Distance: 483km
Dep: 10:00am
Arr: 5:30pm
Temperature: 15°C - 19°C
Total distance to date: 483km
Route:
- Melbourne
- Colac
- Apollo Bay
- 12 Apostles
- Portland
Caption: Our riding crew for the first 2 days: Left to right: Amanda, Daria, Steph, Taylah
---
The journey of 14,000km starts with a single twist of the throttle.
I woke up 10 minutes before my alarm went off, nearly a continuation of the very late end to the previous night of cleaning the house. We had neatly packed all our luggage onto the bikes, ready for the morning ride, only to discover that Steph needed her hair straightener from the bottom of the duffel bag. So, we pulled everything back out and left it to pack in the morning.
Our friend Daria greeted us at our house to help transport a bit of gear to Victor Harbor, and offered moral support while we repacked and reshuffled our gear back onto the bikes. Panicked texts from Taylah had us zipping through Port Melbourne to save her from an overly friendly truckie at the petrol station meet point.
Caption: Amanda on Nena, a 2017 BMW s1000rr
A quick Facebook Live video of our setup, then we set off on our merry adventure - onto the very familiar M1 in the direction of the famous Great Ocean Road. I couldn't help but draw direct comparisons between the last trip and this one, because I'm heading in the same direction (toward Perth, clockwise around Australia), on very similar roads, and will be passing through the same locations. This time, I'm not alone, I'm on my dream bike, and we're riding along the coast rather than cutting directly toward Adelaide.
Caption: Steph on Winona, her 2019 Yamaha MT09
During my first lap, I was also unemployed, with not a care in the world - other than the impending doom of potentially having to leave Australia and go back to my hometown of Vancouver, Canada. Now I'm doing this ride as an Australian citizen, and as the owner of a budding little business called Peak Moto.
Our bikes were humming nicely along one of the country's most boring highways (the M1 from Melbourne to Geelong is extremely dull) while one of the shops opened for the day. Our Brisbane shop opens an hour earlier than our Melbourne shop, due to the fact that peeps from Brissie tend to wake up at an ungodly hour while Melburnians stay in bed to avoid freezing in the cold dark winter mornings.
Our Peak Moto team uses a messaging app called Slack, and I was reminded during the ride that this was in fact a business day. By the time we left the meet point at 10am, Slack notifications started to drop into my phone screen intermittently. By 11am, our little riding group pulled into a servo just outside of Colac, and both shops were active with all team members onboard.
"Someone's order was delivered to the wrong place in the USA. I've contacted DHL for the confirmation."
"Customer unpaid try-on, added this to our Trello board"
"Order number ## wants the item Express Post, I've sent them a link to pay for the shipping upgrade"
"This customer has a warranty issue, I've asked for photos and the PO tag."
This would be the first time truly leaving both shops with our small team, but it didn't take long before I felt at ease that the shops were in good hands.
We sat outside the servo for a quick sip of water and a tasteless bacon and egg roll before cutting straight down toward the coast to Apollo Bay. School holidays were in full swing and we found ourselves amongst approximately 5000 child-filled campervans and tourists in what would have been some very enjoyable twisties. Taylah and Daria were on smaller bikes and quickly sifted to the front of the pack at every legal opportunity. Riding a fully loaded Beemer with panniers like a dump truck booty made it a bit harder to pass, but not impossible.
Caption: Lovely scenes along the Great Ocean Road
Westbound after Apollo Bay is a lovely, grippy, smooth twisty run that is relatively flat and at sea level. I forgot how I found myself ahead of the girls, but one final pass of a bumbling tourist van and I had a free run all the way to Johanna.
"Flowstate is a mental state of intense focus and immersion in an activity, where time seems to disappear and self-consciousness fades, leading to a sense of effortless action and enjoyment."
That's what AI describes it as, and I tend to agree. As I was floating along this little track I felt powerful, limitless, and light. The further I strayed from Melbourne with every kilometre, the more my heart felt free. The BMW was patient with my skill level but predictably powerful when I gave her the signal to go. One of my goals of this trip is to feel completely at ease with this bike. She was always my dream bike, and I finally put a deposit down in March 2020 for my own birthday, shortly before Victoria went into an 18-month Covid lockdown.
By this point, multiple layers were put on and I was contemplating pulling out the heated vest despite it being far down inside Steph's Roxby Duffel. Victoria never ceases to amaze me, in that there is a permanent cloud that hangs over it and chooses to chill the air whenever you plan a long ride. I left Vancouver partially because I grew tired of freezing when walking down the street, but in Melbourne, you can do just that by leaving your shower inside your home. Anyway, it was cold.
A quick turnoff at Lavers Hill and we're back into the forest, flying through with minimal traffic that stood in our way. Coasting at completely legal yet spirited speeds, we caught up with the queue of travellers entering the visitor's centre at the Twelve Apostles. This is the point most would turn around and head back toward Melbourne after they check out the ancient cliffside (albeit with fewer apostles than they started with) but our journey is only half complete.
Caption: Chilling just after the 12 Apostles
Heading further westbound was a breeze with zero traffic. A relatively straightforward ride with a few trucks, single lane roads, straight lines and quaint little towns. Peace is found here on the west side of Victoria, with our bikes humming happily while pointing toward the setting sun. A couple of petrol stops later, we pull into the motel in Portland just before dark.
Caption: Chasing sunsets - literally... heading west means the sun in our faces for most of the final stretch.
After quick evening stroll up and down the short main street to grab a few bottled waters from the Woolies, we traded our souls for a dirty cheat meal at KFC. Finger lickin' good.
Tomorrow we cross the South Australian border and head North for the first time.
