Phillip Island, 29 Dec 2011 – 3 Jan 2012

Participants: Ian & Sally Paterson Honda GL1800

Old friends who live half the year on Phillip Island and the other half in British Columbia – but who are now spending two years in Peru – were back home on the island for Christmas-New Year and they invited Sally and me to join them for a few days.

With the best weather forecast of the summer ahead, we loaded the bike, jumped aboard – and didn’t even make it to the end of our street. The Wing was wobbling from side to side and when we got off to check, the back tyre was flat. I gingerly rode back home while Sally walked sheepishly, helmet in hand.

I eventually figured out that the tyre was probably OK but that something had made the valve start leaking when I had the tyres topped up the previous afternoon. I used my 40-year-old hand pump to get the tyre to about half pressure and rode to Jax for a new valve core and a refill.

Chanting “better late than never”, we got back on board and, two hours later than intended, headed off up the Barton Highway, not really knowing whether the tyre was going to stay inflated or not. By the time we pulled in at Jugiong for a coffee at the Long Track Pantry the weather was perfect, the scenery was magnificent, the traffic was moderate, the rear tyre was still fat (not flat) and all was well with the world.

We turned off at South Gundagai and took one of our favourite roads through Tumut and Batlow to Tumbarumba for lunch at the 4 Bears Café (recommended – great burgers!). From there we headed south-west on a newly renovated road bursting with smooth sweeping bends to Jingellic, followed the south bank of the Murray River and full-as-a-tick Lake Hume to Wodonga (another great road) and tootled down the freeway to Wangaratta. We stayed in a cabin at the Big4 North Cedars and dined on juicy steaks at the historic Vine Hotel.

On day two the roads got even better. From Wangaratta, C521 (route numbers are the best way to navigate in Victoria if you don’t have a GPS) took us up the beautiful King Valley to Whitfield and over the range to the cattle and ski town of Mansfield. The 63 kilometres from Whitfield to Mansfield is nothing short of awesome! Bend after bend, twist after twist, with big views over deep, steep gorges but nowhere to stop to take photos. Oddly, coming down the Mansfield side of the range every bend had a 45 km/hr advisory sign whether we took it at 40 or 80. We could only presume that the road workers had a truck full of left-over 45 km/hr signs and couldn’t be bothered going back to the depot for any others.

From Mansfield we rode west on the Maroondah Highway (various route numbers), skirting around Lake Eildon to Alexandra for coffee and then south on the same highway (now B360) towards Melbourne. This was part of the country devastated in the Black Saturday bushfires of February 2009, and riding through mile after mile of blackened forest brought back discomfiting feelings and memories of the 2003 Canberra firestorm. The trees are now sprouting new growth but it was still an eerie ride, particularly as Pink Floyd’s “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” was playing in our headphones.

We took a detour through Marysville, which was pretty much destroyed on Black Saturday but is slowly rebuilding and was packed with tourists, and got back onto the highway at the start of the Black Spur, one of Victoria’s most raved-about motor cycle roads.

Fortunately, there were stop-go road works at the base of the climb and we, along with two other bikes, got to the front of the queue. Once we got the green light, we didn’t see another vehicle all the way to Healesville.

The Black Spur’s reputation is well deserved. It is only 25km but it is simply one of the finest roads I’ve ridden anywhere in Australia. It climbs up almost endlessly, winding through a spectacular forest of giant mountain ash and tall tree ferns, until it crests the range and performs a breathtaking encore all the way down to Healesville. By the time Sally and I stopped in Healesville for lunch, we were both in the mythical seventh heaven. Yea, though I ride through the valley of the shadow of mountain ash, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; my Gold Wing and my wife, they comfort me. And I was very comforted!

From Healesville it was but a hop, skip and a jump up the Yarra Valley to Woori Yallock – with a detour up to Warburton and back – Cockatoo, Pakenham, Koo-wee-rup and on to Phillip Island.

We spent three nights on the island and returned home via Gippsland, including a great little back road that followed an elevated ridge through steeply rolling dairy country from Dalyston through Archies Creek and Krowera to Loch. From Loch we travelled through Korumburra, Leongatha, Mirboo North and Churchill to avoid Morwell and join the Princes Highway at Traralgon. It was a pretty warm day – it got up to 37° near Bairnsdale – but we had a pleasant lunch and a snooze at Lakes Entrance and spent the night at Orbost on the Snowy River (excellent steaks at The Orbost Club). On day six we rode home via Cann River, Bombala and Cooma after a truly wonderful 1750km ride.

Ian Paterson