After a lovely breakfast, a nice cup of coffee from tante Klara and Bacon and eggs Martin the three boys went along with Uncle Glenn for a chiropractical adjustment, followed by a guided tour around the retirement village Lakeside View.

Ron, Uncle Glenn's sailing mate was waiting to drive to Wyee where "Chablis" shines in the water , ready to take us all for a sail....

Captain glenn and Skipper Ron sail "Chablis" out of the harbour in the Lake and we all enjoy the lovely day and sail....We were out on the water for about 4 hours and tante Klara prepared us the real Sydney Biscuits and Scones...mmmmmmmhh...

Glenn and Ron spoiled us with this lovely sail and it really was a good break after all the days we spent on "Edda" , "Katrien" and "Coco", they all deserved some rest....

Coming back at the house, my niece Tanja, Jamie , Finn,Leo and lovely Lieve(she picked me a flower and said aurevoir when she went home...such a nice girl), cousin Shaun, Kristy,Ruby and Kyle and Alan and Noela where all arrived and we had a beautifull afternoon together and chef Martin was chef BBQ today...good on you Martin for the well cooked meat, good on you tante Klara for the nice vegies and Noela , best cakes ever...I cheated and had 4 pieces ...

We ended the evening with a nice chat and a glass of wine ...It was just lovely to meet the family Ingall again and see how well they are all doing.

Start the engines and off we go working our way through the morning traffic to get on the Pacific Highway to Gosford.

From Gosford we drive to the Entrance where we had a stop at Tuggerah Beach to spot the surfers playing with the big waves.

We drive on along the Pacific Coast on one side and the Tuggerah Lake on the other side up to Budgewoi and Morisset where we meet up again and had lunch ...

Another 3 km left  at nonkel Glen and tante Klara..I'm so happy we arrived on time so we can spend a day or two together as in a a few days they leave for a cruise to South Africa.

Klara had to work all day but Uncle Glenn showed us the Lake Macquarie, the largest salted lake in Australia and his mistress"Chablis" and some nice beaches as Caves Beach and Blacksmiths Beach and a look at dozens of Kangaroo's on the grounds that once used to be a Mental Hospital in Morisset...well if you want to see kangaroo's, this sure is the place to be

Back in Bonnell's Bay tante Klara cooked us a delicious meal and we had a very nice evening all together

Arrived in Sydney and as I know Sydney quite well since my previous passages here, we went to Circular Quay to see Sydney Bridge and The Opera House and a nice coffee on the Quay, they say Sydney has the best coffee in the country and It might just be the case....

I suggest to take a ferry(it's like taking a bus) to Mosman Bay and off we where with the best views over the city , the Opera House and Sydney Bridge...lot's of pictures...

Arriving at the ferry wharf we walk down to Balmoral Beach, a quiet beach well known by the locals and me...where we had a nice swim and we met a flemish couple from Bruges...they asked us how it is possible we knew this beach...well I asked them the same question and their daughter lived here already for some years and twice a year they spend holidays here...

Time to catch a bus to the Tarangoo Zoo Wharf to jump on another ferry that will take us back to Circular Quay.

From there we walk through George Street to Martin's Place ...a tribute to our Martin

I have a appointment with Catherine who I missed in Kangaroo Valley and by luck she's in town today, so I rush myself to the Art Gallery to see her

It was so nice to see her back after all those years, Catherine and Bert spoiled me so much last time and showed me all the nice places of the city.

We had another great cofee and a slice of cake...yummie  in the Art Gallery's Cafe, we only saw each other for an hour but it felt so good...thx Catherine ...

I went to see Julius at his work in Elisabeth Street right in front of Hyde Park and got to see a lovely view over the park, Cathedral....from the 10th level...time to meet my friends again, they were having a drink at the entrance of Chinatown, so I had a good half an hour walk to get there, but I just love to walk between the crowd in the city...finally I see them, joined them for adrink before taking back the bus to Ryde where we invited Julius and Yvonne for dinner , Julius suggested to go to a pub where you have a nice view on Sydney.

We had a lovely dinner, dito evening and ended it with a walk to the water to admire Sydney by night...

We have a short look at the information desk and quickly we take the decision to take a daypass that give's us entry to the 2 telecabins and the steepest train in Australia( Telecabins were constructed by Dopplmayer, a Swiss company), first we took the train ....

as the driver spoke it seemed to be like a hell of a drive...well can tell that sensation never came...anyway once down we read the story about the Katoomba mining industry that started in 1863 with 40.000 ton's of charcoal a year...a lot of old materials are exposed along the excellent walktrails..

well done job here ...

We took a walk of 1 1/2 h to get to Queen Elisabeth's lookout at The three Sisters named "Meehni", "Wimlah" and "Gunnedoo", they once lived with the Gundungurra people in the Jamison Valley and the maidens were in love with 3 brothers from the neighbours, the Darug people, but marriage was forbidden by tribal law, so as the brothers were warriors they decides to take the maidens by force, tribal war forced the Kuradjuri(clever man) of the Gundungarra tribe to turn the sisters into stone. He intended to restore them after the danger had passed, but unfortunately , the Kuradjuri was killed in battle and to this day nobody has been able to break the spell....

Time to take a telecabin  that takes us all the way over the valley twice as high as Sydney Bridge with a lovely view on Katoomba waterfall and Orphan Rock, followed by another walk to Prince Edwards lookout, another telecabin and another walk..

But why they call it the Blue Mountains...well because there is always a distinctive blue haze present that is quite different and of a deeper blue than anywhere in the world. Although constantly changing in intensity, the haze is always present...

As it turned 13h00 time to get back to "Coco" for lunch and off we are to Ryde , a town close to Sydney where we'll meet Yvonne and Julius.

Yvonne is my Uncle Glenn's sister and also sister of Catherine who live's in Kangaroo Valley.

A cold beer was very welcome after a very hot day and ride...and we popped out for dinner all together...so nice to meet Yvonne and Julius .

Tomorrow we go to Sydney all day and at lunchtime I'll meet Catherine who I missed in Kangoroo Valley...looking forwards for that.

Today the ride goes to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, but our first stop is in Kangaroo Valley at Jumbuck Cottage, the lovely home of Catherine and Bert...To bad they where not there, they are in  Canberra till wednesday...but as much I would have loved to see them again, I really love the emplacement and the house ...sorry Catherine and Bert, I felt so free to enter and have a look, I was quite curious after all the talking on my previous visit in Australia...Great job and it surely invite's to drop by another time...

We crossed the road and had a walk down to the river, if we had more time we surely would have rented a kayak ...but even on holidays duty calls and we got to get on moving...adieu Jumbuck Cottage

We drive to Moss Vale, with a stop at Fitzroy Fall's and lunch...Next stop is Thirlmere with its old steamtrain collection....the real stuff...gosh, they really do a great job here.

From there we turn on to little country roads with some breathtaking views, driving by The Oaks, Warragamba and its dam, Wallacia, Glenbrook the entrance of the Blue Mountains , to hit The Great Western Highway to Katoomba where we tried to fiend a campspot for the night, but first time ...no vacancy...so they send us to a village 11 km further called Blackheath where we found our place and the guy at the desk was a young frenchman from Bretagne...it felled good to change some words in French...

Tomorrow some walks in the Blue Mountains on our program, probably the Three Sisters ...suggestions are still welcome

As we leave Nimmitabel we keep on riding on +/- 1100 m above sea level for  about 60 km...brrrrrrrrrrrr...but once we start to go down the sun quickly warms us up...a brilliant day today, blue sky without a cloud...

I noticed that the east side of National Park Kosciuszko is much greener  than the west side...plenty of water here and a lot more of stock

From Bega we drive to the southeast coast , first stop at Tathra with it's historic Wharf...we spot a lot of fishes from the jetty .

We follow the touristical coast road to Bermagui and Narooma driving through different National Parks and lovely roads and scenery's

We stop for lunch at Tuross Head with a refreshing swim in the Tasman Sea.

All freshed up we ride on to Malua Bay, Batemans Bay and have another stop at Pebbles Beach in the Murramarang National Park, known for the kangaroo's you can spot on the beach...and yes we did ...I even got so close I could touch them aswell I had a couple of Lori's on me...just wonderful

We decide to camp at Culburra beach where our mastercook Martin prepared us a nice Kangaroo filet( I know...) with mashed potatoes and cauliflowers....and off course we'll end the day with a game of cards....may the best one win...

We ride to Wangaratta to take the Great Alpine Road to Myrtleford where we have our fuel and coffee stop...After a nice cup of coffee the real work starts as we turn left to Happy Valley...what's in a name, they sure didn't missed it as you only get happy driving through this most beautiful valley with its Mt Beauty( no this is not a joke)  

From Happy Valley it goes to Lake Hume, and on Murray Valley HWY to Tallangatta, a new modern town which appeared when the original town was drowned in 1956.

Th e road takes us to Corryong, home of the Man from Snowy River, Jack Riley a famous horseman  that lived in isolation in a hut high up in the hill's .

He loved the Snowy Mountain country and enjoyed a social drink or two...It was after that Banjo Paterson spend some time together with Jack Riley in the Kosciusko Ranges he wrote the poem "The Man from Snowy River".

We 've now come very close to our goal, but first lunch in the Kosciuszko National Park to get strong for the last end....up to Cabramurra , Australia's highest village, the roof of Australia at 1488m....we've made it.

As there are no overnight permitted we drive on to Cooma and keep driving between 1500 m and 1100 m , with temperature that drop's to 12°

In a little village 40km  after Cooma, Nimmitabel we find a local campground for the night...it is quite chilly, never thought to be cold that cold in Australiua....brrrrr

What to tell about the roads we drove today...hmmmm...heaven for every biker comes the closest ...

A lot to do today...fill up "Coco" , do some shopping for a few days , change a light bulb....but finally we're on our way through the Yarra Valley, also a vineyard region up to Healesville, to get on road  B 360 to Taggerty, a road filled with high trees with some lovely views...From Taggerty it goes to Lake Eildon, the entance of the Victorian Alps with Mt Buller as alpine ski resort...we found a nice spot at the lake to have lunch and enjoy the lookout.

From there it goes to Alexandra,Merton, Mansfield and all the way to the top of Mt Emu to drop down again in King Valley, another wine region to find a wild camping spot at King River for the night...I'm the cook today and I served a Macaroni cheese sauce...

Tomorrow our intention is to reach Australia's highest village Cabramurra in the Kosciuszko National Park.

Good night...

Around 10h00 we arrived at a big 4 holiday park in Coburg, 9 km from the city center, where we parked the Coco, Edda and Katrien .

With public transport , the tram...it took more than a hour to get to the city center...seems public transport is as worse as in Belgium.

Once in the city we delivered ourselves to the city to discover all its beauty and life....immediately I had a good feeling about this marvelous city

This is a city where I would come back, that's for sure...

As dinner time came closer and closer we walked along the Yarra Riverside to Restaurant The Wharf where Edda's son Florian works...

We knew Florian wasn't working , he spends holidays with his girlfriend in Cambodja, but after a little chat with the bartender we were taken care off .

A nice aperitif at the river, followed by a delicious meal with a lovely ambiance...

A evening walk along the river took us back to Elizabethstreet where we took the tram back to Coburg...time to get some sleep after a long  day...

Once back on the Princes HWY it takes us to Port Fairie a historical port with some shipwrecks laying in the Bay.

Some further we cross quite a big city Warrnnambool...from there it goes on to the Great Ocean Road, a road that winds itself along the spectaculary Southern Coastline with all it's stunning views....We 've seen  Childers Cove, Bay of Islands, The Grotto, London Bridge, The Arch, Loch Ard Gorge, and as top of the bill ...the 12 Apostles...way to much for one day...

I forgot to tell about the road itself...I was so lucky today to drive "Katrien" on the nicest road so far in Australia, one curve after another and hard not to stop for a view after each curve....just a perfect motorcycle road...

Normally the plan was to get to Melbourne...but we didn't make it and the road stops at Torquay a little town 90km away from Melbourne.

Tomorrow Melbourne day...

As we took our first turn out of Wellington Camping, a first surprise...the road ended and we had to cross the river with a ferry .

Off the ferry we arrived at the Coorong National Parc and Murray Lakes region, a vast unspoilked ecosystem withfreshwater lakes, wetlands, ocean...A place that really calms the mind, soothes the soul and appeases the senses 200 km off beach from Encounter Bay to Lacepede Bay, uninterrupted except when the mouth of the great murray River opens to the sea.

It is a place of tranquility,solitude and wonderment and as so far the best I've seen of Australia.

This all end's in Kingston SE...we continue to Robe that sit's in Guichen Bay, a perfect spot for Lunch.

After Lunch we hit for Mount Gambier and along the way we notice that it becomes more hilly and pinewoods are ruling the landscape, even more around Portland.

At Yambuk a little village just before Port Fairy the day ends at Yambuk Lake a lovely campground at the border's of the Lake...

Tomorrow ,Melbourne here I come....

Along small country roads we hit the Barosso Valley well known for its vineyards and winery's, it took us to a small village Marrabel where we had coffee and admired a rodeo statue...we're just a few day's late for the rodeo...what a shame.

Driving through Barosso Valley is fabulous and the pick of  grapes just started, so a lot of activity in the vineyards and on the roads.

Actually , yesterday evening at our campspot we met a group of 5 young Italian boys that are working in the vineyards...they needed some cooking stuff for their pasta, so I proposed them they could use our cooking material if we get to taste their pasta...done deal and a half an hour later a plate of pasta was served "al dente" by Raphael from Rome and Alberto from Firenze...We had a good laugh with those chaps, they were wonderfull...

Once out of the valley we can feel the city of Adelaide, almost touch it so  Coco brings us right to the center of the city where we try to contact Luc and Martin to meet up.

We had a nice walk in the city , to be honest I had expected a bit more from Adelaide but never mind...seen it,done it.

Time to move on to Wellington SA at Lake Alexandrina the nearest campingzone where we park Coco under a Peppertree.

Tomorrow the idea is to follow the Coastal Road to Mount Gambier and direction Melbourne, next city on our bucket list...

On the last picture you'll find a map of Australia with our progress, day by day,marked in different colours...enjoy

Some hours later we get ready to drive to Port Augusta with a first stop at Port Neilly and Lunch between Whyalla(  steel industry ) and Port Augusta

After a walk in Port Augusta we continue to Port Pirie on the other side of Spencer gulf where we meet up again with the Motor home.

The Gps guides us further trough some winding country roads passing old villages , Crystal Brook,Gulnare, Yacka in the middle off farmer fields  to end in Clare(Clare Valley, a wine area)

As the clock points 17h30 we stop at the local camping for the night.

I forgot to mention a important detail : In Trigg when we cdollected the Motor Home and the bikes we baptised them and gave them a name...

The Motor Home goes through life from now on as "Coco", the red  bike "Edda Dust", the white bike "Katrien Vroom" , so today I drove Katrien, Luc Edda  and Martin and Dorine Coco...

Tomorrow our first big city Adelaide, about 130 km ....Tonight on the menu Ratatouille

Railway Station Port Pirie

Drinkstop 

Countryside Crystal Brook

Yacka

As I'm feeling much better I'll start with Martin on the motorbike.

First town on the road is Ceduna and than it goes all the way down South of the Eyre Peninsula with a first view stop at Smokey bay and a shopping stop at Streaky Bay.

On the road between Streaky Bay and Venus Bay we take a right at Murphy's Haystacks , a geological wonder of granite rocks, well worth a visit...

A few km's further we pass 2 police cars on the road and they turn and come after us...result our first speeding fine 429 AUD .

Me and Martin look upon this fine like this....it's better to pay that fine than to hit  a kangoroo , but at least we know what to do now...

We follow the Flinders Highway through Elliston with it's nice historical jetty all the way down to Port Lincoln...it goes up again to Tumby Bay where we find a nice Camping at the waterfront where we enjoy sunset in Spencer Gulf with some pelicans...

Smokey Bay

Murphy's Haystacks

Elliston jetty

Lunch at Elliston

Martin feeling free as a bird 

Landscape 

Lake Hamilton

Port Lincoln

Lake Hamilton Eat House

Today a long route from Madura to Penong, 650 km so as soon we finished breakfast we get on the road.

Once past Eucla we are driving between Nullarrbor Desert and the Great Australian Bight, where Desert meets Ocean with some stunning views and cliff's... with a last stop at Head of Bight...no whale spotting at this time of year...

We continue through Yalata Aboriginal Reserve to arrive around 17h30 at Penong , where we'll stay for the night

As we passed a time zone we're now at +8.5h difference with Belgium.

Tonight we have to eat all our vegetables, fruits, potatoes ....after Ceduna 80 km we have to pass a Quarantine checkpoint for fruit fly's.

We will have to be creative with the menu this evening but I think we'll be just fine...

At Nundroo service station we met a Belgium boy Reinaat Booy from Bruges who is here for two years, travelling and working , he travelled with a french mate who bought a 4x4 and a Dutch girl and a Italian girl....they share the cost of petrol and they were on their way to melbourne to take the ferry to Tasmania.Reinaat was pleased to talk some flemisch and how small can the world be...he knew Nele, the daughter of Geert,a good friend of me ...

As I recovered well  an update...

We left Norseman early in the morning to ride the longest sraight stretch of Australia 146.6 km with a first coffee and fuel stop in Balladonia before hitting that stretch.

It is a quite boaring road but we saw dozens of dead Kangoroo's(the story tell's that Capt in Cook asked to the Aboriginals what the name was of that animal and they answered Kangooroo, what means in their language"I don't know") ...so a lot of "I don't know jumping around in this country...lol...

We even saw 3 dead camels , there seem to be a lot of camels living in the bush, in earliuer days they were imported in Australia to work in the mining industry , but since machines took over their job they released them in the wild and they multiplied like rabbits so Australia has 2 problems now, rabbits and camels.

Along the road we saw a car that hitted a Kangoroo, what a damage...it happened at 04h00 in the morning, a dangerous moment to drive ..

As we stopped dued I was not feeling well and I couldn't continue driving the Motorhome we stopped in Madura for the night, where as soon as possible I went to sleep...

after breaking up camp we leave for Esperance, a straight road with  a lot of dead kangoroo's on the sides and some bushes destroyed by fire.

At Ravensthorpe we have a fuel stop and we called the Honda Motorshop "powerplant motorcycles" in Esperance if they can service the 2 bikes for their 1000 km.

At first it wasn't possible because their workshop was fully booked this week, but after I told them about our adventure they served us right away when we arrived in Esperance. Good on you guys....

Time to take some pictures of the jetty and the bay of isles, get my stuff at the pharmacy and off we go to Norseman, our end destination for the day.

Along the road we have to fuel up Martin's bike as he ran dry...another stop at Dundas Rocks before we arrive at Norseman and our Camping...

as it it's Luc's birthday today he got choose the whole day what he wanted to do so Luc and Martin drove the bikes and me and Dorine the Motorhome.

After the burning ceremony of his 57 t-shirt he offered us dinner at the local restaurant...hip hip hip hoera 58...Happy Birthday Luc

Life starts again after Bushfire

Trees in water

Golfield Railway

Dundas Lake dried out

Rocks at Dundas

Dried salt lakes

Camping Norseman

Start your engines...me and Luc take the motorbikes and Martin and Dorine the Motorhome...I doesn't take long before we loose each other in traffic in Perth, but no trouble we communicate with each other once we're out of town and make the appointment in Kondinin.

In Kelmscott we see the last traffic lights for over 2000 km...great!!!!!!

The road goes on by Road 40 through Brookton, and a first stop at Corrigin for a lovely coffee in the local cafe...Some later we meet up in Kondinin where we have lunch, during lunch we have a chat with a chap who gives us plenty of information what to do in the region.

Another 60 km left to Hyden and its famous Wave Rock,a granite cliff, 15 m high and 110 m long.

Its rounded like shape has been caused by weathering ant water erosion which has undercut the base and left a rounded overhang.

The crystals seems to be 2700 millions years old, amongst the oldest in Australia

After this lovely visit and a little surf on the Wave...lol...we decide to continue another 120 km to Lake King where we will set up camp for the night.

It was bloody warm today with temperatures over 35° and as I'm suffering with a headcold it felt even worser, so a nice cold shower cool's me down.

Meanwhile our Chef Martin prepared a lovely lambstew...first game of cards (manillen) which me and my partner Luc won off course...lol...

and of to bed to write my blog...the laptop doesn't seem to cooperate, twice I loose my complete text so next morning some catch up to do.

Water stop

Corrigin Coffee stop

Wave Rock

Wave Rock

Surf at Wave Rock

Sunset at Camping Lake King

Masterchef Martin at work

My cousin Edda comes to pick us up at 09h00 to drive us to Joondalup at Westcoast Honda where we collect our 2 brand new motorbikes 

Honda CB500X, a red and a white one. Shawn and his team helped us out well all the way from the purchase to the delivery, thanks....well done

After registration and insurance Martin and Luc drive the first kilometers , and we all meet up at the Maui branch in Perth to pick up our motorhome.

Once this is settled time to buy our telephone simcards and have a nice lunch at Scarborrough Beach with Edda who was so nice to drive us all day.

Later on we had a beautiful bbq prepared and cooked by Martin , together with Katrien & Lawrence, Edda & Andrew, Ben...what a lovely evening and glad to have spend some time with my two aussie nieces.

After the drop off ashuttlebus brings us to the Airport where we have to catch our flight at 17h00 to Melbourne with a connecting flight to Perth where we arrive at 22h00 local time, we lost 4hours, but we're still +8 hours ahead .

At the airport Katrien and Lawrence are waiting for us to take us to Katrien's house in Trigg, where we catch up a little bit and after a cool beer we hit the sack.