English Corner – That’s All of Australia A ride around Victoria is visually like a ride around England but without the ugly parts. Everywhere resembles somewhere and everything is named for somewhere in the old country. We have visited Sale, Quorn, Stratford, Richmond, Anglesea, Torquay, Peterborough (more than one), Kingston … the list goes on. …
Author Archives: colindotpdx
Grand Ridge Ride The Grand Ridge Road (when Australians say “road” it does sound like “ride”) is 132km of motorcycle delight that runs along the ridge of the Strzelecki Ranges with occasional glimpses of the Bass Strait between here and Tasmania. This is the most southerly point in our little adventure. The route is a …
Ghosts of Fires Past Riding on the Great Alpine Road in Victoria’s High Country is an eerily beautiful experience. Leaving Bright and heading south over Mount Hotham, you climb to around 6,000 feet very quickly and pass through clearly distinct layers from grassy valleys with grazing cattle to steeply wooded hills to an alpine tortured …
Don’t be THAT guy, Don’t be the guy that leaves the wireless remote key to his BMW on the back of the bike instead of in his pocket, The guy who then rides off so the key falls off in the street. The guy that luckily made it back to the bike rental place before …
Ned Kelly – Such Is Life. Ned Kelly is Australia’s only folk hero. Was he a rebel fighting for those downtrodden by the earlier squatters or simply a thief and murderer with a good marketing plan? Well he could have been both and he is certainly remembered for his last stand in 1880 at which …
The Great Ocean Koala Today we tackled the Great Ocean Road from Port Campbell to Geelong – 200 Km of spectacularness and fun on two wheels. We also threw in a dirt road loop up through the Otway National Park to Gellibrand – extra credit and extra fun through unlogged temperate rain forest. Hard to …
The Wombat of Warrnambool Backstory if you haven’t seen the delightful video. Artist decides to draw a wombat in pastel on the railway bridge by his house. Local graffiti removal guy thought it was so lovely that he sprayed it with a few coats of clearcoat to preserve it forever. Artist returns to clean off …
Roadside Kitsch – Finally We have now ridden over 3000 miles in three states in Australia and never once seen a stupid corny “roadside attraction” … until today. If we had driven 3000 miles around America, I can guarantee we would have seen a statue of Paul Bunyan with an axe, or a man made …
Rocket Men in Woomera Woomera is the location of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) base that supervises the missile test range that was setup jointly with the RAF after the Second World War. Initially it was over 100,000 square miles – the area of New Zealand or Colorado – but now it’s half that …
From Quorn to Adelaide – A Ride Through Science and Time In 1865, George Goyder the Surveyor-General of South Australia rode over 3000 Km to develop a map that would help farmers decide where they could plant crops. He drew a line across the colony that roughly corresponded to 10 inches of rain per year …
Colin's Travel Journal 