Today we left Canberra about 7am, me on my Super Tenere and my mate and his wife on their Road King. It was a little cloudy and a little cool (about 8 degrees) but not much wind about. The first stop was Cooma for fuel. Traffic was light, the rozzers were out so it was a meandering trip through the very green hills and valleys looking at views, cows, sheep and the occasional chunk of road kill.
Cooma came fairly quickly so fuel was a splash and dash and we headed further into the mountains to Jindabyne where we stopped for bacon and egg rolls and some decent coffee. There was no rush today despite having a plan to do 700k's plus, we didn't really care where we ended up for the night. The no plan plan.
There were lots of bikes about, which was a little surprising given the Snowy Ride was on the previous weekend. The chef at the cafe told us that there was a big bike show on at Bombala and that's where most of the bikes were going to end up. He suggested we drop in but neither @officerhardass nor I had time to let people gawk at our bikes and weren't planning on going to Bombala, we were going to Eden. The chef looked at us in a slightly puzzed way and I discovered why as we passed through Bombala to get to Eden. The no plan plan!
Heading down the mountains to the coast we passed so many bikes coming the other way we gave up nodding and waving, rude I know. We hit the coast at Perambula, turned south and spent a little time in Eden having a bit of a poke around, checking out the big pile of woodchips you can see from the Eden Lookout and taking some pics.
After fuelling up and leaving Eden we headed south west into Victoria (the dreaded TAC land, I'll never understand the stupidity of the authorities in this state when it comes to motorcycles). The next stop was the Cann River Bakery for lunch where there was a very nice girl from the Netherlands who I mistakenly thought was Fijian. During lunch Kritte clearly demonstrated why it's difficult to eat slice that's heavily dusted with icing sugar while laughing.
After lunch it was time to head back into the mountains, the ultimate plan was to find out way up the back road to Falls Creek but my Tomtom Rider wasn't having a bar of suggesting a route that looked anything like our cursory glances at Google Maps the week before. We rode past Orbost and got fuel, the service station attendant not at all helpful with directions tried to sell us a map (tool). So the decision was taken to head to Omeo on the Great Alpine Road.
What a sensation ride that was, late afternoon fiding alongside the river, bend after bend after bend. Sadly there were quite a number of horse floats being towed the other way so we definitely stayed away from the center line but the oncoming traffic was well behaved and we managed to settle in and enjy the ride. It was the first time I've had a chance to ride this sort of winding road on the Super Tenere. It's amazing how nimble it is and how far it tips in. Not a hint of "top heaviness" which belies how it looks it might be. Awesome!
We arrived at Omeo about 5pm, Tomtom still trying to send us in a direction that just felt wrong. I tried to consult the iPad and Apple's new crap maps but 3G was dodgy and the decision was taken to find some accommodation and work out where we'd go next over some beers.
The local hotel was booked out and we were pointed to Snug as a Bug across the road as an alternative. It looked like a renovated shop, and it was. The lady running it was a real card, she thought I was funny but didn't like @officerhardass too much. She showed us to our rooms, the accommodation was a little unusual but it was clean and worth the $100.
Then we went back to the hotel for some beers and sensational chicken parma. The hotel had been booked out by a bunch of MG enthusiasts and also be a group of riders on their annual "Not the Snowy Ride". Plenty of discussion of bikes and lots of questions about the Super Tenere. Luckily routes were also discussed and one of the riders told us that we had been on the right track, all we had to do was to leave Omeo in the direction opposite to the advice Tomtom was giving us. Too easy!
A few more beers, a gin and tonic and back to get Snug as a Bug and a good night's sleep.
Only about 700k's for the day on the Super Tenere, nice and easy.