One change is immediately noticeable: Just south east of Port Augusta a whole road network is visible on my GPS again; most of the time there was only one so far… But the more south I rode, the colder it got and I’ve already sent by warm clothes back to Germany.
Clare is the goal of this trip. The area is well known for its vineries. Unfortunately I end up in a Riesling area, not mine at all.
From Clare it’s just a short but nice ride to Burra. Founded because of its copper deposits, Burra has installed a 11ks heritage trail – all about life an work in a copper mine. Very interesting and well done.

Next stop is Adelaide. More and more I realize that I’d need a longer rest. And I have good luck: The campground is just next to the river Torrens and there’s a lovely 5ks walking trail straight into the city centre. Pretty nice.

Furthermore the Tarnanthi Festival of contemporary aboriginal art takes place in town. No entrance fees are applied and so I enjoyed the days in galleries and museums.

Adelaide is a relaxed and beautiful town. Lots of young people are living here. A good place to be.

The Adelaide Hills invite you for a slow cruise through the vineries. In the early days it were obviously Germans who settled in this area first, so there’re still a number of villages with German names. Hahndorf is one of them.

Kitsch as kitsch can. Maybe some Japanese tourist might enjoy this place but I left as soon as possible again.

On Maggies advice I registered for the horizons unlimited meet up (www.horizonsunlimited.com) in Marysville. It’s still some days ahead so I have plenty of time to ride to Victoria.
Stopping in Mount Gambier was a good decision. The area is dominated volcanic and offers crater, sinkholes and caves.

Beautiful hiking tracks are waiting to be discovered and moving is always a good idea. I also took my time just to read a newspaper in the part and having a coup of coffee with it. I hardly did things like these so far. To say it with Lenny Kravitz: Always On The Run!
From Mount Gambier it is just a short ride to the Great Ocean Road. Apollo Bay will be the first stop on this road. The ride to Apollo Bay is just awesome and diversified: hills, bents, tall trees, partly rainforests and lots of impressive lookouts.

Well, the first leg was just beautiful and the second one is supposed to be even better.

After two rainy days in Apollo Bay, trapped most of the time in the tent (greetings to Susan and Vorkan!!) I was off for Melbourne. I had to ride into the city, because the ferry to Tasmania departs from here. I tried to book a ticket online but had to learn that the ferries are booked until mid of December. Shock!! I didn’t want to believe it and in fact the guys at the ticket counter were quite optimistic that they probably could squeeze me in – it’s just a small motorcycle… but it would only work on a stand by modus. Anyway!
An appointment with BMW Southbank was made quickly in order to get service for my bike after almost 20,000ks on tour. And then I hit the road for Marysville. The winding road through the mountains with its huge eucalyptus trees was just beautiful. Though I couldn’t really enjoy the ride: I remember as if it was yesterday the devastating fire back in 2009, still knowing exactly the fuel station in Florida where we were shocked by the pictures on TV. Almost 140 people were killed in the fire. You won’t forget something like that.
The horizons unlimited meet up took place on the camp area which was built to reconstruct the completely burnt village. The meeting was actually a bit smaller than expected. 100 pax approx. made it to here. Even more I was happy to see Tony again. Meg, Tony and I were neighbours in Alice Springs and had nice conversations.
I also met Henning, a German guy who’s travelling around the world in order to collect donations. Further information on
www.ride-of-smiles.com

Apart of that there were wonderful presentations from people who obviously have been all over the world already. Got a little bit the feeling of not being more than a Sunday afternoon rider (but only when the sun’s shining…)

At the end of the weekend I was invited by Tony to stay in his house for a couple of days. How nice is that???? I look forward to seeing Meg again and it were just beautiful days in Melbourne.

Tony also helped me with my almost ripped clutch cable.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
Tassi, here I come!