D35 22/5/23 Somerset Lakes district - Fernvale (250km)
Rode south around Lakes Somerset & Wiverhoe and stopped at Fernvale for lunch. The bakery has the best selection I have ever seen - over 50 different pies! The 'Corn Beef in White Sauce' pie I had was excellent (and the Danish (aka a guilt trip) was equally as good).
D34 (21/5/23) Stanmore
Day at home with the family
D33 (20/5/23) Australia Zoo (60km)
Went to the Australia Zoo with the family. The zoo is impressive and extremely large! It is not what I would call a zoo - more of a wildlife park with pedestrian access throughout - I highly recommend it but be prepared to do a lot of walking.
D32 (19/5/23) Stanmore-Woodford
Spent the day pottering and then went into Woodford to watch the Stanley River Wolves Rugby League junior team educate their opposition team on the finer points of the game.
D31 (18/5/23) Maleny-Kenilworth (200km)
Went sight-seeing around Maleny, a small town NE of Stanmore that has several notable points of interest (eg. Gardiner Falls). Then travelled a long way NW to the township of Kenilworth (if nothing else - the donut shop made the long trip well worth it)
D30 (17/5/23) Queensland Air Museum (90km)
Went to the Queensland Air Museum located in Caloundra. The place is Awesome!!! On entry you a greeted with the impressive F-111 swing wing fighter bomber (a plane I saw at an air show in my youth). There are literally 100's of static displays, each with an informative description beside it. The hig...
D28-D29 (15/5/23-16/5/23) Stanmore
My first wet weather - Monday was drizzly all day and Tuesday had regular showers - not weather that inspires riding, so had a couple of lazy days
D26-D27 (13/5/23-14/5/23) Stanmore
Weekend with the family.
D25 (12/5/23) Coffs Harbor - Stanmore (650km)
Marathon ride from Coffs Harbor back to Stanmore via the inland route (a 650km trip taking 9hrs (8hrs in the saddle). As expected butt & shoulders were a tad sore afterwards
D24 (11/5/23) Port Macquarie - Coffs Harbor (250km)
Rode back to Coffs Harbor via the coast road stopping at several towns, beaches, lookouts etc. Nice ride with lots of points of interest
D23 (10/5/23) Coffs Harbor - Port Macquarie (200km)
Did some more sight-seeing around Coffs then rode down to Port Macquarie via Nambucca Heads. There are some big seas (4-5m) running at the moment (the result of a deep depression that passed over South Australia and then over NZ). The waves at the Heads were quite spectacular. I was very impressed w...
D22 (9/5/23) Gold Coast - Coffs Harbor (350km)
Rode from Gold Coast to Coffs Harbor (via the Gold Coast Highway, so had a good look at the various GC suburbs). Used the Pacific highway once into NSW (110kmh virtually the whole way). Once there I went on a sight-seeing mission. Not that impressed with Coffs but really liked a town just south 'Saw...
D21 (8/5/23) Stanmore - Gold Coast (175km)
Rode back down to Gold Coast to stay the night with my mate Brian again, and do the catching up we weren't able to do last time. Will make sure wat i eat tonight is safe:)
D19 & D20 (6/5/23-7/5/23) Stanmore
Weekend time with the family. Junior Rugby League was in Bridie Island this week - a very nice suburb of North Brisbane which is a lot like Mount Maunganui with both surf and harbor beaches in close proximity ( and with a long narrow bridge as its only access I'm picking the morning commute traffic...
D18 (5/5/23) Bundaberg - Stanmore (450km)
The big ride back south - via Inland rural Australia. A total of over 450km in approx 5 1/2 hours. A little saddle sore and weary at the end but I guess that is to expected. I have now seen the fabled 'Red Soil' - hundreds of kilometres of it in fact... and farms - lots of farms - not green like NZ...
D17 (4/5/23) Great Barrier Reef (25km Bike, 105km Boat)
Went Scuba diving at Lady Musgrave Reef - an atoll at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef. We were taken out to the atoll on the MV Reef Explorer - a 25 metre Catamaran that cruised at 25knots (twin 1600HP Rolls Royce engines pushing it along). The diving was fantastic and the main highlight...
D16 (3/5/23) Bundaberg (50km)
Got the tyre repaired and then did the Bundaberg Distillery tour (and subsequent product sampling) -the tour was very good! & I even bought a (liquid) souvenir or two I am now tempted to have a go at making some in my still - Hays' s Hooch?
D15 (2/5/23) Bundaberg (50km)
My tyre repair wasn't quite as successful as I had hoped - the tyre was half deflated in the morning. The local bike shop said they would put a tube in it but didnt have one my size and would get it in overnight. Spent the day checking out the shops and mucking around on the beach (until it got too...
D14 (1/5/23) Stanmore - Bundaberg (350km)
Rode to Bundaberg / Bargara today - a 350km trek Found out my old mate 'murphy' was along for the ride too - halfway into the journey I got a flat in the rear tyre. Luckily I had a puncture repair kit but finding the hole was a real mission (turned out there were 2, but holes only - no nails or anyt...
D12 & D13 (29/4/23-30/4/23) Stanmore
Weekend time with the family. Chris & Jeremy headed off early Saturday morning to go to a 'Planes, Trains & Aeroplanes' show at Ipswich, and I settled for some R & R instead.
D11 (28/4/23) Gold Coast - Stanmore (200km)
Back on the bike. Picked up the part and fitted it. Rode to Ipswich to drop an item off to Brian (who is back at work) that he had forgotten. Ipswich is very much like Rotorua in so many ways! Rode via the motorway systems back to Stanmore - there are super long motorway tunnels under Brisbane that...
D10 (27/4/23) Gold Coast
Slowly recovering but still very weak and shaky, don't think I could ride the bike if I wanted to. Part has arrived at the shop but it can wait until tomorrow.
D9 (26/4/23) Gold Coast
OMG... Montezuma's revenge !!!! That prawn pizza might not of been so good after all - I was up half the night and most of the day bringing up all that was previously eaten and then some, and if that wasn't enough the diarrhea then followed. During all the suffering it occurred to me - that maybe th...
D8 (25/4/23 ANZAC Day) Stanmore - Gold Coast (150km)
Rode to Gold Coast via the motorway system. Pleased with my new wet weather gear as I encountered a couple of heavy downpours. Immediately after lunch Brian threw me into his car and took me literally the full length and breadth of the Gold Coast. Surfers Paradise is absolutely mind blowing with its...
D7 (24/4/23) Stanmore
Supposed to of been heading to Gold Coast this morning but Brian (My old friend from Rotorua who's apartment I was to be staying at) has been called back to work for the day so heading off tomorrow instead. Ordered the brake lever but informed it is coming from Melbourne so will be a few days before...
D6 (23/4/23) Stanmore
A quiet day at home base. Found a replacement brake lever available at a shop in Gold Coast (which is were I'm heading next)
D5 (22/4/23) Stanmore (60km)
Grandad duties today - went in to Caboolture to watch the Stanley River Wolves - Little League (Jeremy's team) take on a Calboolture team. Jeremy scored 2 tries thanks to some skilled sideline coaching:). Then I had a bit of an oops moment - the driveway is VERY steep with a LOT of loose gravel and...
Day 4 (21/4/23) Stanmore - Noosa Heads & return (250km)
Headed up to Noosa Heads via Maroochydore. Noosa Heads is like Mt. Maunganui on steroids ! The beach was like the mount in mid-summer with heaps of people on it (and its only a Friday) , but more impressive was the number of locals on scooters - there were hundreds! (and we are not talking kids) ,...
Day 3 (20/4/23) Stanmore (150km)
Finally got the panniers fitted, sorted wiring for the phone bracket and other misc bits. The bike is now fully ready for the adventure ! Had Grandad duties again - watching a school cross-country event (hes a little rabbit and got 2nd) and there was rugby league practice afterschool. In between all...
Day 2 (19/4/23) Stanmore (50km)
Focused on getting the bike ready for touring, got the topbox fitted but had problems with the pannier brackets ( Im finding that this Caponord has a few significant differences from my touring version back home ). Took a trip back to Caboolture for some motorcycle accessories, wet weather gear and...
Day 1 (18/4/23) Tauranga - Stanmore (180km driving, 2350km flying, 30km riding)
A ridiculously early start to the day to drive to Auckland Airport, followed by 'hurry up and wait' in long queues to get through all the border checks and then more 'hurry up and wait'for departure. I finally got to fly over the ditch and land in Brisbane, and made my way up to Caboolture (north Br...