nev
Super Térrarist
Jo's got her new 650GS and we're off to Mildura in a few weeks so we needed to get a few km on the clock and have the first service done before we go so decided to head off for the weekend for a running in ride.
I had sort of plotted out a route on the Tomtom but adjusted this as we went and I had more of an idea of what sort of average speed we'd be making.
Headed out to Yarra Glen and took the Steels creek turnoff for the run up Mt Slide..
then out to Toolangi and took the Mt St Leonards turnoff... this road was quite wet and muddy and as soon as we started to climb we were in cloud, very limited visibility, unknown road, muddy, steep... but lots of fun
down the other side of the mountain, we're below the fog again, the roads are dryer and the speed increases a bit.. until we find a tree down over the road...
First jo tried a bit of muscle to move it...
a 4WDer tried a bit of his muscle to shift it out of the way for us..
in the end we built a little ramp out of smaller logs and branches...
and my chance to out-do Evel Knievel
Through Murrundini Scenic Reserve, up Murrundindi road
Then onto Frog Pond road which landed us on the Goulburn Valley Highway just east of Yea.
After lunch in yea, headed towards Seymour for 3km then took the Ghin Ghin turnoff. This was a teriffic 20km of sealed twisties up to Highland, then we turned back onto a dirt road towards Molesworth. A few KM down this road we came across some cows on the road.. .which then proceeded to run along the road ahead of us. Ahead I could see a couple of other bikes, and more cows. Initially I thought the farmer was hearding his cows down the road and we had picked up a few stragglers and were doing him a favour.. but after probably 1-2km saw the other bikes had got ahead of the cows.. and when we got to them a few took off again down the road. A few bends later the other bikes had stopped and the cows we had hearded towards them stopped too. Fortunately the cows finally stood to the side and we were able to pass.. pity the farmer who has to go hearding them up again. We stopped and chatted to the other couple. They were out on a DR650 and an XT250. It was her first ride on the dirt. They thought we were brave on our bikes without knobbies... and they didn't see the mud we'd ridden through earlier !!!
From molesworth we headed up the highway to Mansfield for the night. An earlier phone call to the Kevington hotel, my original planned destination revealed they were short of beds this weekend. From Merton to Bonnie Doon we followed a black police car up the highway. just before the Bonnie Doon bridge we saw another unmarked Ford Territory which had stopped a car heading west. At the bridge the black car headed for his hiding spot at the end of the bridge.. at the other end of the bridge was another police car which had a car pulled over there. He flagged us down for a licence and rego check.
After we'd checked into a hotel in Mansfield we saw all three police cars parked there.. Cops from Melbourne sent up to patrol the highway for the weekend.
Sunday morning after a good sleep in we hit the road about 10am. Plan for today was as simple. I programmed the following destinations into the TomTom and told it to take me the shortest route between them.
Tolmie
Tatong
Swanpool
Lima East
Strathbogie
Ruffy
Dropmore
Yea
Kinglake
home
This would surely take us down some interesting back roads and forest roads... and we were not disappointed...
A back road to Tolmie, then into a state forest from Tolmie to Tatong. This was about 30km of quite varied road and terrain, mostly in good condition, but some corners churned up by log trucks... some areas logged, others heavily treed..
We stopped in Swanpool for morning tea, and who should be right outside the general store where we stopped but the cops in the black police car we'd followed the previous afternoon and seen at the motel. They seemed to be doing pretty good business this weekend. We turned off on the East Lima Rd, where we came across this strange railway crossing.. according to the plaque this was the site of the Lima railway station which operated from 1914 to 1947.
The Lima Station site was about 100metres from the road, but still distinguisable in the terrain. Earlier we'd passed a sign just like this one in Tatong. Realised that it was the site of another long gone railway station.
Differing terrain and road conditions through the Strathbogie State Forest but mostly pretty good condition roads though the churned up mud on these hairpins kept us awake.
interesting image with planation pine on one side of the road and native gums on the other
From Strathbogie we headed to Ruffy for lunch, then followed Tomtom's directions back to Dropmore and Highland, where we found this interesting monument to the region's pioneers.
There on we were back on the Yea-Ghin Ghin road, for the 20km run back down to Yea. Headed to the eastern end of town and down a sidestreet to the Melba Hwy. Midway down there was a police RBT set up. 3 cars. 1 black one, a white one, and an unmarked Ford Territory. As I pulled up I flipped up the Nolan and gave them a bit of "I wish you fellas would stop stalking us."
Thereon we headed down the Melba Hwy to Glenburn, then into Kinglake via this recently sealed road... then down the south side of the Kinglake national park following the HT powerlines down the side of the hill and home again (via the carwash).
the GPS tracks are here...
http://www.thisstupidurl.com/2008/GSbreakinRide/10May2008.kml
http://www.thisstupidurl.com/2008/GSbreakinRide/11May2008.kml
I had sort of plotted out a route on the Tomtom but adjusted this as we went and I had more of an idea of what sort of average speed we'd be making.
Headed out to Yarra Glen and took the Steels creek turnoff for the run up Mt Slide..
then out to Toolangi and took the Mt St Leonards turnoff... this road was quite wet and muddy and as soon as we started to climb we were in cloud, very limited visibility, unknown road, muddy, steep... but lots of fun
down the other side of the mountain, we're below the fog again, the roads are dryer and the speed increases a bit.. until we find a tree down over the road...
First jo tried a bit of muscle to move it...
a 4WDer tried a bit of his muscle to shift it out of the way for us..
in the end we built a little ramp out of smaller logs and branches...
and my chance to out-do Evel Knievel
Through Murrundini Scenic Reserve, up Murrundindi road
Then onto Frog Pond road which landed us on the Goulburn Valley Highway just east of Yea.
After lunch in yea, headed towards Seymour for 3km then took the Ghin Ghin turnoff. This was a teriffic 20km of sealed twisties up to Highland, then we turned back onto a dirt road towards Molesworth. A few KM down this road we came across some cows on the road.. .which then proceeded to run along the road ahead of us. Ahead I could see a couple of other bikes, and more cows. Initially I thought the farmer was hearding his cows down the road and we had picked up a few stragglers and were doing him a favour.. but after probably 1-2km saw the other bikes had got ahead of the cows.. and when we got to them a few took off again down the road. A few bends later the other bikes had stopped and the cows we had hearded towards them stopped too. Fortunately the cows finally stood to the side and we were able to pass.. pity the farmer who has to go hearding them up again. We stopped and chatted to the other couple. They were out on a DR650 and an XT250. It was her first ride on the dirt. They thought we were brave on our bikes without knobbies... and they didn't see the mud we'd ridden through earlier !!!
From molesworth we headed up the highway to Mansfield for the night. An earlier phone call to the Kevington hotel, my original planned destination revealed they were short of beds this weekend. From Merton to Bonnie Doon we followed a black police car up the highway. just before the Bonnie Doon bridge we saw another unmarked Ford Territory which had stopped a car heading west. At the bridge the black car headed for his hiding spot at the end of the bridge.. at the other end of the bridge was another police car which had a car pulled over there. He flagged us down for a licence and rego check.
After we'd checked into a hotel in Mansfield we saw all three police cars parked there.. Cops from Melbourne sent up to patrol the highway for the weekend.
Sunday morning after a good sleep in we hit the road about 10am. Plan for today was as simple. I programmed the following destinations into the TomTom and told it to take me the shortest route between them.
Tolmie
Tatong
Swanpool
Lima East
Strathbogie
Ruffy
Dropmore
Yea
Kinglake
home
This would surely take us down some interesting back roads and forest roads... and we were not disappointed...
A back road to Tolmie, then into a state forest from Tolmie to Tatong. This was about 30km of quite varied road and terrain, mostly in good condition, but some corners churned up by log trucks... some areas logged, others heavily treed..
We stopped in Swanpool for morning tea, and who should be right outside the general store where we stopped but the cops in the black police car we'd followed the previous afternoon and seen at the motel. They seemed to be doing pretty good business this weekend. We turned off on the East Lima Rd, where we came across this strange railway crossing.. according to the plaque this was the site of the Lima railway station which operated from 1914 to 1947.
The Lima Station site was about 100metres from the road, but still distinguisable in the terrain. Earlier we'd passed a sign just like this one in Tatong. Realised that it was the site of another long gone railway station.
Differing terrain and road conditions through the Strathbogie State Forest but mostly pretty good condition roads though the churned up mud on these hairpins kept us awake.
interesting image with planation pine on one side of the road and native gums on the other
From Strathbogie we headed to Ruffy for lunch, then followed Tomtom's directions back to Dropmore and Highland, where we found this interesting monument to the region's pioneers.
There on we were back on the Yea-Ghin Ghin road, for the 20km run back down to Yea. Headed to the eastern end of town and down a sidestreet to the Melba Hwy. Midway down there was a police RBT set up. 3 cars. 1 black one, a white one, and an unmarked Ford Territory. As I pulled up I flipped up the Nolan and gave them a bit of "I wish you fellas would stop stalking us."
Thereon we headed down the Melba Hwy to Glenburn, then into Kinglake via this recently sealed road... then down the south side of the Kinglake national park following the HT powerlines down the side of the hill and home again (via the carwash).
the GPS tracks are here...
http://www.thisstupidurl.com/2008/GSbreakinRide/10May2008.kml
http://www.thisstupidurl.com/2008/GSbreakinRide/11May2008.kml
Last edited: