1190 Day 1 (Monday 27/03)

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I flew outta Darwin on an unspectacular but absolutely packed Jetstar flight just after midnite and didn't sleep a bit. My vision of a perfect sun-filled trip were dashed as grey skies and rain welcomed me to Sydney. I lugged my 35kgs of luggage round Central Station until sweaty and excited, even nervous (?) I finally managed to catch the 7:34 train to Windsor. Joe picked me up from the station and we managed to solve a few of the world's problems whilst travelling to his place. A great coffee and yummy bacon/egg roll fortified me for the day whilst en route. The virtually unmarked 1190 checked out so we did the sell/buy thing before 2+ hrs was then spent packing and re-packing the beast, then fitting into all my gear plus wets as the rain was persisting! 😞 I set "Kate" to rain mode and tentatively blasted off down the dirt driveway, off to collect a swag for the trip. It didnt take long to have my 1st "oops"... about half an hour and 40 kms was all. When parking and dismounting the bike at Wilberforce it's top heaviness, combined with my packing and a shortish side stand, brought her over with me and she came to rest against a corner post/mail box leaving a couple of "witness marks". I was barely able to upright the thing by myself. Fark! Unmarked she was no more. 😞 Hitting the road again I found out something new, placing a full sized swag across your pillion seat means your mirrors show a great view of said swag and nothing else! Anyhow, Bells Line Rd took my mind off my problems as even under grey skies the riding was great and views spectacular. I saw more corners in that hour or than I have in 12 years living in the Territory. The sun poked its head through the clouds at Lithgow so I removed my wets, tweaked my quadlock/phone setup, and had a drink before launching towards Bathurst and onto Parkes - about 220 kms away. Over time the mountainous terrain gave way to rolling hills, then sheep filled plains. The road surface was best described as "variable" with plenty of "rough surface" warnings and lowered speed limits. Average speeds were up though as there were much more straights now which suited the Kato which had somehow switched from "rain" to "sport" mode unleasing all of its 150 Austrian horses. 😉

I rolled into Parkes just before dark, filled up at the BP and went to nearest pub for a beer. I hadnt even taken my 1st sip when fellow bike rider Sarah messaged and opened her Parkes home to me. This was very welcome considering I hadn't slept much over the last 36 hrs and didnt want to setup/packup amongst the automn showers that just wouldnt go away. The lamb steaks and veg were also very welcome! 😉 We regaled each other of past glories and consumed a few beverages before calling it about 11pm and crawling into a real bed (!) for the night. So much more comfy and fun than what I had originally planned!

Day 1 total KTM kms = 340 (+ 4,000 via plane).

Day 2 plan - check out "The Dish" and the obligatory photo. Then visit Cowra to brush up on my knowledge of the breakout before shooting south-west, aiming for Bendigo and staying for 2 nights.

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