Final Day - Seal Rocks to Wauchope.

Last nights storm turned into consistent rain overnight, although it is only a slight drizzle in the morning and i still head off exploring the beach not long after sunrise. There's no-one else about except for a dingo patrolling the high tide line for anything that had washed up overnight. Due to the weather there is no nice orange sunrise but it is still a nice time to be on the beach.

After breaky, i pack up as much as i can before dismantling my tarp/tent setup, hoping for a break in the weather. Fortunately the rain does stop and i manage to pack up without getting wet and i'm off on the last leg of the trip.
It's not far from home now but i stretch it out a little by touring the coast to Forster/Tuncurry on the Lakes Way. Usually very pretty down here but the weather is not favourable for sight seeing today. A short ride up the highway to Taree and then west to Wingham before the familiar ride through Killabakh to Toms Creek and back to Wauchope.
Lots of mixed feelings about today. I'm kind of glad to be home and am looking forward to seeing my family and dogs and also relaxing for a few days before going back to work. This has been an awesome holiday but it has been anything but relaxing!
On the other hand though, i've had an excellent trip and have enjoyed visiting so many great places, taking photos and riding in some of the best areas in the state. I have already started thinking about where i'd like to go next, and how i'd like to get setup for next time.

Random Facts and Figures.


* I had very few bike troubles. The old  640 was rock solid. A small leak in the hydro clutch was easily fixed and a hole in the exhaust caused by me forgetting to do up a strap. Honestly, I can't think of another bike that could have done the same job. A KTM 990 maybe but then i'd be still stuck on the side of that hill trying to pick it up. The old Kato and I now have a special bond after going through so much together.

*  Most days i was riding between 5 and 7 hours.I don't think i lost much weight but i am definitely a lot fitter. I also done a lot of walking when off the bike. Usually in Motocross boots and all of my bike clobber.

* Being a Boilermaker/fabricator i have pretty rough hands, but i now have new "motorbike specific" callouses! How cool is that?!!!!

* 4526 km. The total distance i covered over 18 days

* I used a total of 237.5 Litres of premium unleaded for the trip.

* My best fuel Economy was between Merimbula and Bodalla on the Far South Coast

* My worst fuel economy was 13.28 Km/L between Tubbut and Jindabyne which is not surprising as this was 200km of nice twisty dirt roads climbing into the Snowies

*Average fuel economy was 19.05 Km/L

* Nothing broke, bent, fell off or vibrated loose. 1 loose bolt for the entire trip!

* 0 punctures! I did wear out 2 Dunlop D606 rear tyres and 1 front though. The Dunlops were a great choice despite wearing rapidly. They are excellent tyres on all dirt surfaces and I had no real scary moments on wet tar at all. They were confidence inspiring.

* The bike attracted a lot of attention wherever we went. It was not unusual to pull up somewhere only to turn around and find people taking photos of it. We must have looked quite a sight at times, rolling into town covered in mud with luggage hanging off everywhere! Random blokes often gave me the thumbs up or an approving nod.

* Next time around i will be carrying a lot less gear. Some things i carried the whole way and never needed.

* All up i took over 3000 photos. Photography and motorcycle touring are a great combination. The bike takes you to some fantastic places, probably inaccessible to most people. My cheap little Canon camera proved it's worth on this trip. It got wet, (The LCD screen was all fogged up at one point,) It got sandy and it handled all of the vibration associated with being strapped to a big single cylinder dirt bike for a few weeks with no problem at all.  Stay tuned for photos! I have an awful lot of photo editing to do!

*Google Maps was a great resource in planning this trip. I knew some of the places i wanted to go but google helped me link this all together and it found me some top quality roads for the type of riding i wanted to do.  I still found the old paper maps handy though. I will learn to use my GPS mapping better before the next trip though.

* Despite some very ordinary weather, I managed to keep most of my gear dry the whole way. My Wolfman luggage proved to be very tough and also totally waterproof. Other gear was stowed in Sea to Summit dry bags and they worked perfectly. My Hike Pro tent is also a winner. Lightweight, fast to erect and dry.

* The Spot Tracker was a good thing. it allowed people to see where i was in real time. It also provided great peace of mind, both for me and my family. It was good backup to know that should the worst happen that emergency help was only the push of a button away.

* A special thankyou to my parents for all of their help in helping me prepare for this trip and also for babysitting my dogs. I know that it was no small imposition and I appreciate it greatly.
I'd also like to thank those of you have followed my journey either through this blog or my Facebook. These were very exciting times for me and it was olways nice to know that some of you were interested in what i was up to.

Day 16 - Stockton dunes to Seal Rocks

Up early today after a better than expected night's sleep in the dunes at Stockton. Of course there is sand in everything but it was still a cool spot to camp. Todays plan is to go to Seal Rocks, do some sightseeing and take some photos and the weather is looking fantastic.

rather than just run up the highway i took a detour up the Bucketts Way  and back to Bulladelah and then into Seal rocks via The Lakes Way which is a nice ride, although my bike is sounding a little odd, an exhaust leak?

Seal Rocks is a beautiful place. As it was so hot the first thing on the agenda is a swim so i strip off all of my riding gear and in for a dip at the main beach at Seal Rocks. the water here is crystal clear and there's a lot to look at along the beach and rocky headland.
next i take a walk up to Sugarloaf Point lighthouse which is .....another lighthouse and then head off in search of a nice campsite.

I ended up finding a place called Camp Treachery which is one headland south of the lighthouse. $12 for a campsite right on the beach and they have hot showers and all the ammenities! Bargain!
As i'm unloading all of my gear i find the source of  the exhaust lkeak. one of my straps has come loose and caught on a lug on the exhaust and the other end has gotten caught in the rear wheel and pulled the lug from the exhaust tearing a 10 cent piece sized hole in the muffler!

It has melted the sideplate a little bit and is not far off melting into my pannier bag. A little bush mechanics with a coke can and some metal putty and were good to go again.

 Looks like i'll have a welding job to do on my first day back at work. I took the bike for a run to test the repair and it seems fine. I am amazed at how different the bike is to ride with no luggage on board though.
I also found a bolt in the pannier rack which has come loose and i nip it up with some loctite for good measure. Thats the only loose bolt for the trip so far.

The beach at Treachery is beautiful, more crystal clear water and awesome scenery. Lots of photos here today! As with most days recently, there is a storm on the way again this evening so i head back to camp early and cook up some dinner. On the way back to camp i have a close encounter with a dingo.

It turns out there are quite a few dingo's down this way and i had a pair of them follow me from a distance up the beach