Day 11:

This heralded our trip home.

We departed Arkaroola in brilliant sunshine again for our trip to Blinman.

As we got closer to the ranges, we could see what looked like a mist settling in.

Then as we were riding through, it got colder and colder and we had moisture on our visors.  I won't go as far as to say it was rain, but certainly the closest thing we've come to it.  When we got into Blinman, it was still very cold, but sunny and dry.  We went to the pie shop to get some lunch and I reckon I ate the nicest pie I've ever had, not just cos we were cold and it was hot, but just a super yummy meal.  this old town displayed some of the lovely stone buildings that this part of South Australia is known for, even if some of them are empty and un-used.

While eating lunch, we heard some bikes approaching.  Some of my Harrow mates were doing a separate trip out of Natimuk and I'd been keeping in touch via Facebook.  i thought our paths wouldn't cross, but they did!

So we stopped and caught up for an hour or so.  They'd had terrible weather, almost from the get-go and weren't interested to hear that we'd been blessed.  the guy in this pic had had an off not long ago and his hand was looking very swollen.  I found out later that he'd hit an emu on another track and done further damage to himself, waiting for an ambulance to reach them for over 4 hours.  He retired from their trip at that point while the others went further North and played in the Simpson.

Onion and I continued on and made for Peterborough and checked into the railway Hotel for the night.  We had a walk around this railway oriented town for a bit, then into the bar for some mandatorys and another nice feed, including some spring rolls for entree (which really got my appetite bubbling).  A bottle of red over dinner and another bottle collected from the drive (walk) through saw us out for the night.

A couple of beers and 2 bottles of red.......goodnight Charlie!

Total distance for Day 11: 420ks. 

Looks like a top ride and an awsome effort for a ride report.
Al

Serge , I haven't done much work today thanks to you , all I have wanted to do is continue reading your ride report (but calling it a ride report doesn't do it justice ) . This stuff should be in a magazine , I would pay to read this but we get it for freeeee !!!  A big thanks to you guys for making a lot of us green with envy . Gotta love this country . Kind Regards Scotty

But wait, there's more!

Day 12:

It was REAL cold when we left Peterborough.  -1 deg C over night and we were gearing up in 2 deg C.  Still, it was clear, sunny and no wind.  We were on a mission now, a fuel burn with homeward trajectory.    We followed the hwy through Burra, Cadell and onto Renmark, crossing the border near Yamba.  We stopped at the lake Cullulleraine wind farm for a little look-see, before heading into Mildura for our over-nighter.

After a shower and freshen up, we went to the Grand Hotel to redeem a couple of drinks cards we were given.  then, we discussed dinner options and I had a hankering for Chineese, after the spring rolls I had the night before.  We found a restaurant, aptly named KKings and got a seat.  While browsing the menu, a family entered including the dad, who was, without doubt, the singularly biggest man I have ever seen!  We named him Mr Creosote (from Monty Python fame).  Poor bloke had difficulty finding a chair that suited, but still the party of three managed to devour 6 main courses, a large fried rice and entrees.  They may have had desert, but we had gone by then.

Our night in Mildura was nothing memorable,  just somewhere to lay the head for the night.

Drinks, yes.

Total distance for Day 12: 420ks. 

Day: 13

So it's come to this.  Home.

Everyone got a good rest last night, even the bikes.

We had breakfast, AGAIN.  We loaded the bikes, AGAIN.  We headed off, AGAIN.  We crossed the border, AGAIN.  And we re-fueled, AGAIN.

We took the scenic route, following the Murray towards Melbourne.  There are lots of pretty River views along this road and having passed Robinvale, we approached  Wood Wood. We wondered if Wood Wood would be a good place to stop for lunch.  We decided that Wood Wood would, so we did.  it's a little known fact that Wood Wood is an Aboriginal name.  it literally translates as a place with two woods.  Although, it's more commonly known that such a nice spot deserves to be named twice.  We decided we would have some ham, cheese and tomato toasties and a couple of steamed dimmies and coffee.  Would that be enough, I'm sure it would!  After lunch, we mused the possibility of coming back here and decided that, on day we would.

The final push was on.  Down to Echuca, through Shepp to Euroa and then to Creighton Creek and Into the Onion Patch at Caveat.  We unpacked the bikes, stoked the fire and settled into some well earned beers.  Soon enough, we cooked up some snags for dinner (first time we'd done that for a while) and went to war with THREE bottles of red, after which we just seemed to walk around in circles!

I don't want to think about drinking anymore.

Total distance for Day 12: 550ks.

Day 14:

The end.  It's 140 ks from Onion's holiday shack to my place and it was probably the most dangerous part of the trip.  Traffic, cars, buses, people, traffic lights, traffic and traffic.  YUK!  Riding out in the never-never is so much more pleasant, but unfortunately reality hits and it wasn't long before I was back home with my family (which was nice).

The Wash Up:

I'd left home with 6975 ks on the clock and returned with 11675, giving a total of 4700 for the trip.

Two BMW G650 GS's set off on a bit of an adventure.  They encountered one flat (not my fault) and both bikes had the chain-guards self destruct over the corrugations on 'The Track'.  Other than that, the bikes performed faultlessly.

Both bikes were fitted with Andy Strapz  AVDURO PANNIERZ  which worked a treat.  I can't vouch for their waterproofness, as we didn't encounter any rain.

My bike was fitted with Shinko E804-805 SERIES tyres, while Onion had Continental TKC 80s.  Its fair to say that, given my tyres had already done some 900 ks on the Dargo ride before this event, they lasted better than the Conti's.  Once again, I can't vouch for how they'd perform in the wet, cos it didn't rain!

Aldi camping gear worked a treat.

Losing your wallet sucks, but finding it again is a hoot.

We have a great, big, beautiful country out there and riding a motorcycle through it is one of the best ways to see it, especially if you go with a bloke like Onion.  thanks mate, it was a hoot!

Great report Serge,  really enjoyable read with my morning coffee... Thanks for putting that together for all of us...!
Cheers, Simon J.

Some pics from Onion's camera.

No flies on Onion (at Parachilna)

There were a few mornings that I wish this was the case when I woke up!

Brilliant report Serge.

Look's like I might have to get myself an adventure bike. My problem is, I hate the cold. 1degree C on a dirt bike no problem because you soon warm up but on the road it makes me shiver thinking about it. 

I agree with Scott, you write a better story than a lot of journalists. Cheers Colin 

Excellent story great photos i did a similar trip couple of years ago same areas you  brought back good memories and next time at Yunta there is good camping just out of Yunta near the river bed and  the BP Service Station has the best steak sandwich and chips and the chef straight from Delhi in India and how lucky with the wallet and with adventure riding as you know its not the destination but the journey along the way