Day 3

Posted on May 4, 2013 by michaelhassett55

Toowoomba to Rockhampton – 696 km

Understanding that this was going to be a big day we got underway by 6:45. The day was fresh and clear and the A3 was relatively free of traffic. The intention was to go from the A3 across on 52 and hook up with the A1, however thanks to satelite navigation we went another way.

It ended up that most people took the A3 all the way. Not that this was a bad thing, in fact those that went this way had a most enjoyable day, very little roadworks or traffic. In fact the opportunity to stretch the legs on the bikes was available. A full days ride, a hard ride and an exhausting ride, found the early arrivals from about 4pm and the stragglers all in by 6:30pm.

Everyone is in great spirits and feeling pretty good for getting through today. Even the 9 year old pillion stayed on the bike all day, determined she was not going to get a lift in the van, announced to all on her arrival of her feat…well done.

The countryside was spectacular and the evidence of flooding was incredible. Acre after acre of trees laid flat by the river torrents. I’ll have to try to do something about pictures, but as you are riding along its difficult to stop to take picture, its not like you can grab your camera and shoot out the window.

: There were lots of road like this – with very little other vehicles

The intended route and daily destinations

Posted on April 7, 2013 by michaelhassett55

This is the map of the route (not to scale)

MAY
New South Wales
Depart from Sydney Children’s Hospital
1 Tamworth – 400km
Queensland
2 Toowoombah
3 Rockhampton
4 Mackay
5 and 6 Townsville
7 Richmond
8 Mount Isa
Northern Terrirory
9 Tennant Creek
10 and 11 Katherine
Western Australia
12 Kunnanurra
13 Fitzroy Crossing
14 and 15 Broome
16 Port Hedland
17 Carnarvon
18 Geraldton
19 and 20 Scarborough
21 Margaret River
22 Albany
23 Esperance
24 Belladonia
25 Eucla
South Australia
26 Ceduna
27 Port Lincoln
28 and 29 Lyndoch
30 Mount Gambier
Victoria
31 Lorne
JUNE
1 Lakes Entrance
New South Wales
2 Batemans Bay
3 Arrive back at Sydney Children’s Hospital

About a month away

Posted on April 7, 2013 by michaelhassett55

It’s just a little under a month before the journey begins. Fifteen thousand kilometres to be travelled in 32 days with only four nights off. Lapping Australia anti clockwise from Sydney on the first of May and returning on the third of June.

There are two reasons I am doing this. The first being an opportunity to support a worthy cause, Sydney Children’s hospital via the Steven Walter foundation, and secondly, it was a lifelong dream of mine…for whatever masochistic reason, to ride a motorbike around Australia, two boxes ticked.

There are many challenges ahead, one is to decide how much clothing and equipment one would take, with a limited carrying capacity, although I am pretty fortunate, I have two panniers, one large top bag and a twenty litre leather cylinder. There are support vehicles, management, paramedics and mechanics, some basic spares and a trailer if you have an irreparable breakdown, not expected on the K1600. We won’t be roughing it, we are staying in hotels and motels, all booked and paid for arranged by the Steven Walter foundation management team. There is going to be a big range of bikes from sports to tourers and everything in between.

Speaking of the machine I am riding it’s BMW’s flagship tourer, it is fully equipped with all the modern safety features such as abs, traction control and stability control. There are some luxuries, for a bike, such as sat nav, a comprehensive trip computer, cruise control and phone integration all hooked up via Bluetooth into the BMW system 6 helmet, along with heated handgrips and seats, something one really appreciates when the need arises. Seeing at night is also a pleasure with dynamic xenon headlights that turn into corners and enough LEDs to be noticed even in the daytime.