with Sally and we visited Burnie, Wynyard, Stanley and Smithton which are all towns on the northwest coast and we saw lots of interesting things. In Stanley there is a big rock that they call The Nut. You can go up to the top on a chairlift. Sally and daddy went but I stayed with Lionel down the bottom because dogs are not allowed to go up. Daddy said the views were fantastic and took lots of photos. On Saturday our friend Bob reached Tasmania and came to stay with us. Bob has a big shinny India motor bike and lots of people stare at Bob when he rides along.
I like Bob. Bob, Lionel, dad and I did a big ride through the mountains roads of Hellyer Gorge State Reserve. It was the first really windy roads I had been on since last year’s ride to Wodonga. We even stopped at a little beachside village called Penguin, where all the rubbish bins are made to look like big penguins. On Sunday we did another big ride when Sally joined us as well and we went to Barrington, Sheffield, Gowrie Park, Moina, Wilmot and Upper Castra, all very hilly and windy roads. You will have to look on Google Maps to see where I have been, won’t you?When we were in Ulverstone, we noticed the Alzheimer’s Australian office so we dropped in and said hello to the lovely Mary who runs it in Ulverstone. She was really surprised to see a little dog all the way from Western Australia.

Time to go to the Launceston AGM

Monday was the day all the fun of the AGM was to start in Launceston so we were up bright and early to start our ride. The weather was not looking good after the last three days of great riding so we all wet weathered up. Marg and Sally joined us for the ride so we had a convoy of 5 plus me. As we left Ulverstone it started to rain and that followed us all the way to Exeter. Of course dad did not take a direct route to Launceston and meandered through lots of forests and hills across to the River Tamar which we then we followed into the big city of Launceston and the AGM camp grounds. We arrived in Launceston just after lunch time and went straight to registration where I got my special dog tag to say I was an official camper. Daddy got a tag too. We have to wear it all the time so we can go in and out of all the AGM Ulysses sites.

The camping area was a big old cow paddock but it had been cleaned up. There was still lot of nice smelly bits that I could roll in though, so that was good fun. Tent City was really great again this year and all the Joondy Mob were close together so we had lots of fun. The week went really fast but daddy and I saw lots of Launceston and surrounding country side with Lionel. Daddy and I volunteered for gate duty and we caught up with lots of old friends and met lots of new friends. I was very happy because people were buying my I Ride With Chloe Badges and Patches. One really exciting thing happened on the big Grand Parade ride that Ulysses always do on the last Saturday of the AGM. I was interviewed by a reporter from the Launceston Examiner about my rides and the next day daddy and I were in the paper with our story and photo. I was to meet lots of people all over Tasmania who had read my little story and they would stop to say hello.

After a really fun week with my friends in Launceston it was time to continue our Tasmania ride. On Sunday 3^rd March, most of the campers were getting ready to leave like us. Some of my friends were going to catch the big ferry boat in the coming days and some were heading off in different groups to explore Tasmania just like daddy Ken and me. Our special group consisted of Gail, Sally, Lionel and Daddy. It was going to be good, because the girls and Lionel always spoil me.

Good Bye Launceston Hello Road to Saint Helens

We had already been away from home for 3 weeks, and the next part of our adventure was to ride to the east coast, then down to the southern area before heading west and then back north to catch the ferry back to Melbourne. This was to take us the next 12 days to complete. Daddy suggested that we should always stop for 2 or 3 days in one place so we got to see lots of things without hurrying and that turned out to be a good idea. By 10-30am on Sunday we had packed up the bikes, said good bye to all our mates, and headed off towards Saint Helens which was to be our next place to stay and explore.

The road to Saint Helens is called the Tasman Highway and it was only about 160 km that we needed to go. In Perth, Western Australia, where I live, that would not take very long at all, but in Tasmania, the roads are very twisty and mountainous so it takes a lot longer to ride. When you are in Tasmanian you have to say Perth, Western Australia, because there is a Perth here as well. Daddy and I visited Perth, Tasmania, but it is a lot smaller than ours. Our first stop for the day was the Sideling Lookout. It is in the mountains before the road goes down into a valley and the farm land. From the lookout you can see for a very long way and all the mountains and hills you will have to go up and down. Lunch time was our next stop at a fairly big farming town called Scottsdale. After lunch we headed towards our destination of Saint Helens. We would be staying at the Hillcrest Tourist Park in a small cabin that was just big enough fit the five of us. We got to Saint Helens in the afternoon, found the camping place and unpacked for the stay. We were all very tired after the long windy ride and while I stayed and had a sleep in the cabin, the big people enjoyed their dinner at a local hotel.

Saint Helens is located on a big bay and as we rode around on Monday morning I saw lots of fishing boats. Daddy said we would have fresh fish for dinner and it was going to be yummy. A place near Saint Helens is Binalong Bay and they call it the Bay of Firers. I not too sure why but the rocks are all very orangey red. It started to rain while we were looking and taking photos and we all got fairly wet. That didn’t stop us exploring though, and we went onto another place called the Gardens which is also part of the Bay of Fires. We stopped for lunch to dry out a bit and Daddy and I got a big surprised. Our good friends Sue and Ron from our home city of Perth were at a café in town. They were in Tasmania on holiday too. It was nice to see them and daddy and I shared stories about our travels and adventures. In the afternoon Lionel had a rest while Sally, Gail, Daddy and I rode into the hills to Pyengana and went to the Pub in the Paddock. The Pub in the Paddock is an old tavern that has been there from 1901 and there is a big pig that drinks beer from the bottle if you give it to him. He lives in a big yard with sheep and goats. After the pub we went to the St Columba Falls which is up high in the hills. The falls are actually one of Tasmania’s highest falls and it was really pretty. You can walk right down to the bottom and daddy was really puffing. He’s so unfit, not like me. At the falls, Gail took a really nice photo of me with a big fern.

On the way back to Saint Helens we visited the Holy Cow Café for afternoon tea. It was very nice because they have lots of cows and make lots of yummy food from their milk. Luckily the rain had stopped during the afternoon so it was very good riding. That night daddy, Lionel and the girls went off to have their fish dinner and later we got ready for our ride to Hobart the next day.

Let’s Get to Hobart and See the South

A rainy morning greeted us on Tuesday so we all had to put on our wet weather clothes again. Daddy led the group back to the Tasman Highway which goes all the way to Hobart. We went through the towns of Scamander and Falmouth on the way to Bicheno where we had our breakfast. By this time the rain had stopped so we all were nice and dry and after some breakfast at the Pasini’s Café we went to the Bicheno Motorcycle Museum and saw lots of old bikes. Daddy and I love seeing all the old and new bikes at museums. They are always so shiny. After our stop we headed off again to our next fuel stop and a coffee for the oldies in Swansea. As we were riding along the coast the roads were fairly straight and flat so we made good time and saw some wonderful sights across bays and the ocean as we rode along.

After the town of Orford we followed the Prosser River into hill and farmland country. It was a very smooth wide road all the way to the town of Sorell, a town 25km away from Hobart. Daddy had booked us in to the Seven Mile Beach Caravan Park which was just a little way from the Hobart Air Port. It was very lucky we had somewhere to stay because with all the tourists in Tasmania, it was fairly hard to find accommodation, especially as a lot of places don’t like puppy dogs in their parks. We had a big nice cabin for the first night and then we all shared a fairy small backpacker’s room until the next Monday. The girls shared a double bed and Lionel and daddy had a bunk. I liked it because daddy and I were on the top really high. This park was our base for the next five days.

On Wednesday we all got up early because we were going to the historic site of Port Arthur. Port Arthur is a very sad place because it was once a very cruel prison for convicts transported to Australia from England and also because a lot of people were killed in 1996 by the worst mass shooting in Australia’s history. I don’t like guns, they have caused so much pain to people and animals. On the way to Port Arthur we stopped at the little Village on Pirates Bay, which is near Eaglehawk Neck. That’s a little strip of land that joins a big island to the mainland. Near here are the Blow Holes, Tasman Arch and the Devils Kitchen. They are all big rock and sea features that have taken millions of years to form and they are really spectacular. Daddy and the girls took lots of photos before carried on to Port Arthur. Port Arthur is a big historical site and unfortunately doggies are not allowed in so I stayed with my mate Lionel while the girls and daddy went inside to explore. Lionel had been there before and was happy to sit with me. The grounds are so big that daddy soon realised that you cannot see it all in a couple of hours and decided to come back the next day and spend a full day exploring. That turned out good because Lionel and I got to hang out together at the caravan park. Lionel did washing and shopping because he was making us dinner that night.

Sally and Gail had started to have a bit of trouble with their bikes so on Friday we went to Hobart City to Bikeworks Motorcycles for them to get fixed. The girls went to the city on a bus and Lionel, daddy and I went riding the suburbs of Hobart. We had a yummy breakfast at the harbour, then saw Kingston Beach and lots of nice views as we travelled around the Tinderbox area and then back into Hobart to join Gail and Sally for lunch. Hobart has a big mall in Elizabeth Street and I had lots of fun seeing lots of people, especially a group of singing buskers. After lunch we explored the city and then went to pick up the girl’s bikes and head home in the very busy city traffic. Our friends George and Bruce caught up with us at the caravan park but they were staying in tents and planned to do their own thing over the next couple of days.

Saturday it was up early again to go and see Mount Wellington. That’s a big mountain that looks over Hobart and the Hobart country side. Unfortunately the day started out very foggy and wet which meant that it would be very hard to see anything from the top of the mountain and in fact we could hardly even find the road entry to the top. Everyone decided to give Mount Wellington a miss and we rode south along the Huon Road, a very hilly, narrow and windy road with lots of views looking over trees and farms, until we met up with Huon Highway, which was a lot wider than the Huon road. The highway took us onto Huonville and because we were all hungry, it was a nice place to stop for breakfast which we had at the DS Coffee House.

While having breakfast I met two lovely dogs and had a nice talk. They were bigger than me but I soon told them who was boss because I was a lot older than them. Our next stop was a place called Dover, which is starting to get right down the bottom of Tasmania and near the South Pole. Daddy has a client friend Allan for whom daddy did some design and drawings of a house near Dover. Allan’s son runs a café in the town so what better place than to stop for coffee and cake. After that stop we went down to Southport and daddy took a photo of me at the Southport Hotel, the most southern pub in Australia. After exploring the area it was time to head back to Hobart but as usual, daddy and I led our little group back the long way. We went back close along the coast via Surveyors Bay and Police Point, had a gravel road near Wattle Grove, passed the town of Cygnet and Woodbridge and finally arrived back to Hobart. It was a long day on the road and after dinner, I was off to sleep in my bunk.

On Sunday Sally and Gail when into Hobart to see the Mona Gallery, a big art museum built for a lot of money by a chap called David Walsh. The girls said it was really impressive. Lionel, daddy and I had a nice day doing our own thing and ended up at the little village of Richmond and it has Australia’s oldest bridge still in use. It was a lovely Sunday afternoon because they had a vintage motorbike display and lots of old buildings to see and people to talk to. I was very popular and sold some of my Dementia Badges. We returned back to our camp to join the girls, George and Bruce for a bar-b-que dinner and started packing to for the next stage of our trip, the ride east to Strahan.

Towards the West and Strahan

It was a Sunny Monday 14^th March as we rode from Seven Mile Beach towards the big Tasman Bridge that crosses the River Derwent into the city but daddy had the plan to ride along the opposite side of the river to miss the traffic. We found out there was not much traffic because that Monday was Tasmania’s Eight Hour Day holiday. The normally very foggy or cloudy old Mount Wellington was very clear today, so in an area with a good view for the Mount rising up behind the city daddy stopped to get a photo. As usual, daddy put me on top of the bike to show I had been there. This was a big mistake because as he stepped away our bike fell over and I had to jump off really fast. Papa had parked on too much of a slope for the side stand! He tried to blame me for putting on too much weight on holidays but no way old man, you are the silly one. Unfortunately some of the side bits on the bike got broken and daddy had to fix it up with 100 miles per hour tape. That’s a really strong sticky tape and was to hold the bike together for the rest of the trip. We were not very worried about losing time because Lionel had found what looked to be an excellent place to stay later that day about half way to Strahan. After the unscheduled stop we continued towards the west, crossing the river on a big bridge at Bridgewater.

Our brunch stop was at the town of New Norfolk. It’s not really new because the town was first settled way back about 1810 and became an important farming area for Hobart. Daddy and I had a yummy pie at the Banjo’s Bakery. We had lots of pies from Banjos all over Tasmania. After New Norfolk we carried on along the south bank of the River Derwent. This was not the main highway which is on the north side but still follows the Derwent until it joins the Gordon River Road. The River Derwent is a big long river about 200 kilometres long and starts high in the mountains in the centre of Tasmania. They have put lots of Hydro Electricity Dams along the river and that makes big lakes. Each lake is higher than the next and the water flows down from each lake to keep the river water flowing.

The Gordon River Road took us to Westerway and we stopped to buy some lovely raspberries from a little shed, and although I don’t raspberries, Sally and Gail do. From Westerway we then had a long 100 kilometre ride out the big Gordon River Dam and Lake Pedder. We encountered some rain as we rode through lots of forests along a very hilly and windy road. As we got closer to the lakes we saw all the damaged trees where the big bush fires had been just a month before and I hoped all the kangaroos and other animals managed to stay safe.

It was early afternoon by the time we reached the village of Strathgordon which is located on the banks of Lake Pedder. Lake Pedder was once a small lake but in 1972 the river valleys around the lake were dammed up so it became the largest freshwater lake in Australia of 242 square kilometres. Lake Pedder flows into Lake Gordon which is the reservoir for the Gordon Dam which is located on the upper reaches of the Gordon River. After a quick look at the lake from a high viewing area we rode on to stop at the Gordon River Dam. Because we knew it would take a long time to ride all the way back to Westerway, our visit to Gordon Dam had to be short. From the dam you have a fantastic view. It is a very high dam at 140 metres and is used for making hydroelectricity power and it was built in 1974. The water in the lake behind the dam, Lake Gordon, is now at the lowest it had ever been. The people of Tasmania really want some rain. Daddy and the girls took lots of photos and I hope you enjoy seeing them on this little blog I’m writing. On the way back from the Gordon Dam we dropped into the Pedder Wilderness Lodge for a drink of water for me and a coffee for the big people. The wilderness lodge is a resort place that they have made out of all the workers accommodation when they built the dam and lakes. We had some more rain riding towards our nights’ accommodation that was in a place called Tarraleah. We arrived there at about 6 pm and we were very surprised.

Tarraleah is an old town that was built in the 1920’s and 1930’s as part of the Hydro development in Tasmania. It was built for all the big wigs to live in comfort while the workers had to stay in construction camps. It became quite a big town up until the 1980’s when all the Hydro development work was scaled down. Now days it has been made into a lovely resort village with all the cottages restored and painted very nicely. There is a lodge and caravan park plus lots of things to see. It was a bit more expensive from what we normally stay in but what luxury. The girls had their own rooms and big beds, Lionel and daddy and I had a room with two nice beds and there was a nice kitchen and lounge room with a big fireplace that Lionel really loved. It was a good night. In the morning we had a walk around the town before we mounted the bikes for the day run to Strahan.

Strahan is about 180 kilometres from Tarraleah, along hilly and windy roads as usual and we had some places to visit on the way. One place was a big gallery called The Wall in the Wilderness. It is at a place called Derwent Bridge, just about where the River Derwent ends. The gallery is a place where an artist by the name of Greg Duncan is carving the history of the Tasmanian Wilderness into large panels of wood that make up the walls. Unfortunately, it is in a national park and being a doggy I needed to stay on the bike in the carpark. You are not allowed to take photos in the gallery but you can see it on their website. Our next stop was the historic Queenstown, a small town now but it once was a big copper mining town, noted for how all the forest on the mountains had been cut down to clear the hills for mining or died due to the smelting fumes. The mountains were then called a Moonscape. A lot of mining waste and chemicals were also discharged into the King River and even found its way down to the harbour water at Strahan. Luckily that is cleaned up now and hopefully environmentalist can stop things like that happening in the future. The town is now mainly for tourist and some trees and plants are regrowing and the hills. After lunch and exploring a bit of Queenstown, we were again on the road to Strahan on a pleasent Tuesday afternoon.

At Strahan we stayed at a backpacker’s camp. That’s a place where you have lots of cheap accommodation that can sleep 4 or more people in rooms. There is a big kitchen for everyone to use and you get to meet lots of young people because most of the people looking for cheap accommodation are young travellers from all over the world. We stayed in Strahan until Thursday morning. Lionel, the girls and daddy spent Wednesday on a big boat trip on Macquarie Harbour and up the Gordon River, the same river we had seen on Monday. I could not go on the boat of course so I had to stay in our little room for the day. I had a big rest because with all the travelling I was doing, I was getting worn out. Daddy told me that Strahan has a lot of history and was a cruel convict prison even before Port Arthur was established and was an important port for the early mining and timber industries in Tasmania, being located in the isolated wilderness. There are lots of stories to tell about Tasmania, isn’t there.

Coming to the End of Our Tasmanian Trip

Wow, Thursday 17^th March was our second last day on the big Tasmanian Island and today we were riding back to Ulverstone, the town we stayed on our first day. That was because we were catching the ferry back to Melbourne the next day from Davenport and Ulverstone was nice and close. Lionel wanted to get his bike serviced as well and we all wanted to have a bit of a rest before boarding the boat. Sally was leaving us to stay on in Tazi with her friend Peter. Daddy planned the trip to Ulverstone to go through the town of Zeehan and to have a look at the School Of Mines and Mining Museum there because daddy is always interested in in that stuff. He then wanted to visit Cradle Mountain for the others to go and see. Daddy and I would have to wait for them because it is a national park but we didn’t mine.

After a last look around Strahan and fuel for the bikes, we headed for Zeehan on a lovely warm sunny day. I was allowed to site inside the fence at the museum next to some old trains and carriages that were used for mining. The others spent the morning looking at all the exhibits until about noon and then it was time to press on. The Murchison Highway took us through the old mining towns of Renison Bell, Rosebery and Tullah, which is on a big lake and part of the Hydro schemes. There is still mining at Zeehan, Renison Bell and Rosebery. The highway was hilly and windy as most of the roads are in Tasmania. As we passed Tullah clouds were stating to form above us and I was getting a bit worried it might rain as the closer we got to Cradle Mountains, the blacker the clouds got. We were about 10 kilometres from the Cradle Mountain turn off when it started raining and we had to stop to put on the wet weather gear. By the time we reached the entry to Cradle Mountain it was very wet and foggy and people were having to take shuttle buses to see the sights, which unfortunately weren’t all that visible. Our little group decided to give it a miss until next time we come to Tazi and we made a very wet ride to the Moina Tavern which was on the way to Ulverstone for our lunch. You may remember I had been here before but this time we stopped to have a nice feed. Daddy had pumpkin soup and the cook made me some chicken. It was still rainy but they had a big fire and a big wet garden to explore.

After lunch it was a ride down the windy road and hills towards Ulverstone. The rain stopped for a while as we rode to the coast and by late afternoon we were back at the caravan park we had left 18 days before. This time we had a nice cabin to stay in and get ready for our last day and the big trip home. During our ride that afternoon, Sally had found out her friend Peter had broken his leg when he fell off his motor bike. Lucky she is a nurse and would be able to look after him.

Goodbye Tasmania

Our last day in Tasmania was fairly uneventful apart from Sally having a flat battery and had to buy a new one. Lionel had his bike serviced and we had lunch at our favourite Ulverstone café, and after we said goodbye to Sally, Gail, Lionel, daddy and I left for Devonport. Unfortunately the rain and wind had started again and I heard daddy say that the forecast was for rough weather on Bass Straight. I suddenly remembered that I was going to have to spend another lonely night on board the ship while the big people enjoyed themselves upstairs. We needed to get to the ferry dock by five o cock, so we had plenty of time to have a bit of a look around Devonport City. It is a fairly big place but it was raining on and off so we didn’t see too much before we were all lining up again with lots of other Ulysses bikers as like us, their Tasmanian adventure had ended also. The trip in the kennel that night was lonely like before but I knew daddy would come to get me in the morning and we would be in Melbourne.

We are Off to See Lionel’s Daughter

Saturday 18th March was the start of our long ride home that was to take us through Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and back through our own state of Western Australia, a total of 6100 kilometres to be added to our journey so far. Daddy had promised Lionel before our trip that we would get all the way to Sydney so Lionel could visit his daughter Sharon, her husband and the grand kids.

Daddy Ken came and rescued me from the ferry kennel just after 6-00am and we rode off the ferry into a dark and wet Melbourne morning. We met up with Lionel and Gail after a short time and daddy helped Gail find her way to a friend who was going to take Gail’s bike back to Perth on a truck. Gail was staying in Melbourne with her Son. Our big Joondy mob was now just Lionel, Papa and me and the plan of the day was to ride to Inverloch to camp that night after a visit to Phillip Island.

The rain slowly stopped on our ride to Philip Island. Daddy and I had been here last year but it was all new for Lionel. We had lunch and jetty walk in Cowes, saw the Nobbies and then Lionel and daddy went to the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. Daddy and I had only ridden up the entrance last year but this time daddy asked if I was allowed to sit outside in a little area while Lionel and he had a look through the museum. Lionel and Ken had a really good time looking at all the history, bikes and cars that were on show. After the track visit, the day was to end with a ride to Inverloch passing through Wonthaggi. We reached the Inverloch caravan park but although it was pet friendly all that camping area was full and there was no room at the inn for us. The man at the park rang around and found us a space at Kilcunda, which meant riding back the way we came and through Wonthaggi again.

The next day we spent some time in the morning looking at Wonthaggi. Wonthaggi was an old coal mining region in Victoria and was once very important. Coal is not mined any more but in Wonthaggi there is a big wind farm to make environmentally friendly power for the region. Daddy and I like the big wind mills although some people don’t. After Wonthaggi, we went down to the coast at Cape Preston and followed the ocean all the way back to Inverloch. Our ride was actually following the path that I had taken with daddy last year but in reverse. This time daddy was stopping in lots of places that we had missed. After Inverloch our next visits were the beach side villages of Venus Bay, Walkerville North and South and Sandy Point. Walkerville was once important for the production of lime and the old lime kilns can be seen along the beach. There was once a big jetty for big boats but that has gone now. I like it when daddy find out lots of things about old places, don’t you. The day was getting late so after a coffee and ice-cream at Sandy Point we carried on through Foster and on to Toora to camp the night. We were to camp lots in our tents now that it was only Lionel and daddy riding together.

Daddy had wanted to explore the Toora area last year but did not have the time. We had plenty of time on this Monday and we went up into the hills past a big wind farm to the Agnes Falls which are on the Agnes River and are in a thick forest reserve area. Did you know that Agnes Falls is the highest single span falls in Victoria? It was also used to supply water to the early settlements. This area is called the Strzelecki Ranges. It would be a great place to have a picnic. Our next stop was going to be for breakfast because we were all hungry from walking to the falls. We followed the South Gippsland Highway and stopped at a town called Yarram. After filling our tummies we took a different road than we had come along before. We went up the Hyland Highway which goes to a place called Traralgon. It was a lovely ride through lots of hills and forest with windy roads that Lionel and daddy like. I was enjoying the scenery when suddenly we came upon a big hole in the ground and big buildings with lots of smoke coming from really big chimneys. Daddy told me the chimneys are water coolers and the smoke was steam and we had come to the Loy Yang A and B power stations. The big holes are where they get the coal to burn to make electricity, and unfortunately the smoke from the skinny chimneys I also saw are the one that cause pollution. The power station people have made a lookout on a big hill and we went up there to have a good look. The workers from the mines and power houses live in Traralgon and it was a nice place to stop for lunch and we had yummy pies. After lunch we rode along the Princess Highway to pass through Sale and of course daddy had to take Lionel to see one of daddy’s favourite bridges, the Thomson River Swing Bridge. If you read my Wodonga ride you will know all about it. By this time we were well into the afternoon and time to think about the night stop. Lionel and daddy thought Bairnsdale looked good and also decided they would get a cabin and a bit of luxury for the night plus do some washing.

Lionel thought it would be nice to get to Sydney on Easter Friday. That sounded good to me, I was excited about getting to daughter Sharon’s place because Lionel told me that they had two doggy’s there I could play with. The ride plan was to ride the Great Alpine Road to Omeo and then the Omeo Highway and end up in Corryong Tuesday night. From there we would take the Alpine Way back to the New South Wales coast on Wednesday and leave Thursday to get fairly close to Sydney. It would have been an exciting ride because daddy and I have done it before. When we were packing on Tuesday morning, however, Lionel found that a big crack had appeared on the back part of the bike where he straps on the luggage. It was lucky he saw it because it could have been quite dangerous if it had broken while we were travelling along. The problem now was how and where to fix it. To get a new part would have taken a long time but luckily we found Doyle and Shields Honda shop. They were very nice people and a nice man was able to weld the crack together after Lionel and Daddy had removed it from the bike. We had spent the morning getting the repair done so the ride plan was changed to get to Bombala for the day. This gave us a ride from Bairnsdale to Bruthen, Nowa Nowa and Orbost, a very historic town on the famous Snowy River. We had a quick stop in Orbost before riding to Cann River and leaving the Princess Highway for the Monaro Highway that took us to Bombala in New South Wales. After a long day it was good when daddy got the tent up and I could hop into my warm bed and sleep.

We met a lovely couple, Helen and Bob, at the Bombala Caravan Park. They lived in Queensland and gave us their address and invited us to stay with them next year when we ride to the Port Macquarie AGM. After our night in Bombala we took The snowy River Way up to Jindabyne. I was quite surprised that this area is fairly flat and lots of farming paddocks. About halfway to Jindabyne we saw lots and lots of big windmills running along the top of the hills. I guess it is up high and very windy and an ideal location for a wind farm. Daddy and I am seeing lots of wind farms aren’t we. Last time Ken and I came through Jindabyne we did not stop very long. This time we had lunch and visited the Visitors Centre. When we got going again we meandered through farming country on back roads across to the Snowy Mountain Highway that took us to Cooma and time for a petrol stop. The Snowy Mountain Highway took us from Cooma down to the low lands of the Bega area, with daddy making a stop at his special place on Brown Mountain so we could think about mummy Sue. The Snowy Mountain Highway meets up with the Princess Highway that runs from Port Augusta, South Australia, all the way to Sydney, New South Wales. That is a long way. The rest of the days ride was to the lovely Ocean Lake Caravan Park on the shores of Wallaga Lake where Lionel and daddy pitched the tents and I had a great time playing run and catch on the grass. Tomorrow was Thursday and on Friday we would be in Sydney.

Thursday started slow as we took our time to visit the seaside town of Bermagui to have breakfast. It was then back onto the Princess Highway to pass lots of places with funny names like Tilba-Tilba, Narooma, Moruya before getting to Batemans Bay and stopping at Ulladulla for lunch at a yummy pie shop. We eat lots of pies when we travel. When we reached Nowra, we turned off the Princess Highway and headed inland to Moss Vale along the Moss Vale Road. What we didn’t know is this was going to be an exciting afternoon ride because this road leads into the Cambewarra Range and the road is very much like the ones we rode in Tasmania. Along the way we crossed the Kangaroo River in a town called Kangaroo Valley. Poor daddy, it was very busy and we could not stop to look at the bridge over the river. It is called the Hampden Bridge and was opened in 1898. It is very special as it is the only surviving timber suspension bridge carrying cars and trucks. At each end of the bridge are medieval towers so it looks a bit like London Bridge. I think daddy will come back here one day for a good look. The road after Kangaroo Valley again goes up and down big hills and has lots of sharp corners to go around. It goes past a place called Fitzroy Falls just off a big lake which is actually a reservoir for a Hydro Electricity station like they had in Tasmania. We reached Moss Vale fairly late after travelling through farming areas and we treated ourselves to a cabin at the caravan Park. Tomorrow would be exciting when we reached Sydney. I could hardly wait.

When I woke up on Easter Friday daddy and Lionel had packed up the bikes for an early start. We had been hoping for nice weather but it was raining so we all had to put our wet weather covers on. Because of the rain, we decided to go directly to Sydney by the shortest way, which was by the Hume Motorway, Westlink and the M2 Motorway. They are all big roads like the freeway in Perth and can be really busy. Moss vale to Sharon’s home in Sydney was going to be a 200 kilometre trip so daddy said it should take 3 to 4 hours if the rain continued all the way and the traffic was bad. Luckily the rain did stop after about an hour and all the traffic was going the other way from Sydney with holiday makers so we had a very good run and clever daddy took us all the way to our destination without getting lost once.

Our Wonderful Easter in Sydney

Lionel’s family is very nice, his daughter Sharon and her husband Glen and their children Hayley and Lachlan. A friend Charlotte was staying with them as well. They have two big doggy’s called Barkly and Pixie and I had lots of fun playing with them except Barkly always tried to eat my diner if I was a bit slow. Glen and Sharon live in a lovely home in an area called Clontarf. Glen took Lionel and Papa to a swimming pool right next to the Sydney Harbour Bridge and they thought that was pretty good. Dad likes to do things that you don’t normally think of. We did lots of walks to a big dog beach near the house. Pixie is a really good swimmer and goes out deep but Barkly and I like the shallow water so we only get our tummies wet. Lionel and daddy took the Manly Ferry across Sydney Harbour and spent the day exploring the city. Sharon had lots of Easter Eggs for every one on Sunday but of course doggies are not allowed to eat chocolate are they. I also found out my new friend Charlotte is an actor and model and was on the TV series Home and Away. We had lots of fun over Easter and it was nice to be with a loving family, especially when I was missing my sisters and family back in Perth. On Tuesday daddy and Lionel had a surprise for Sharon and Glen. Sharon wanted a fence and gate built to keep Pixie and Barkly from getting lost in the back yard so guess who decided to build it. Under my supervision, Lionel and daddy did a wonderful job and I am very proud of them. It took all day Tuesday and most of Wednesday morning, the day we were leaving for the long trip home. It did not take too long to pack and get ready for the trip out of Sydney through the afternoon traffic. Daddy and I had one of the best Easters ever.

Lets Hit the Roads for Home and Crack a Rib

It was 2 pm on Wednesday 30^th March as we rode the bikes through the heavy traffic. There was a lot more cars than I see when we ride in Perth. Because we had left so late in the day our stop for the night was in a little town called Swansea. It took a long time to pass through all the suburbs to get to the Pacific Highway that goes all the way from Sydney to Brisbane. We were only going to stay on it till Gosford, and then we would go along a coast road to miss the traffic. Well, that was the old man’s idea, except the traffic was just as heavy on that road as well. Boy, there are lots of cars in New South Wales. It was getting dark when we reached the Blacksmiths Holiday Park in Swansea. We rode through the park to find our tent spots but when we stopped, daddy got his pant leg caught on the foot peg and without a foot on the ground, the bike fell over with daddy and me on it. I was ok but poor daddy, the fall cracked an old rib injury and he had to suffer with it for the rest of the trip home.

Heading West

In the caravan park there were lots of old and funny little caravans that people were taking to a vintage caravan rally. The owners were very proud of their vans and daddy took a photo of me in one. He said it was just my size. We left the vans and our new friends and rode to Newcastle. Newcastle is a very old town that has a lot of history and lots of old lovely buildings to see. The settlement was started for its coal deposits that was dug by convicts in very cruel conditions. Over the years Newcastle has been known for its coal, steelworks and ship building and it was a very dirty place, but daddy told me now that the big factories have gone it is a lot cleaner. It is still very important for the export of coal and products from the Hunter Valley region. We rode through the Hunter Valley after we left Newcastle on the way to Singleton, Muswellbrook and Scone along the New England Highway and we saw lots of big coal mines. From Scone we headed towards Dubbo for our nights camp. On the way we stopped at the town of Dunedoo. Daddy said they were going to build a “Big Loo” there as a tourist attraction but they never did. That would have been funny. We reached Dubbo after a ride through lots of farming country and it looked like the country was getting brown and dry as we travelled more inland. A nice lady at the caravan park gave us a cabin for the night so daddy could have a comfortable bed to sleep in for his sore rib. The caravan park lady had a little dog like me. I had a big long sleep cuddled up with my dad.

It was good to explore the town of Broken Hill and see the big mines and old buildings because last year we did not stop very long. I had a play with Lionel and daddy as well before we rode out to a place called Silverton that people call a ghost town. It was once a mining town like Broken Hill but the deposits ran out and people moved to Broken Hill. Over the years the area was known as a picnic town for the workers from Broken Hill to come and relax. There is a big camping area here now and that is where we pitched the tents for the night. Lionel was really happy because he could light a big campfire that we sat around and looked up at the millions of stars that shine so bright in the sky when you are in remote places. We met lots of happy caravaners that were staying at Silverton as well but I still didn’t see Mad Max. It was so lovely sleeping under the stars.

Dubbo is a very big town to see. Daddy and I missed it last year when we travelled to Wodonga and we were happy to stop here this time. Our ride today was to Cobar and that was 300 kilometres away so we could spend some time looking around Dubbo. We had breakfast at the CSC café and the lovely lady owner gave me a big donation towards my I Ride With Chloe charity. They have the Old Dubbo Gaol in the town and we had a look through. The gaol was opened in 1859 and closed in 1966 and people say it is a display to the awful way prisoners were treated in the past. It was a bit scary so I am glad I was with daddy. Make sure you go and see it if you go to Dubbo. The ride to Cobar was quite easy with a stop in Nyngan for lunch. After Nyngan you join the Barrier Highway and that can take you all the way to Gawler in South Australia. We reached Cobar quite early which made Lionel happy because he wanted to do lots of washing to last us for the next few days. Lionel is a good washer and folds daddy’s clothes really nice.

Just after sunrise on Saturday we hopped on the bikes to head for Broken Hill. We had to be very careful now because there are lots of goats along the road to Broken Hill, especially between Cobar and Wilcannia. I did see lots the goats looking at us as we passed and a couple of silly ones ran across the road in front of us but Lionel and daddy are safe riders and plenty of time to miss them. Wilcannia is a town on the Barrier Highway where it crosses the Darling River. It was a major river port for paddle-steamers a long time ago in the 1880’s and daddy said they even had 13 hotels there and a population of 3000 people but now it is only a very small town with some old buildings. We stopped here for breakfast and fuel before riding the rest of the way to Broken Hill. We arrived in Broken Hill in the early afternoon and visited the tourist information place and met a lovely lady who gave us all the information. Broken hill has an exciting grand old history and once had the worlds riches deposits of lead, zinc and silver and this is where the big company called BHP stared way back in 1885. Now days the area has lots of sheep farming as well as mining. Daddy said that Broken Hill is a real outback town and it must have been hard to live here in the olden days, but we also have to remember the indigenous Aboriginal people lived in all these places way before the European settles came to take their wealth.

Next stop South Australia

It was up early on Sunday morning for Ken to take some more photos around Silverton and Lionel wanted to look through the old church but it was closed. We had breakfast in Broken Hill and then it was off to the South Australian boarder. We would have a 420 kilometre ride today to Port Augusta through some fairly sparse country until we reached the town Peterborough. We passed through some old railway station towns along the way and stopped at Olary to visit our Ulysses friend Sam who owns the hotel there. After Peterborough the country becomes a lot more interesting with lots of farms along the way. When we stopped at the town called Orroroo we met some lovely ladies who were having a birthday party at Maggies Rendezvous Coffee Shop. They really liked me and because they were carers of people with dementia brought some of my badges. I also got lots of cuddles. It is a scenic road from Orroroo to Port Augusta because you get to go to the southern Flinders Ranges and through the Horrocks Pass, a nice steep winding road that we motor bikers like. We arrived at the Shoreline Caravan Park mid-afternoon and found they have put in a really excellent tent camping area. It was good to have a play and sleep before our long ride tomorrow to Ceduna. Poor Lionel, he was starting to feel a bit tired each day now as the rides got longer and poor daddy, his ribs were still hurting.

Monday saw us head out towards Ceduna on the long Eyre Highway that ends all the way over in Norseman, Western Australia. We would not get to Norseman until Wednesday afternoon. The Eyre Highway is named after the explorer John Eyre who was the first European to travel across the Great Australian Bight and Nullarbor Plain in 1840. Today our first stop was a look at Iron Knob. Iron Knob was once Australia’s most important deposit of high grade iron ore and was used for making steel at Whyalla. The town is basically shut down now although some mining is still taking place. It is sad to see a town that was once really busy now looking so lonely. After our Iron Knob stop it was on to Kimba to see the Big Parrot. I was hoping to see my friend Elliott that I met last year but he was away so Pa left him a patch and badge and a note to say hi from him and me. In Kimba we met a man and lady, two American riders, who are travelling in Australia and were on the way to Western Australia. Unfortunately I have forgotten their names but it was very lucky we did meet them because they were able to help us out later that day.

Our ride after the stop at Kimba was fairly hard for Lionel as he was feeling a bit sick. He thought it might have been from drinking some water from when we camped at Silverton. We stopped to give him a rest a couple of times. When we stopped at Poochera Roadhouse for another rest and drink, Lionel should have also filled his bike up with petrol but unfortunately, both daddy and he forgot. How silly of them because about 60 kilometres from Ceduna Lionel called daddy on the helmet phone they have to talk to each other to say his fuel light was flashing. They both knew that Lionel only had about 40 kilometres of petrol left and would not make Ceduna. We had to stop on the side of the road and dad tried to get some petrol from his tank but to no avail. The only thing to do was for Pa and me to go into Ceduna and get some fuel for Lionel. While we were away, the nice Americans came along and they had a jerry can full of fuel and happily gave Lionel some. Weren’t they clever and smart? Lionel got going again and met us on the way back. We all had a good laugh and daddy said Lionel would get Mug of the Month at their next Ulysses branch meeting. That’s an award they give when you do silly things. My daddy gets it all the time! We stopped at the Ceduna Airport Caravan Park for the night in a motel room. The park is where we always stop because it’s fairly cheap but comfortable. I don’t mind, as long as there are plenty of smelly areas outside for me to roll in.

Once again we were up early the next day because today we would reach Western Australia with a long ride over the Nullarbor Plains. This would make it the sixth time I have ridden across the paddock, as they say, with daddy Ken. We had about 680 kilometres to cover to get to Madura Pass. One advantage we had was that due to daylight saving we would have more daylight when we got to Western Australia. The weather when we left Ceduna was very nice but by the first stop in Penong for breakfast the wind was getting very cold and strong and clouds were forming on the horizon in front of us. We pressed on into the cold wind and it is very lucky for me that I can cuddle up in my little pod behind daddy out of the wind. Daddy had put my jumper on so I was nice and warn. When we stopped for fuel and a break to stretch our legs at the Nullarbor Roadhouse, we met our two American friends again. We were to meet them once more at Boarder Village but that would be the last time. I hope they travelled safe and had a wonderful time in Western Australia. Just after we left the Nullarbor Roadhouse, it started raining. Luckily Lionel and daddy had put on their wet weather gear but with the wind and the rain it was not very comfortable. We only stopped briefly to look at the Bight Lookout and for fuel and a hot drink at the Border Village. Ken’s rib was still very painful and he was looking forward to a warm bed that night. After a very long hard day we reached Madura Pass Oasis Motel. We stayed in a room again that night in the warm and to rest up for a very long ride the next day. Our Holiday was fast coming to an end.

A Big Rest in Esperance

From Madura Pass to our planned rest days in Esperance was a ride of 750 kilometres. Lionel and Daddy wanted to do it without stopping for the night at Norseman so we got away very early on Wednesday morning and were very wary about Kangaroos that may be up early and playing on the roads. They were very good and we did not see any being silly. On this part of the Eyre Highway is a Roadhouse called Caiguna where they have little gnomes in a garden. Daddy always takes my photos of me with the gnomes every time I pass here. You have to be very careful when you are a dog when travelling on the country roads of Australia because to keep feral animals that kill our wildlife under control they put poisoned food called baits on the ground. Daddy always tells me not to eat anything if I am walking around in the outback so make sure you keep your pets nice and close if you are travelling as well. A nice truck driver told daddy and I to be careful everywhere because they even put baits near roadhouses.

After Caiguna the road is very long and straight for 146.6 kilometres and it is Australia’s longest straight road. We stopped at the end of this straight section and a man took a photo of Lionel, daddy and me in front of the big sign. We were a bit worried it would rain again but we were lucky today and it stayed dry all the way. When we reached Norseman and the end of the Eyre Highway it was about half past three in the afternoon so daddy was fairly sure we would get to Esperance before six o’clock when the caravan park closed. We had booked into the Pink Lake Tourist Park where Pa and I had stayed last year. It is a nice park and we reached it in plenty of time and set our tents up. We were going to stay in Esperance until Sunday so Lionel and I were very happy to have a break from the long rides.

Esperance is a coastal town and it can be very windy. On this stay we had perfect weather and it was sunny with no wind. We visited lots of places and beaches while we were there. On Saturday I stayed with a lovely lady who is a friend of Lionel’s while he and daddy went out to the Cape Le Grand National Park and rode along the hard sandy beaches. They had lots of fun that day and late in the afternoon they came back to take me to a special place they had found on the way to Cape La Grand. It was the Esperance Stonehenge, a lot of big rocks that are placed in a big circle just the same as the Stonehenge they have in England. Esperance one is a lot better because it is not all broken and fallen down like the one in England. Daddy said I should not make fun of the English Stonehenge because it is over 5500 years old and very important in English history. It would be really exciting to see the English one as well wouldn’t it?

The Esperance Stonehenge was built in 2011 and it is the only full size replica of the original one in England and it took 2500 tonne of rock to make it. The lady whose family build the new Stonehenge allowed daddy to come back after hours so he could take photos of me as during the sunset. Unfortunately the sunset was not pretty like my Nullarbor photo but daddy took lots of photos of me sitting on the bike. It was fun running and playing around all the big rocks as well with Lionel and daddy. It was our last night in Esperance when we got back to camp and we all when to bed early, tomorrow was a long ride home.

The Day Had Come to Go Home

Lionel was up as usual before the sun came up. He had had his shower and made the coffee by the time daddy and I woke up and climbed out of our tent. The time had come to pack up the tents and camping gear for the last time on the trip. The bikes were loaded and goodbyes said to the folks we had met over the days we had been here. After the bikes got fuelled up we headed for Perth. It was to be one of the longest rides of the trip if we were to get home in one day. Because we had ridden the Hyden way before Lionel and daddy Ken decided to go a bit of a longer way of 770 Kilometres. The ride took us through Ravensthorpe, Jerramungup and Ongerup to Gnowangerup. What a lot of ups. Daddy has told me when the “up” is on the end town name in the south west of Australia it has been given the Aboriginal name meaning “place of”. The town of Ongerup means place of the kangaroo and Gnowangerup means place of malleefowl. I think my dad is very cleaver when he tells me things like that.

We had gone a bit slower than we had planned because Lionel had got fairly tired and had a sleep for about half an hour on a park bench in Jerramungup. Jerramungup means place of the tall yate tree. We got more fuel at Gnowangerup and travelled through Katanning to get to the Albany Highway which would take us all the way to Perth. I was really tired when we finally reach Armadale as the sun set over the ocean and I knew then we were only about 60 kilometres from home. I could barely keep my little eyes open as we waved good bye to Lionel and separated to ride to our homes. When daddy turned into our street I was thinking about the day we had left for the airport in the taxi. It seemed so long ago when I was excited to go on our adventure, now I was excited to see my sisters, nieces and nephew. I had seen so much over the last eight weeks and as daddy tucked me into my bed I started to drift off to sleep thinking about our ride to Queensland next year. I wonder how many of my old and new friends will be there. I also wonder if I might meet you on my travels one day.

Lots of licks

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