Australian Rideout sent in by William Billings,Warnambool, Victoria, Australia.
 

We left at 3.30 pm with a tail wind for the first hour and then it became a very annoying side wind,
but dropped off as we hit Bendigo.  Bendigo has a population approximately of 60000,and is one of
Victorias most famous gold mining towns.it is a junction of five highways and the home of the historic
 Chateau Dore winery.  We had a counter tea there at one of the pubs and then it was off to Eaglehawk
 where we had a bed reserved, at that time of night the kangaroos and the unsealed road makes life
interesting  but we made it ok. 

6.30 next morning we were up bright eyed and bushy tailed rearing to go.  We headed across to Elmore
 ( a very quick trip) and then down to Shepparton where we had a cup of coffee to warm up. Shepparton's
population is 35000 and has 4000 Ha of orchards within 10 kl radius and 4000 Ha of market gardens along
 the river valley it also has the biggest preserving  and cannery in the southern hemisphere . We then headed
to the Hume Highway which is a dual lane nearly all the way to Yass. 

We were meeting heaps of bikes heading to south to Philip Island for the Grand Prix.  Lunchtime we were
in Albury (population 40000 and is approxmitely half way from Melbourne to Sydney) sitting down having
a light lunch washed down by a coffee while watching the local talent.  From then on it was a comfortable
ride at a nice pace to Yass (population of 5000) which was only a fuel stop, a drink and a hot dog.  Ray
decided to have a chicko roll and a bag of chips.  (have you ever watched a blonde filling a chicko roll
bag with hot chips?) very entertaining.

So far the Max has led all the way.  only because it hasn't got a stop light so Ray followed on the Wing
 (which has more tail lights than a semi trailer)   The traffic to Canberra ,Australia's capital has started
 to get very heavy so it was a slow forty k's into the city.  A quick tour around the business centre and
then out to Queanbeyan to where we were staying. Two days of R and R to look forward to. We were
lucky we had our new found family to take us around and show us all the attractions. 

Day  4 - We back tracked to Yass and on to Cowra which is a very pretty town well worth the visit .
Cowra was where 1000 prisoner of war attempted to escape from near by P>O>W> camp .4 aussies
and 247 Japanese were killed. We were getting itchy to get to Bathurst to have a look at the mount
panorama track.  After settling into the motel we took a stroll around town and looked for a place
for tea. this Sedate old city with a population of around 30000 is 200ks west of Sydney has many
historic connections ,It is the centre of a pastoral,fruit and grain-growing district .Ray (the goldwing
rider) found himself a new older female friend.  (much older )  So far the pokies have been kind to
us and the Bathurst pokies smiled on Ray. 

Up bright and early we headed for the race track, some say it's the best track in the world.  After a
couple of laps around it makes you realise just how good the v8 drivers are.  Our new found friend
 (Steve from Queensland) did 3 flying laps and after I spun him a yarn about hidden speed cameras
he believes he got 4 speeding fines ( Steve - I was only joking about the speed cameras)  Back to town
 for breaky and off to Campbell Town.  "Where the hell is Campbell Town", I said to Ray.   Campbell
Town is inland and forty klms south of Sydney (the capital of new south wales).it has a pop of around
40000,and I think they were all on the freeway when we got there.  5 hours to do approx. 200 klms. 
If it wasn't roadworks holding us up it was fire fighters burning off which looked like it had got out
of control.  Those blokes do a good job.  We stayed with Ray's mate (another Goldwing owner) but we
 won't hold that against him.  By this time the weather was getting very hot and we were getting thirsty
 and boy, could Ray's mate drink. We were a bit disappointed we didn't get to fisher's ghost maybe next time.

Day 6 - Now we were at the interesting part of the trip - roads made for motorcycles.  We were heading
South on the East coast to Merimbula, where we had free accommodation and a sight seeing tour.  So far
the roads and the motorists have been bike friendly.  Looking for a nice warm holiday, well I can recommend
 Merimbula good fishing and excellent surfing but you have to be part mountain goat it has a lot of hills. 

Leaving the next day at noon - a nice leisurely ride through the hills and bush down to the coast to Lakes
Entrance  one of my most favourite towns .Then across to Bairnsdale, where we stayed the night.  There's
 an old saying "It doesn't matter where you go you will always meet someone from Warrnambool" and we
did.  I learnt one thing in Bairnsdale - dentists do have a sense of humour.  We met him at the pub while
having tea and he had us in stitches with his jokes.  Unfortunately he was a BMW owner but I might have
converted him to a Vmax  .But alas all good things come to an end.  When we got up Friday morning. 
Yep - you guessed it - it was pouring.  I said to Ray, "Let's skip breakfast and head for home." 

While cruising in the rain I remembered that Ray had another win on the pokies the night before and
promised to shout breakfast.  So it was into Sale a nice town, we would have looked around some more
but it was still raining.  Bacon and eggs always tastes better when someone else is paying.  By  the time
 we reached Melbourne(capital of Victoria) the rain had stopped.  After refuelling it was a good time
to change my soaked socks.  From then on it was onto the Freeway, through the tunnel (under the Yarra
river)and over the westgate bridge and out of Melbourne towards Geelong.  The worst part of the whole
 ride was between Geelong and Melbourne, - heavy traffic and 60 ks per hr then up to 80 ks per hr then
 back to 60 ,up to 80 ,back to 40 .I think we got up to 100 at one stage,all very confusing,.The one thing
 I have learnt when you go for a ride anywhere in Australia the people are friendly, always got a joke
and the scenery is beautiful and some times the weather is perfect.  Total kilometres travelled  2945.