re: AUSTRALIA : Melbourne to Snowy Mountains & BACK

Travelogue approved.

Great to have you hear Rajpal, and thanks for sharing your ride report...now eagerly waiting for the rest of it.

I had visited Snow Mountains, Mt. Kosciuszko in 2017 as part of our 20,000 kms ride around Australia. It was the absolutely last leg of the ride before we finished it in Sydney, and happened to be the most memorable part as well. We found some snow as well on top.

Here's one picture from the ride.

Re: AUSTRALIA : Melbourne to Snowy Mountains & BACK

WOW. Takes a brave person to go there in Winter.

And Thanks.

NOTE: Could you please correct the Melbourne spelling to what it should be. Just noticed it.

Re: AUSTRALIA : Melbourne to Snowy Mountains & BACK

Yea..we were a bit crazy to do all those 20,000 kms on a Ninja H2 and a Ducati Panigale 1299 as well :P

Spelling fixed !

Re: AUSTRALIA : Melbourne to Snowy Mountains & BACK

Australia is heaven for Roadtripper like us Yeah i remember that #trip360 ride and applied to be part of it.
but sadly #XBHP ignored the passion and contribution by member like me and decided to bring a fame on board (no offense)

I did lot of roadtrip on 4 wheeler, though i missed my Benelli

Re: AUSTRALIA : Melbourne to Snowy Mountains & BACK

Eagerly awaiting for the rest!

Re: AUSTRALIA : Melbourne to Snowy Mountains & BACK

DAY 1: The Start

So the meet point was setup at 9:30 AM and ride start time at 10. The plan was to get to a place called Anglers Rest taking in some scenic roads and stay off the highways as much as possbile. There were some bushfires along the way so we had to be careful as well. Being Summer - bushfires can come up quickly and sometimes takes days (weeks and even months) to completely extinguish.

6 of us were going (initially the number was 7 but he had a slide on his bike a week before so was unable to make it).

Re: AUSTRALIA : Melbourne to Snowy Mountains & BACK


(Not in any order)

Re: AUSTRALIA : Melbourne to Snowy Mountains & BACK

DAY 2

After a simple dinner and an early night, rose to a nice cold morning. Weather forecast was sunny and fine with a top of 27 degrees so that was good. As the little place we were staying at had no brekfast facilities, the only option was to gear up and ride to the next town for both fuel and breakfast.

Bike ready to rollout of Anglers Rest



The first 2 hours were a bit slow as the overnight low temperatures had left the roads a bit damp. So we were all just enojoying the ride and admiring the scenery. Saw 2 kangaroos on the side of the road but still slowed down as they are quite unpredictable at times.

Along the way to the first stop




Morning fuel and coffee stop at a small town called Mitta Mitta - where we met another group of Melbourne riders so that was good.




There are not many pics from Day 2 as we would just stop for fuel and food and keep riding.

There were a few stops along the way so reached our resort around 5 PM. A lot of riders were arriving at the same time and saw the 2 moderators waving people in. Parked the bike, checked in, picked up the keys to the room and rode there.

Unpacked the bags, changed into jeans and went into the lobby area for the evening activities which mainly involved bike stories, beers and food.

It was a good day and a fantastic evening as well.

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DAY 3:

Sunday RIDE Day

A lot of people called an early night as everyone was riding on one of the various Sunday rides. The area around Jindabyne is well known for it's roads and scenic beauty.

The Fast Ride group left early as they normally do a big loop around the Snowy Montains and cover almost 600-650 kms. 2 Medium Ride groups left a bit later.

I was planning to join the Relaxed Ride group as that's only for 350-400 kms and more suited to my style of riding. There are more coffee/food/pic stops so suits me fine.

However there were 2 issues. Firstly my left wrist had become very painful (Due to a jerk that I recieved while trying to straighten the bike as my left leg slipped on some wet leaves when I was trying to park the bike on the roadside).

Secondly the preferred route for the Relaxed Ride was closed off due to bush fires.

In the interim, a few of us were having 2nd or 3rd round of coffees when the group I rode with decided to go for a relaxed cruise around the area and asked me to join in. As it was not going to be long day, I decided to join in. I applied the muscle relaxant gel that I normally carry with me, tightened the glove and set on the adventure.


The coast at a town called Eden - which was about 190 kms away. The ride there was just fantastic. We rode through the back country roads with little or no traffic.



We had a nice lazy lunch there and then we decied to head back via a slighlty different route. There was a bit of main highway but then we entered the back roads and even went a bit of off-roading on our bikes as Google maps didn't show that it was a proper road. Along that road - it passes behind a wind farm where we stopped to admire the views. It was late afternoon and the sun was behind the clouds. Neither hot nor cold - What I call it as the perfect riding weather.

Here are some pics.



Reached the hotel around 5 and as before - changed into casuals and had another relaxing evening amonst riding buddies discussing what else? Bike, bike stories, bike stuff and more bike stories. Had a few beers and nice dinner.

The Mods made some speeches and there were surprise gifts etc. Everyone partied late into the night as a lot of us were planing to head back the next day. Some were doing 1-dayers and some were doing an overnight trip.

Re: AUSTRALIA : Melbourne to Snowy Mountains & BACK

DAY 4 (Return)

Monday - Majority of the riders were heading back leave apart a few who were having an extra day there. A lot of the riders were heading straight home - taking the direct route.

I was planning to head back too and the initial idea was to take the long way and make it into an overnight trip. I had already booked a motel room which was about half-way and some of my original group riders were planning to join in.

But with the injured wrist - and the exhaustion (the wrist made it worse), I made an executive decision (After breakfast) to head straight back instead of the scenic route. I already had booked the motel and annual leave at work but just couldn't be bothered, TBH. I really wanted to BUT decided to stick the new (Changed) decision and do it in one day instead. The day was warm, sunny and beautiful so there would be no issues. Being summer, the day would be long and and that would help me reach home safely.

By 9:30, I was packed and headed to the main area. Explained to my group that I was heading straight back and by 9:45 I was on the road. I was not planning to stop anywhere except for food/fuel and planned to do a stop every 100 kms (To break the monotony of the BORING highway ride).

I had planned the highway ride as I had left a little late but to get tothe main highway, it was still 90 KMs but it was all good as the day was warm and sunny. How wrong I was?

Just 15 minutes out of Jindabyne (the altitude droops drastically as it gives way to a valley and a plain after that) - the weather changed drastically. The temperature droped by about 10 degrees and a thick fog appeared. I always wear a thermal liner under my jacket so that was ok but my fingers started to get numb. The visibility completely dropped and I could not see even a hundred mts ahead of me.

I stopped for a few minutes, took a few pictures and swtiched on the bike's heated grips (Yes - it was that cold).





The above pics should give you an idea about the fog. Well - I still had 600 kms to go so had no other option. The visor was up and I rode slowly for the next half an hour or so. To get to the highway, I had to take a right turn but because of the fog, missed that turn and went 20 kms in the wrong direction. By then the fog had dropped off as well so I stopped to check Google Maps.

I had 2 options - Take the long way to the next destination or head back towards the fog and take the normal route slowly. Google displayed the long route to be only 20 minutes more so I decided to take that as I knew the standard route would be slow (Because of the fog).

So - kept going and by then the sun had come up as well. I followed the plan I had set which was to stop every 100 kms or so. Evey second stop would be for fuel (As the reserve light comes up at 200) and I would keep repeating that till I reached home.

It was an excellent ride back as the weather was awesome. Stopped for a quick lunch at a town called Cann River where I had to take the thermal liner out and put it back into the bag.

Passed some beautiful places along the way but didn't stop to take pics.

Here's the route I took.



As afternoon gave way to late afternoon - the warmth of the sun started to dissipate and it started to get cooler. By then I was not too far from my desination so decided to take a little break. Parked the bike and did some stretches. Drank some water and put the thermal liner back on too as the idea was to just fast track the last leg of the journey. And that meant - no coffee/water/toilet break. JUST ride!

Reached home around 7:40 PM. I was really exhasuted but there was excitement as well. 10 hours and about 700 kms! I have had a few ride days like that before and with enough breaks - it is not too bad. I do enjoy them!

Time to clean the bike now (Properly).

Re: AUSTRALIA : Melbourne to Snowy Mountains & BACK

Beautiful!
The fog resembles the winter morning rides in India!

Re: AUSTRALIA : Melbourne to Snowy Mountains & BACK

Nice one mate.