Ducati Monster Forum

It's late winter.  There's been lots of rain.  

But not today.  

Today the sun shone, skies were blue and with the temperature nudging mid-twenties Celsius spring was in the air.

A good day to saddle up the DR650 and go [Dolph] [Dolph] around the neighbourhood back roads.

So much rain makes the hills as green as can be...
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5536/9633447195_cbbd35235a_k.jpg)

The rivers and creeks are in swollen full flow..
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5457/9636683332_28555ac7dd_k.jpg)

(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5339/9633436433_ccce2517b7_k.jpg)

(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7398/9633432277_b097504657_k.jpg)

Sun thru the canopy and the tree ferns below...
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7339/9636666318_1cf1a9eae3_k.jpg)

Creek crossing... the approach (from the far side) was pretty muddy...
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7369/9637284164_05d3d74aa6_k.jpg)

Winter brings the Wattle trees out in fabulous yellow bloom...
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7406/9633421963_db4fbaa938_k.jpg)

(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2856/9633411919_99c82acff5_k.jpg)

(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3703/9636646644_53cc3d9b2a_k.jpg)

Roadside tree ferns and the tall Eucalyptus timber beyond....
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7326/9633398919_745931d1e2_k.jpg)

These are working forests... meeting a speeding log truck is a lesson in 'get the make the beast with two backs out of the way'  [laugh]
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5491/9633393287_d5a29d84e5_k.jpg)

A logged out coop...
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3813/9633389065_8a191caa9e_k.jpg)

Looking south... the peninsula in the background to the right of the windmills is Wilsons Promontory.  The most southerly point on the Australian mainland...
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3717/9636626860_18d324038a_k.jpg)

A closer look towards Wilsons Prom..
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7294/9636609438_b6970a6d6b_k.jpg)
above pic taken from this location...
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2812/9636606722_301276b4ec_k.jpg)

DR650 lurking in the shrubs...
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3775/9633376853_08cbfd9cbc_k.jpg)

Foster Dam...
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7292/9633359763_7baeea10f4_k.jpg)
...the surveying engineer on this Dam project is a friend of mine...
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7405/9636603360_074b5a161d_k.jpg)

Heading back up into the hills once again took me past Turtons Falls...
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7425/9636597712_dae52aad9d_k.jpg)
In summer there will be barely a trickle.  But plenty water right now...
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7389/9636592584_585e25bb56_k.jpg)

Turtons Creek..
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7417/9636588534_7fdf000a95_k.jpg)

Selfie..
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3686/9636584254_ee75d9ee44_k.jpg)

Spring is definitely in the air...
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5322/9633318503_7f3034f2be_k.jpg)

Where the tracks have been muddy the Shire throws down stone big enough to make railway ballast blush.. makes for interesting riding..
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7390/9636624198_a549b9e957_k.jpg)

Back amongst the green hills...
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7397/9636580564_9be9483c6f_k.jpg)

Almost home now.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5454/9633311493_5f46990f6d_k.jpg)

(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5324/9636562556_d62ee404a5_k.jpg)
Wildlife encountered on this ride:
Three death wish Wallabies
One Kangaroo
Countless Wombats (all of 'em road traffic fatalities - not of my doing I hasten to add)
Zero Koalas

Pretty nice neighborhood   [thumbsup]

I'll say

[thumbsup]

OK Steve so where's my airplane ticket... ;) ;)

Thanks for the really nice pics.. [thumbsup]

Geoff... [coffee]

beautiful!  [thumbsup] thanks for sharing :)

Thanks for the kind comments guys and TiNis  :)

One of these years maybe I can get you ALL down here for a dimbyDU  [thumbsup]

That would be awesome!

Wonder what it costs to ship a bike there and back...

Too much... ~ $1500 each way?

We'll just have to take turns  [laugh]

Damn it sure looks nice there. I sell tattoo supplies for a living, my high time of year is spring/summer, low time is winter. I've always wanted to go to Oz to work when it got slow here...live an endless summer kind of thing.

Thanks for the ride, Mate. Now I believe I'll head out.  [thumbsup] [Dolph]

Too bad everything crawling down there is poisonous.  ;D

Nice snaps however!

Very nice Ung!

Some of the pics remind me a lot of my home "town" or lack thereof

Nice work Unge.

Thanks for the mini trip.  I love visiting OZ! 

It's refreshing to be in a place that's completely backwards from where I live.  A country founded by criminals and governed by noblemen.  What a concept!

The koalas only attack foreigners.


On the bike the crawlers are the least of your problems ... until you stop and put your gear down.

Off the bike you should be more mindful of those that slither ... and stay outta the water - the swimmers can be bad but the floaters hold the real poison.

Awesome!  Seeing those Cicads reminded me of being the the Palm Valley!  That is some really awesome scenery, thanks for sharing!  I wanna go back.

JM

So ya reckon if ya post here rather than on ozmo, ya won't cop flak for riding a chook chaser?

Or cop any abuse commiserations that the saints season is now over?

Surely that was the real reason to go for a ride on a chook chaser. Life must be pretty dull with no footy.

Maybe you could set a dwarf on fire...

[laugh]

Please come to the next Dimby

Ah, pero se olvida .... sin tener en cuenta que no voy a sufrir abusos porque yo no hablo Inglés, mi amigo (http://www.advrider.com/forums/images/smilies/bandit.gif).

Thanks.  Yeah, there are advantages to having a lack thereof for a home town.

If you do come back down this way, I'll find you some wheels to ride JM  [thumbsup].

Coward!

 Not at all.  I was just being polite  :-*.

Alien concept for Collingwood ferals though, eh.

looks awesome, thanks for sharing.

Whoa, beautiful scenery and beautiful pictures  [thumbsup] [thumbsup]
It must be great to ride there... thanks for sharing Unge.

wow, that's quite beautiful.

Beautiful landscape.  I've been wanting to visit Oz for a long time... seeing these pics just makes it more so.

Thanks for sharing.  [thumbsup]

Google Translate is not helping  ;D

Nice pics - thanks for sharing [Dolph]

Footy = soccer  Australian rules football (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_rules_football)
Chook chaser = "chicken chaser" (clapped-out old POS bike or moped... only good for chasing chickens)

"Dwarf on fire" reference:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-2409913/Clinton-Jones-sets-dwarf-Aussie-Rules-Mad-Monday.html (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-2409913/Clinton-Jones-sets-dwarf-Aussie-Rules-Mad-Monday.html)


EDIT: Corrected "Footy" reference.

Pretty good work. 

You're wrong about soccer though.

Footy = AFL   >>   http://www.afl.com.au/ (http://www.afl.com.au/)

Collingwood facts   >>   http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/30628-the-encyclopaedia-of-collingwood-jokes/ (http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/30628-the-encyclopaedia-of-collingwood-jokes/)

Whups, see what I know about other countries...  :-[  (previous post corrected)

And wow, there are some real zingers in that "Collingwood facts" list!  [laugh]

[thumbsup]  All true too.




... for an insane moment there I thought I could steer this thread back on track  :-\ [bang] [bang] [laugh] [laugh]

Don't let that worry you. Football (soccer) is the most popular of the four major 'football' codes in Australia ... the other three are based on carrying the ball in your hands so calling them football may seem odd to those not indoctrinated.

Oh and most of those codes have derivative forms of 'their' game as well - so footy is a pretty generic term and used widely.

I think you probably know that you're misleading our foreign friends a little there.  Depends what you mean by popularity.  

"Footy" is a widely used generic term, you're right.  But its not widely used when referring to soccer.

What's Australia's national soccer team known as?

The Footyroos?  The Footballroos??

Nope.  They're the Socceroos  [thumbsup].

 [cheeky] Not really ... because I doubt they really care [laugh]

Good point.

So those who would like to continue with footy talk can do so over in here instead  :P >>  http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=65063.0 (http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=65063.0)

Some good roads for a 750 Elefant I spose? I'm no dirt rider though, so you'd have to wait for me.

I'm getting used to having to wait for you Tony  ;) ;) [laugh]

Let me know when you get the Elefant and we'll go get it dirty  [thumbsup]

Cool. I'm getting slower and slower on the road ;D.
I'd like to do an overnighter down that way on a flump.
I'll know tomorrow if my bids sucessful.

Cooold. :P

Tony is pretty quick on the road.... something must've been distracting him that day  [evil]

I feel safe on the track, but have lost my nerve on the street 8).
The young drivers are on drugs and the old drivers have dementia :o  [laugh]
Im becoming the old fart on the adventure bike.

Will do a southern ride to Ungerville as it warms up.

Cheeky bugger! 8)

Sorry, I lumped Australia in with "the rest of the world" with the term footy.  I forgot Oz is more like America's mirror image south of the equator... your own language, lifestyle, attitudes, worldview... and a strong independent streak.  I have referred to it in the past: "Australia is the Texas of the Commonwealth".    [cheeky]

Anyway...

Wish it was cost-effective to bring my Cagiva down there.  The combo of dirt and pavement in the OP looks just about right.  [Dolph]

If my employer ever sends me down to our Australian subsidiary, I'll have to see if any of the Aussie DMFers are within a reasonable distance, maybe rent a bike and go riding.

I feel pretty much the same way.

Wow, gorgeous pics!!   [Dolph]   [beer]

Wanna borrow my chook chaser?   ;D

(http://pmd.foxsports.com.au/images/2013/09/07/278424_640x360.jpg)

http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-premiership/rank-underdog-port-adelaide-produce-stunning-performance-to-end-collingwoods-season/story-e6frf3e3-1226714420223#.Uiuuvz-Zg24 (http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-premiership/rank-underdog-port-adelaide-produce-stunning-performance-to-end-collingwoods-season/story-e6frf3e3-1226714420223#.Uiuuvz-Zg24)

(http://d26ya5yqg8yyvs.cloudfront.net/yelrotflmao.gif)

  :'(