So yesterday’s adventure had me riding through a mountain. Switchback city! I was so excited! Liz however, was not thrilled. She has now been deemed a Flatlander. We started in Lakes Entrance, VIC then to Omeo, Milawa, the Kelly Tree Walk, and on to Mansfield for the night. Total trip was only 420km or 250 miles but with the marvelous twisties, it took all day. We also experienced a VERY primitive road on the way to the Kelly Tree. As I am not very versed in unpaved roads, it was slow going on my part but I learned so much about offroad riding. A blip of the throttle got me through a nasty bit of small boulders when the handlebars when to flopping. A cheshire grin ensued after that little bit of learning.
So let me backtrack a bit and talk about the Alpine Mountain. The speed limit through that area is 80 km/h or 50 mph American so the short of it, with the sharpness of the turns, I was between 3rd and 5th gear on the motorbike. It was amazing how courteous other drivers in their boxes with four wheels pulled over to let me pass by. At the bottom of the mountain is a town called Harrietville, a stop on the Great Alpine Road. I saw a public toilet and pulled over with a shit eating grin on my face for conquering the mountain. Trust me, it challenged me but was amazing. I messaged Liz, who was a distance behind me to let her know where I stopped and proceeded to take off my gear and use the facilities. I had no idea how far behind she was but when she messaged back ok, I knew she hadn’t fallen off the mountain.
Between seven and ten minutes later Liz pulls into the parking lot at the public toilet and I am going to let her words express her feelings of the mountain
“Well, this day was interesting to say the least. I’ve never been to a ski resort, nor have I wanted to, but I got the full road version today. It was like a kid just scribbled all over a piece of paper with the sharpest curves and the road people said ‘Yep, looks good!’ and built the road. I’ve also learned that motorcycle people love twisties. I, however, do not. I’m a flatlander, I have learned this through this journey. Some twists and turns are totally fine. I can’t turn that fast in a car without feeling like I’m just gonna slide right off the mountain and never be heard from again ( Don’t forget, left side of the road, wrong side of the car, and never driven in the mountains) At one point it was like the road was in the sky with no rails and a drop off on both sides. If a cloud farted I would’ve slid right off! We get down from the top, and I meet up with Alayna, who is on said motorcycle, about 5-10 min later and she is just grinning at me. I get out and ask, ‘Did you get all the twisties out of your system?! How many curves are up there?! I thought Australia was flat?!?!?!’ We were dying laughing for a good 5 minutes. I also did not look at the topography of the land. I’ve just always wanted to come to Australia. Only place I’ve ever dreamed of coming to. This has been THE BEST holiday I have ever had and I’m loving every minute of it. Me and Alayna have done so many ‘firsts’ together and I couldn’t image doing this first big trip with anyone else (Hope you had a good laugh because we sure did)”
To sum it up, AMAZING RIDE!
Liz collected her wits and onward we went towards the Kelly Tree. Now most Americans know about the infamous Billy the Kid. To keep it short and sweet, Ned Kelly is similar regarding his hijinks. He robbed banks, stole livestock and murdered police. However, there is mixed review on his antics. Some believe he was fighting for the little people Robin Hood style, and some saw him as an outlaw. I would encourage everyone to take a look at the Wikipedia page and make your own decision. Whichever you believe, his story is a famous one just like Billy the Kid in New Mexico. There have been movies made about both, that lend to the more romantic sides of their lives. However, it is true that Ned Kelly and his gang fashioned iron suits before the last battle and he was out to right the wrong of his mother’s unjust imprisonment.
The trip to the Kelly Tree was very brief. We were getting close to the golden hour and everyone, I mean EVERYONE had said, don’t ride at night. As we gathered a few pictures we hurried back to the bike/car and raced, as fast as the speed limit would allow, to the hotel.
( Don’t forget, left side of the road, wrong side of the car, and never driven in the mountains) At one point it was like the road was in the sky with no rails and a drop off on both sides. If a cloud farted I would’ve slid right off! We get down from the top, and I meet up with Alayna, who is on said motorcycle, about 5-10 min later and she is just grinning at me. I get out and ask, ‘Did you get all the twisties out of your system?! How many curves are up there?! I thought Australia was flat?!?!?!’ We were dying laughing for a good 5 minutes. I also did not look at the topography of the land. I’ve just always wanted to come to Australia. Only place I’ve ever dreamed of coming to. This has been THE BEST holiday I have ever had and I’m loving every minute of it. Me and Alayna have done so many ‘firsts’ together and I couldn’t image doing this first big trip with anyone else
(Hope you had a good laugh because we sure did
)”
2 responses to “A trip through the mountains”
Looks like you are having a great time!
Amazing! I wish I rode more when I was there.