DazzaB Adventures

If you want to see one of the most beautiful areas of Australia then make sure you visit the Victorian Alps. Spectacular in Winter and breath taking in Summer I just can’t get enough of all the little towns and great vistas around Bright, Mt Hotham and Omeo.

Sadly a very large area of the forest was destroyed in a bush fire two weeks ago. The entire road up to Mt Hotham was burned out. Considering it rained for days following the fire I’m amazed they managed to get the road open so quickly but they did a great job. There was even a worker stopping traffic to explain what parts of the road were still dangerous and down to one lane.

This long weekend I met up with an old friend that I haven’t had the chance to ride with for almost two years. He lives in Melbourne now so we agreed to head up/down the Hume highway meeting half way at Albury NSW. After a nice lunch in town it was time to ride. Day one we headed to Corryong along a wonderful road that runs around Lake Hume. On the second day we headed for Mt Beauty and Bright in Victoria.

The pub in Bright was busy but they still make great pizzas so we joined in the fun. To make things even more special there were two of my favourite cars on display and a band playing oldies but goodies.

I don’t think it’s possible to find better roads to ride on then we enjoyed. Day three started off with a quick run to the top of Mt Buffalo for a cold drink at the Dingo Cafe.

The ride home on the Hume highway is typically incredibly boring but it’s hard to be bored when the weather is perfect and the countryside is such a visual treat. I enjoyed every minute of my 1200km ride over the three days.

Every year the Motorcycle Riders Association of the ACT holds a Toy Run to raise support for local charities. This year over a a thousand people showed up and 701 motorcycles joined in the mass ride. $15,000 worth of toys and $6,000 was raised to support the Salvation Army and St John’s Care here in Canberra.

It’s such a fantastic event that I decided to go all out and shoot a short video about the event which includes some interviews, speeches from local politicians and a lot of motorcycles. Not to mention toys, toys and more toys!

Well, after a few weeks of getting to know my new bike here’s the formal introduction. I actually ordered a Kawasaki Ninja 1000. I guess my accent confused them as what I ended up with was a Cowasaki. I think I’ll call her Spot.

More photos of Spot on my Flickr account.

Another year, another fantastic Snowy Ride. This year I had the chance to catch up with friends I haven’t seen in a while. We set up camp in a lovely house just down from the village and had some great rides to Charlotte Pass, Jindabyne and Dalgety.

The numbers were a bit down this year, probably due to the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix being held the weekend before.  But that didn’t stop thousands of riders raising funds for the Steven Walter Foundation who support childhood cancer research. One lucky rider from the ACT won the grand prize of a Honda VFR1250 valued at $25,000.

If you like big loud shiny toys you’ll love these photos taken around the various ride checkpoints.

A few years ago I met some great guys who ride to support causes they believe in. I’ve had the chance to ride with them a few times and it’s always a good time. See the Riding4aCause website for more information about all their activities.

This weekend we headed North to see the Gloucestor Men’s Shed. On the way back I asked Raz why they send so many tweets and here’s what he had to say:

The Motorcycle Riders Association launched Motorcycle Awareness Week yesterday. It’s a great event with a very important message to watch out for motorcyclists on the roads. I thought it would be a perfect chance to try out my new video gear and here’s the result (be sure to turn up the resolution to High Definition if your Internet connection has the speed).

With a second three-day weekend coming up,  I decided to take a four-day weekend again and head back to the Snowy Mountains. This time Jack and I headed South via Bomballa and came back up to Omeo, Victoria following a very narrow but fun road recommended by an iPhone app of all things.

Saturday morning it was rainy but we decided to spend the day at Mt Beauty.  So off we went to ride over Mt Hotham in the rain. That turned out to be one of the worst decisions we have made in a while given we ended up literally in the clouds and spent a great deal of the ride in dense fog and freezing temperatures.

Once in Mt Beauty we settled in to a large family sized caravan, cranked up the heat to dry out and headed to the local tuck shop and video store. The rest of the day was spent watching movies, swapping jokes and just being plain lazy.

Sunday was a fantastic day of riding our favourite roads including the twisties between Mt Hotham and Mt Beauty four times! We also spent a fair amount of time riding up Mt Buffalo and enjoying a snack at the visitor centre where we met the owner of a 1970 Police Harley Davidson.

The day ended with a spirited ride along endless sweepers between Tallangatta and  Tumburumba via Walwa next to Lake Hume. If you haven’t done this ride make sure you put it on the top of your list as it’s a top ride. We then headed for Corryong to settle in before heading to the local pub for a great meal.

Monday came far too quickly but we were really looking forward to the ride from Khancoban to Thredbo and finally home. It turned out to be a top ride once again and not nearly as cold as we expected. With a nice break spent at Leather Barrel creek to enjoy the fresh air and stunning views we finally headed off to Thredbo to check out the accommodation I’ve booked for the upcoming Snowy Ride.

After that, we headed straight for our last stop in Cooma which is always good old Maccas. A short time later we were on the extremely boring Monaro highway heading back home. We made it safely home around 4pm in spite of a young driver bumping in to the rear of my bike at a round about. Just a bit of minor damage and not hard enough to knock me down so all was well.

Needless to say, we had a great time and can’t wait for the next adventure. Join us if you can.

More ride photos on my Flickr account. If you are interested in exactly where we ride have a look at the ride map on my Spotwalla page.

When Jack and I go for a ride we go for a ride, 1900 kilometers this time around.

Spring has sprung so off we went to the coast for our first long ride of the season. The next day we made it to the Snowy mountains only to be turned back at the entrance gate to Kosciuszko National Park due to weather conditions. No worries, we simply rode around the Snowy Mountains staying in Talbingo near Tumut on the way.

The next day we ended up in Bright for the night after a fantastic ride to the Victorian side of the mountains. On day four we headed to the top of Mt Hotham followed by a ride up the Omeo Highway (including the 20kms of dirt in the middle). We made it back home about 8pm.

We are already planning the next Snowy Ride which for us is the following weekend believe it or not. Stay tuned…

If you want to see why we enjoy these rides so much have a look at some of the photos on my Flick account.

Fifteen days after the start of the 2012 Black Dog Ride we have returned safely having traveled 7,200 kilometres. The stories and photographs are coming in but overall it was an amazing experience.

Five hundred riders participated with over 300 riders from all over Australia doing the entire ride to Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. The goal to raise $250,000 to support the great work of the Black Dog Institute was also achieved.

The Walkabout Creek Hotel in McKinlay Queensland
from the movie “Crocodile Dundee” 

There are photos posted on my Flickr account if you want to see all the lovely places that we traveled to and how much fun we had.

(Click map twice to see full view)

Three days in to the Black Dog Ride and most of us are now relaxing in Burra at the Paxton Cottages. We’ve finally made it to the wide open roads of South Australia and the great views of open plains.

After quite a few events and meeting a lot of fantastic people there’s now only a couple of meet points to go before we arrive at Port Augusta to meet the other 270 Black Dog Riders tomorrow.

At this point there’s not as much need for me to coordinate the ride so I’ve been riding with a couple of friends and ‘riding my own ride’ . I won’t be attending many of the functions from this point on and spending more time riding and exploring.  Who knows what I will find over the next 6,000kms? It’s quite an adventure, to say the least.